Finally, something that captures the essence of the conference.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Ninetysomething: Tippy Dye and Bill Glassford
A tip of the hat to two old lions connected to Cornhusker football.
Bill Glassford and Tippy Dye, at ages 96 and 95, are the seventh and eighth oldest former pro football players at the moment, according to someone who's actually keeping track, OldestLivingProFootball.com.
Glassford coached at Nebraska from 1949 to 1955. Tippy Dye was the athletic director who hired Bob Devaney after the 1961 season.
Both Dye and Glassford played for the old Cincinnati Bengals in an old, old incarnation of the AFL. Neither the league nor the team lasted long, and it's safe to assume both men played pro ball only briefly.
As a lineman in the 1930s at Pitt, Glassford played against Vince Lombardi, who was a guard at Fordham. (There's an old Sports Illustrated article about it.) And here's something else from way back, where it turns out Glassford supposedly was secretly married.
Glassford is still called "Biff" in the New Hampshire record books. He must've ditched his old nickname after took the Nebraska coaching job. Here's a 2007 interview where he talks about his Nebraska years.
Oddly enough, when Glassford took New Hampshire to the 1947 Glass Bowl against Toledo, he coached against his future boss, Bill Orwig. Orwig became Nebraska's athletic director in 1954 and held the job until 1961, when Dye took over and made the hire that turned Nebraska football around. (Nevermind that Hank Foldberg of Wichita was actually his first choice.)
Outside of Nebraska, Dye is probably best remembered as Washington's basketball coach from 1951 to 1959, a stint that included the Huskies' only Final Four appearance. In college, Dye (5-8, 142 pounds) earned nine letters in three sports at Ohio State. He quarterbacked the Buckeyes' football team and was a dangerous punt returner. In basketball, he was a second-team All-America selection. At last report, a few months ago, he was still leading an active life in northern California.
Bill Glassford and Tippy Dye, at ages 96 and 95, are the seventh and eighth oldest former pro football players at the moment, according to someone who's actually keeping track, OldestLivingProFootball.com.
Glassford coached at Nebraska from 1949 to 1955. Tippy Dye was the athletic director who hired Bob Devaney after the 1961 season.
Both Dye and Glassford played for the old Cincinnati Bengals in an old, old incarnation of the AFL. Neither the league nor the team lasted long, and it's safe to assume both men played pro ball only briefly.
As a lineman in the 1930s at Pitt, Glassford played against Vince Lombardi, who was a guard at Fordham. (There's an old Sports Illustrated article about it.) And here's something else from way back, where it turns out Glassford supposedly was secretly married.
Glassford is still called "Biff" in the New Hampshire record books. He must've ditched his old nickname after took the Nebraska coaching job. Here's a 2007 interview where he talks about his Nebraska years.
Oddly enough, when Glassford took New Hampshire to the 1947 Glass Bowl against Toledo, he coached against his future boss, Bill Orwig. Orwig became Nebraska's athletic director in 1954 and held the job until 1961, when Dye took over and made the hire that turned Nebraska football around. (Nevermind that Hank Foldberg of Wichita was actually his first choice.)
Outside of Nebraska, Dye is probably best remembered as Washington's basketball coach from 1951 to 1959, a stint that included the Huskies' only Final Four appearance. In college, Dye (5-8, 142 pounds) earned nine letters in three sports at Ohio State. He quarterbacked the Buckeyes' football team and was a dangerous punt returner. In basketball, he was a second-team All-America selection. At last report, a few months ago, he was still leading an active life in northern California.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
What does the "T" in T. Boone Pickens stand for?
My guess is "Tier 3." Can't blame the geezer for being bitter: 5-36-1 can do that to you, not to mention just one conference (co-)championship half a century.
Start up the video and hear him dis Nebraska and Missouri.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Big 12 minus 2 lives to see another day
Good to see our longtime conference partners land on their feet. Will the money really pan out? And if it does, will it be quickly dwarfed by other conferences' deals a few years down the road? Something tells me this is only a temporary reprieve.
Interesting how the economic plan doesn't seem to allow for the rise of any other league schools to the level of Texas-OU-A&M. There are three schools in the penthouse and seven in the servants' quarters. If you can make that work, more power to you, I guess. It sure wouldn't have worked that way for Texas in the Pac 10, Big 10 or SEC.
Which brings us to the case of Notre Dame. They have it made right now, even more so than Texas. What will it take for the grass to look greener to them in a conference? Don't expect them to decide to share their wealth with the Big 10 any time soon.
Interesting how the economic plan doesn't seem to allow for the rise of any other league schools to the level of Texas-OU-A&M. There are three schools in the penthouse and seven in the servants' quarters. If you can make that work, more power to you, I guess. It sure wouldn't have worked that way for Texas in the Pac 10, Big 10 or SEC.
Which brings us to the case of Notre Dame. They have it made right now, even more so than Texas. What will it take for the grass to look greener to them in a conference? Don't expect them to decide to share their wealth with the Big 10 any time soon.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Karma? Texas ousted by MWC team TCU
Dang! Could have been an interesting reception for them at the CWS
Will Nebraska & others have to pay? Maybe not
I thought that if at least five schools were left in the Big XII, the early-exit penalties could be enforced. But it looks like five wouldn't be enough, if this passage from Blair Kerkhoff's latest column is true:
Say seven schools jump ship and penalties are enforced. The Big 12 will have handed out $139 million to its 12 schools this year. Under the league's bylaws the lion's share of that money will be withheld from the lease-breaking seven and awarded to the leftover five.
As much as $20 mil a pop. Nice seed money to start a new life, yes?
Ah, but there's a snag. The Big 12 is incorporated in Delaware because of the state's friendly corporate laws. And where it takes nine votes to change any Big 12 bylaw, there's nothing on the Big 12 books about dissolution. In Delaware, majority rules, and seven votes could dissolve a conference.
The link: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/13/2015415/breaking-up-the-big-12-is-a-powers.html
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