By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:19:14 +0000

I predict, for what it is worth, which isn’t much, that Tommy T will not come close to matching Mike Leach’s record at Tech….

By: Eric P. Nelson BBA Tech '82

Eric P. Nelson BBA Tech '82 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:25:26 +0000

Dear Barry, I have a tremendous amount of respect for your knowledge of our history. As a Tech Alum, I’ve had it with the ignorance out there among our rivals. People say things like “Tech is going to go back to mediocrity”, and “Tech has no tradition”. These are the farthest things from the truth and they anger and create hatred among staunch Red Raiders. We have never been mediocre and you can’t “go back” to something that you never were. The fact is that Mike Leach enjoyed a tremendous increase in money for recruiting, facilities, and coaches salaries. We have always played with west Texas kids who didn’t make the Dallas Morning News lists but who were every bit the equal or better than any kid from Houston or Dallas (kids like Zach Thomas from Pampa). The difference is that while we always have been a factor in the conference race, now we are here to stay as a real contender for bigger things. Anyone who wins a share of the Big 12 South has to be considered as a factor in the national title picture. The athletes we have at Tech are much higher in quality than they are portrayed to be by the same ignorant people who discredit our successes which run throughout our entire history. I have an uncle who played at Tech in ’43, ’46, and ’47(fought Germans in ’44 and ’45). Roland (Tuffy) Nabors is in the Tech Hall of Honor. In ’47 he was a “Little All-American” on the Border Conference Champions. That team beat Texas A&M in College Station. Jones Stadium opened for its first game that year on the final game of the season. The last time Oklahoma State Aggies won in Lubbock was in 1944. I’m saying that if my uncle and his buddies hadn’t been over in Europe beating up on the Germans, Tech would have never lost that one. Nevertheless the Okie Aggies have NEVER won a game in Jones stadium. So OU fans shouldn’t feel so bad about their last three trips to Jones. We Red Raiders are well aware of how rough it is for anyone to come to Owen Field – a stadium that my dear grandfather helped build with his teammates during their summer break. Charles “Chalky” Stogner lettered in Football, Basketball, and Baseball in the late 1920′s. He was a quarterback who came to the Sooners after playing for the Norman High School state champions. As a letterman he received two tickets to the OU-Texas game for his entire life. He took me to a few of them when I was a kid. Needless to say, OU is my second favorite team because of him. My mother is with me on that one too. He moved the family to Lubbock when she was in junior high. He became a big Red Raider supporter and took me to my first Tech games and taught me all about football. Back in the 1960′s, he was welcome at anytime in the office of J.T. King – Tech’s head coach at the time. He had played against J.T. when they were in college(J.T. played at Texas). My grandfather felt that there was not a better coach in the nation at the time and could get heated up about it if you wanted to argue the point. I miss him terribly and every time I hear anything about Oklahoma football I see his face. He used to talk about his days at OU and they would come to life for me. Anyway I know about his Big Six titles and lots of other things. I’ll close with a trivia question which was posed to the TV audience during OU’s Sun Bowl victory this year: What NCAA football program has the most appearances in the Sun Bowl since it began? Hint: It’s colors are Scarlet and Black

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:45:13 +0000

To use a scientific term, Berry’s hypothesis that Tuberville will reasonably match Leach’s success is easily falsifiable. If Tech beats the Sooners the next three trips to Lubbock, then I will agree, regardless of any other results.

Comments on: Emails in on Tech football and Bedlam basketball

By: Jeff

By: Eric P. Nelson BBA Tech '82

By: Pete