RIP Lou Holtz

[Shropshire Slasher]

A case could me made that he won a title at Arkansas after beating OU, 31-6, in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1978. The Hogs, Notre Dame and Texas were all 11-1 and ranked No. 1 by David Rothman's NCAA-approved FACT computer rankings.

Texas beat Arkansas in SWC play in 1977 and Texas lost to Notre Dame rather bigly in the Cotton Bowl, so that screwed up that triangle. Hogs were a solid No. 3 that year.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Texas beat Arkansas in SWC play in 1977 and Texas lost to Notre Dame rather bigly in the Cotton Bowl, so that screwed up that triangle. Hogs were a solid No. 3 that year.

Take it up with the computer!

 

[Liut]

I could look **** up from fifty years ago, too, for SJ.com, but don't care enough to.
Did enough of it when I was an under-paid scribe and radio-talking head.
@Inky_Wretch, not intended toward you.

 

[I Should Coco]

All I can add is Hayden Fry never could pronounce Wisconsin. Unless there was a real place called West Consin.

He was also known to add an “r” to the Pac-10 school in Seattle.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I could look **** up from fifty years ago, too, for SJ.com, but don't care enough to.
Did enough of it when I was an under-paid scribe and radio-talking head.
@Inky_Wretch, not intended toward you.

Eh, it’s my lived history. I was 11 when 31-6 happened and growing up on the border meant Arkansas vs. OU was a huge deal.

 

[Liut]

Eh, it’s my lived history. I was 11 when 31-6 happened and growing up on the border meant Arkansas vs. OU was a huge deal.

I bet! We're basically the same age.
I grew up in Missouri.
My fascination of maps lead to fascination of geography.
So, I knew where Arkansas was.
Many years later, fond memories of riding the bus to cover games in places like Arkadelphia, Conway, Monticello, Pine Bluff, Russellville, Searcy.
Arkansas is a beautiful state.

 

[maumann2]

Eh, it’s my lived history. I was 11 when 31-6 happened and growing up on the border meant Arkansas vs. OU was a huge deal.

Reminds me of chatting with Charlie Zeno of the Contra Costa Times as a high school senior in 1976. Our school's wrestling coach and my driver's ed instructor grew up very close to the DiMaggio family's original home in Martinez, and he would make us park on the hills nearby and do three-point turns, etc.

I happened to mention to Charlie that until then, I never realized DiMaggio played for the San Francisco Seals before he went to New York, and he told me not only did he cover the Seals when DiMaggio was on the team, but he saw Joe play in sandlot games before that. Or basically stuff that happened 30 years before I was born.

Now I'm that guy, talking about "lived history" and getting blank stares from the youngs.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I bet! We're basically the same age.
I grew up in Missouri.
My fascination of maps lead to fascination of geography.
So, I knew where Arkansas was.
Many years later, fond memories of riding the bus to cover games in places like Arkadelphia, Conway, Monticello, Pine Bluff, Russellville, Searcy.
Arkansas is a beautiful state.

How did I not know we might have crossed paths back then? In my final two years of undergrad and grad school, I covered Central Arkansas sports (except soccer, since I was on the team).

 

[outofplace]

Nah, let it out. He was a tool.

Even as a teenager, I knew Holtz was a dirtbag. I knew he had violated recruiting rules to win at Minnesota, then left the program behind to take the hit for his cheating when he went to Notre Dame. One of his Notre Dame players went to my high school, but four years ahead of me. After that particular steroid-enhanced meathead was drafted by the NFL, the powers that be at my high school decided he should speak at our graduation. The speech was predominantly a long, metaphorical blow job for Holtz, which drove me nuts. The current version of me would have asked our principal what the **** they were thinking with that speaker as he handed me the empty folder for my diploma, but I was far quieter back then.

 

[Liut]

How did I not know we might have crossed paths back then? In my final two years of undergrad and grad school, I covered Central Arkansas sports (except soccer, since I was on the team).

You would have been long gone from university when I did radio tours of the Gulf South Conference.

 

[UNCGrad]

I'm here for any and all "Holtz was a dirtbag" stories.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

You would have been long gone from university when I did radio tours of the Gulf South Conference.

I forget that "basically the same age" means different things as we get older. LOL.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Hey lets not forget Holtz taped two commercials endorsing Jesse Helms.

 

[Chet Lemon]

He won a national title at a school that recruited itself and he STILL had to strongarm them into lowering academic standards and needed help from the referees in South Bend during the Miami game in order to do it.

I assume you are referring to the Cleveland Gary fumble. I wrote a damn book about those games, but I’m trying to recall exactly how it affected the game. I feel like ND may have gone 3 and out and Miami got the ball back pretty quickly?

 

[mpcincal]

I'm here for any and all "Holtz was a dirtbag" stories.

I remember when he heavily recruited Scott Bentley, the much ballyhooed high school kicker in the 1990s, and Bentley, despite a visit from Holtz, a supposed "verbal commitment," and a dad who was a certified Golden Dome ass-kisser, opted for Florida State. As recounted in an SI cover story in the next college football preview, Bentley called Holtz to inform him of his choice, and Holtz chewed him out over the phone, saying he made a "40-year mistake."

I'm kind of disappointed Bentley didn't have the Hall of Fame career that he could've shoved up Holtz's rear end.

 

[Chet Lemon]

When I covered ND, the message board loony loins constantly used the “40-year mistake” line when a prized recruiting target had the audacity to pick another school.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Sounds not at all obnoxious

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Even as a teenager, I knew Holtz was a dirtbag. I knew he had violated recruiting rules to win at Minnesota, then left the program behind to take the hit for his cheating when he went to Notre Dame. One of his Notre Dame players went to my high school, but four years ahead of me. After that particular steroid-enhanced meathead was drafted by the NFL, the powers that be at my high school decided he should speak at our graduation. The speech was predominantly a long, metaphorical blow job for Holtz, which drove me nuts. The current version of me would have asked our principal what the **** they were thinking with that speaker as he handed me the empty folder for my diploma, but I was far quieter back then.

I don't believe that. I want proof.