005: Dallas Huston: A Lion Legend and Broadcast Odyssey

Ride along with Dallas and me as he takes us on a journey that most people can only dream about. He is the definition of a living legend. Dallas is not only a Hall of Fame broadcaster, but has the gift of preaching the word on Sundays. Join us as we travel down memory lane with some of  the all-time greats, and get a firsthand experience with Dallas the man behind the voice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Sun is down. Lots of bright getting my fixed on a Friday.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

All right, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Football Fix, kicking it to the Max, aka Spot on Max. I'm so privileged to have in the studio today Dallas Houston. The one, the only, the voice of the Brownwood Lions for how many years, Dallas?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

You know, I I think I made it in 53 or 58, something like that. 50.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

I was thinking mid-50s. So this isn't really scripted. We're just talking it up. He's the professional. He's the one with the iconic voice. And I'm gonna stumble through this the best I can. So first things first, you were the voice of the Brownwood lines for 50 whatever years. And also people forget the voice of Howard Payne Yellow Jackets, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Yeah, for one last year.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

It started with Brownwood in 63. Howard Payne in 64. All right. Pretty well straight through.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Yes, sir. Were you a part of all the state championships there at Brownwood?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

No, actually, I probably got to see more of the 60 team, but I didn't broadcast it. I was just a fan. I was s scooting along in my car. But I got to see just about every game in 1960 and uh 61, 62, and then I started with the broadcast.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

Okay. Dallas befriended me. We actually met, I think it was nearly 10 years to the day, 2016. And Dallas befriended me. You know, I had a two-year stint here. That that's a whole nother episode. But Dallas was a super friend to me. And of course, I was, to be honest, Dallas, I was intimidated just by your persona and what you brought to the table. And I don't feel like I ever really got comfortable with a lot of the Brownwood tradition, but you were always there for me, and I appreciate your friendship. It's so kind to him because I texted his wife, Linda, who's an angel, by the way. I was going to be in Brownwood to see my granddaughter and my and my daughter. And so I just fly by the seat of my pants, Dallas. So the legendary Gordon Wood, of course, you were in the front row of that. And one thing to mention, I'm excited about all this because in May, you're being inducted into the Texas Football Hall of Fame. Is that correct? High school. High school.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

High school. Hall of Fame.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Which is headquartered in Waco. The ceremony will be in May. I can't think of a better person that deserves to be inducted to the Hall of Fame more than you, Dallas. And it it makes my heart warm thinking that you're going to be in there. It's the ultimate achievement, especially for a broadcaster. Is that what your official title would be, broadcaster? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

They could have come up with a lot of different things too. But it is. And there's some from Brownwood and some from the some I knew, some I didn't know. Right. And um I didn't know they had the thing. And so there was a sportscaster last year that went in. And uh I think that's the only other one.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

I researched it a little bit too. I think there was one person that had more years broadcasting than you, and it was a guy from Iowa Park, I think. But he definitely didn't broadcast as many wins as you did. I know that for a fact. So you've got that going on. I talked with Mitch more, and we text back and forth. He's been a friend of mine, Dr. Young as well. Dr. Young's not as fast to respond on the text messages as Mitch is. There's probably good reason for that. But uh Mitch stated that you're gonna, I think this is public knowledge, but they're gonna the new press box, they're renovating the stadium, correct? Gordon Woods Stadium.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Well, the press box is all new. Okay. The in other words, uh we took out the old one. Okay. And the press box is all new. So it makes the stadium look new. Now they've done a lot of new stuff at the stadium, uh, concession stands, walkways, and things like that. But the thing that's visible, you can see this one.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

It goes way up.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

Oh, it was definitely two for an update. And I hear that it's going to have a special name to it. That your name might be involved with the press box. So it'll be a surprise if it is. It would be a surprise to me, but uh anyway. I'm really uh happy for Brownwood and passing the bond and getting their athletic facilities where they need to be. I know you do a daily update, a drive-by, a daily drive-by. My wife is certainly move me out there. I I think people would like to hear what age so you were born with this special gift. You just have a voice that is perfect for broadcasting. What age did you realize, Dallas, that you had that special gift?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

You know, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

I um started doing a couple of things, passing out radiograms, and um I became known in the restaurants and the Dairy Queens and everything because I'd come by every morning and pass those things out. But I had no voice. I had none. And uh when I went to work at the radio station, I was uh 21 years old.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

This would be a K-O-X-E?

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Yeah. Okay. Well it was KBWD at that time.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

That was another question, what it was originally.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Yeah, KBWD. K KBWD. It's uh but anyway, um my future wife, yes, sir. We were driving out toward the traffic circle in the rain, and an old boy decided he didn't need headlights. Oh. And I plowed into him, and they did a lot of stuff on the radio back then, and the fact is they'd put every wreck on the radio, you know, we're first and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

But uh I I was bunged up pretty good. I got my throat first, and then my head. So there was an Italian place called uh Alfred's. We'd get our pizza there and whatever. And the people came out of Alfred's and they saw me in a service station, and I went between two jacks, and uh I was laid out and I don't even know what. We had an ambulance at that time, one in town, two of my friends, high school, or driver were uh in charge of the ambulance, and they came out and got me. Well, the people from Alfred's panicked a little bit, and they called the radio station and they announced my death. They said, I don't think he's gonna make it, you know, and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Dad, I have never heard this story.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

So um Jack and a friend of his were driving the ambulance, and uh, Jack said on the two-way, I've got Dallas Houston, and I don't think he's gonna make it. And uh so they prepared the hospital and they brought me in on a stretcher and everything. Anyway, all of it passes, and but I'm about I'm about two or three months without talking. I mean, I'm laid up in my bed. I can't talk, I can't do anything. How old were you then, Dallas? Twenty-one. Twenty-one, okay. I you know, my dream had been in the radio and I it just went out the window. That's it. I couldn't talk. So all I could do at night was turn on the radio and try to close my eyes for three months. Well, and I finally got to the point where I probably never will have a normal voice again, but this thing is erased, and I'm gonna try something else. And I talked, and this is what came out. All right, that's it. I you know, Ken Schulzey was uh the voice of the lions, and um we traveled together a lot and did a lot of things together. And the radio station they were having a change of guard, and I refused to answer any questions about the names, but anyway, they were they had the broadcast for one year, and the radio station said that's it. We can't go that way again, and therefore I'm just gonna take this thing and give it to Ken. And in 1963, he knew a lot of people out there, but he knew that I wanted a chance, and he said, You. And we started running around together that year. That's how I got started.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

What a great story. I know people enjoy that. You're talking about life changes, like you said, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Was it 1988? Was that a big big moment in your life? Do I have the year right?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Oh mercy. Well, I had done about everything you can do in Brownwood in a negative way. Yes, sir. And the people were kind enough to accept me. They'd say, Hey, don't get caught by that cop again. And but I was in I was in bad shape, I mean real bad shape. I went in the hospital for something. Something to do with my gut, I can't remember. And I met my wife before that, ten years prior to that.

SPEAKER_03 11:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Never anything terribly serious. I surrendered my life to Christ 1988. There were shock waves in town. And my wife and I we got married, and everything changed, but it changed that day it first abused in Brownwood.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

I felt like the Lord got a hold of me and uh I surrendered to him. Yes, sir. And stopped all the other stuff. So in eighty-eight, how old were you? I was I was forty years old almost.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Which that's a great testament to to a lot of people out there where it's never too late. You know, it's it's never too late.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

No, it's not. And he doesn't have a watch, and he's not watching that. And so many people, you know, do it a certain way, and it's okay. It's okay, and they can't seem to get that message, but it doesn't matter what you've done, you can overcome it.

SPEAKER_03 13:05

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

And by putting your hand in his hand, and anyway, I did that, and I tell people really, most of the time, the last 15, 20 years, as I've been preaching. That was gonna be my next point. Look at the pulpit. In the pulpit. In the pulpit. It's still unbelievable. I did a lot of that and uh probably did a lot more than sports. Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that. And I did that up until uh twenty, whatever it was. But anyway, I went in the hospital again and had been fairly healthy. At least nothing to interfere with basketball or football. But I just went down and it was the start of COVID.

SPEAKER_03 14:02

Okay. 2020, somewhere in there.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah, 21 maybe. Twenty-one. But at my age, I just couldn't overcome it. I was just I went down. I'd been in the hospital about two or three months, and I finally told Linda, I said, Linda's my wife, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

And I finally told her that I think it's time I quit.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

Which is hard. I know that was a hard decision for you, but it was the right time to do it.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Well, it was, and it it wasn't terribly hard because I couldn't do the stuff anymore. And uh and so I I quit that and uh continued to go to her to preaching engagements, and they were fine, and I absolutely I absolutely just fell in love with preaching and things at that time, and I've been kind of slowly fading away.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Well, one thing that I really enjoyed was your Sunday messages. And and is there a specific title? I know there is. What do you call that?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

I don't know what we call it.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

But it's where you bring a message, uh, usually about a sports, a famous sports figure, and they're still do that. Yeah. That's awesome, man.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

And uh still do that, and recorded one this week and have already sent it in, which is uh about the Super Bowl and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

But so if people those are recorded on 101.301.3 KOXE.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

All right. And uh it was a long time before we went to KOXE. Okay. It was uh fact is we went on it in nineteen ninety eight, probably. And it was so it feels like it's been KOXE for a long time, yeah, but it hadn't been.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

Yeah. To somebody like me that's was new to the area in 2016. That's that's all you know it by. All right, so let's line it up a little bit, and I'm gonna ask you some questions that I know you've been asked a million times. Your favorite, do you have a favorite team over the years, a Brownwood team that sticks out?

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Oh, probably Coach Wood always said that his 65 team. 65. He said that that team was probably the best in Texas.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Yeah. All classifications.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Yeah. He said, I I don't think anybody could beat us. They they got scored upon on their seventh or eighth game of the year. Scored upon. And they ended up, I think, one of the guys from the team told me the other day, and it was I think forty-seven points given up the entire year. The entire year.

unknown 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

So I guess that would be one of my favorites. You know, you can mention any number, and I can probably think of some reason that that one's a favorite.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

I believe that. How about specific players? Oh. There's a bunch of those I know. A couple of names that jump out at you.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yeah, it's uh Lawrence Elkins. Yeah, Lawrence Elkins. I think was the best player ever at Brownwood High School. He was pretty good at Baylor.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

Yeah. That's ain't a lot, though, coming out of Brownwood, because they've had some players.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Jimmy Carmichael, another great one. And I don't know. There's just a bunch of them.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

No, that is hard. But that's why I wanted to hear a couple of names that popped in your head. So, not to jump topics too much, but I still remember my first game coaching for Brownwood, we played Canyon at Lubbock Cooper Stadium, which we had played that several times in Shallowwater, and we had Lubbock officials. Oh my goodness. They were throwing flags left and right. We ended up losing in double overtime. And then I come up to the press box for the post-game interview, and Dallas is like, penalties, penalties, penalties, and I said, I know Dallas, I know. Yeah, I mean, it was a problem that game. We did get better with the penalties, but that was like I said, it was intimidating for me just because you were you were a living legend at that time, even 10 years ago. But back to back to favorites. Let me ask you this. Did you ever have aspirations or think about because to me, your skills are as good as the guys broadcasting on national TV. Did you ever think about going that route or were you just content?

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Well, I uh I got a lot of opportunities, but in college and stuff like that, but I knew I was doing what I was meant to do, and I really I never pursued anything, and I never wanted any other job. This one.

SPEAKER_03 19:19

But a lot to be said for that. Did you find do you find yourself, you talked about the Super Bowl earlier, like coaches, you know, Monday morning quarterbacks, we're gonna sit there during the game and be like, why did he call that play this and that? Do you find yourself being an expert in the broadcasting business? My two favorites are Troy Eggman and Tony Romo. Do you find yourself like, why in the world did he say that? I bet it's I bet it's hard not to critique some of those guys sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

You know, what I do mainly is critique their broadcasting, even if they're on television and turn the thing off and listen. And and then I found out about 20 years ago that uh they don't care what I think. It's best they don't find out. I may never get a ticket there again.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

Have you had a favorite college team growing up through your dollhook?

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah, I hate to say it.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

I had a feeling I had a feeling. It starts with an H, a hook of horns. You're right. Yeah. Well, they've had some good teams to root for over the years. Of course, Jordan and Jackson Shipley playing there. Were there some big-time Texas players from Brownwood back in the day?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

No, I don't think so. I didn't know of any.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

Those are probably the two biggest names.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Yeah, we had some, I guess. We had two or three play at Texas, but a lot of them played at AM.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Yeah, had several players. So one of my best friends that I hung out with, this would have been in 1990, was Brad Butler that played quarterback.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah, he was a great one.

SPEAKER_03 21:05

Yeah. And when he blew out his knee, I think it set him back a little bit as far as his college career. And of course, at AM, there's a depth chart so long it was hard to get notice. We're still friends to this day. In fact, I think him and his wife lived down in Costa Rica half the time. They built a house down there. Didn't they? And his son was playing at Colorado, is it the Mines? I'm not sure if he's still playing up there or not, but I think they would spend falls up there watching him play and then the rest of the year down in Costa Rica. It sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Sounds like a great plan. I've never been invited.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Nine state championships, is that correct? Gordon had nine. At nine state championships. Seven here. Seven. Seven at Brownwood and two at Stanford. Right. One of my old college roommates was from Stanford. Stanford as well. And you know, for for the size of town Stanford is, they've had some ball players and some coaches. Yeah, and they've had some. Yeah. And uh yeah, you're you're right. This is a dumb question, but I asked, since it's kicking it to the max, I've got these new balance shoes, Dallas, that are my favorite shoes in the world. Do you have a pair of shoes that just make you feel like you're floating on air? Are you particular with your shoes? No.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Fact is my wife, bless her heart, she uh gave my son, who was down the other day, gave her, gave him a big bag of tennis shoes. And I'm not talking about worn out. I mean, these are nice shoes. Gave him three or four pairs. And I said, What are you doing? And she said, I'm giving these away. You've never worn them since I said, Well, that doesn't mean I want to give them away. And out the door they went. But no, I don't have a favorite pair.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

Roy Royce Blackburn, is he the last of the staff? Yeah. I was really close with Ken, and I hated to see him pass, but you talk about somebody that was really good to me. Of course, I knew Glenn, his son, and what a legend he is. But Ken, which of those assistants did you feel like you built the best relationship with? Because they were a big part of the success.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

Well, of course, more it's uh did colored on the broadcast.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

And I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 23:38

That'd be more Southhawk, correct?

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Right. Okay. I guess I guess I'm closer to him than any other because we worked together for ten years or so.

SPEAKER_03 23:49

I didn't realize he did the color for that long.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Yeah. And uh fact is, well, it's longer than that. Fact is, I used to tell people that I've been with Morris longer on the radio than he was with Gordon coaching. So it was a year longer, two years longer. But didn't smile much. Every once in a while we might joke on the radio and he might laugh a little, but he was precious. The first year he did color, I had never had a color man. And I said, if you can do it, we'll do it. I said, I won't put any restrictions on you. You just do what you want to, and I'll do what I want to. It was the worst broadcast that you could possibly imagine. And I said, I think you need some guidance, and I'm sure I do too. And we set up some boundaries and we worked well together. We enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Good.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

I think he did. He never said so.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Oh, I bet he did. That sounds like my experience on the coach's show when I was the head coach at Brownwood. I really was new to that. And I'd been interviewed for newspaper articles and maybe a post-game little clipping. But boy, you talk about rough. I I had people calling me like, who is this country bumpkin? Where is he from? And I still talk like a country bumpkin, but I think most people would agree. My speaking skills as far as they still say I have a face for radio. But I've learned how to articulate a little better. Sometimes my grammar is not not the best, but I think it just comes with experience and guys like you, the pioneers of the business. And like you said earlier, back in the 60s, radio was was it. It was it.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

You didn't have the internet, like the podcasting. So I feel like I'm trying to be a present-day Dallas Houston on the radio back in the 60s. I'm trying to do that with my podcast. Add some video to it, because people these days, I think, are more visual just the way society is. But anyway, I'll never have the iconic voice that you have.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

I don't know how I got it. I I'm I've enjoyed the privilege of broadcasting for you. I appreciate that. That's I didn't have many besides Gordon and Randy Allen. Yeah. Well, I probably got the two biggest winners in the state of Texas.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

I'm telling you. I thought about that on the way up here. You got Gordon Wood, Randy Allen, Bob Shipley. I mean, some big time names. And then there's probably a little asterisk by my name. We don't know who this guy was. No, Lord works in mysterious ways, and I wouldn't give back my time in Brownwood for anything. It's like you just learn life is full of experiences. You learn and you try to be better. And I think you kind of described it when you were describing when you came to Jesus in '88. Amen. And at Brentwood Christian, being in the public school for almost 30 years, and then double dipping, as coaches would say, I was able to retire, and now I'm in the private school. And it's a church-based school, and we have chapel every Wednesday morning. And it was really it was just weird for me in the beginning because it's so intertwined. But now I'm comfortable with it. I've got both feet on the ground. I verbalize more about Jesus to the kids and the players because we always prayed with the kids in public school and talked to them about Sunday morning, go to church. We all need it and this and that. But it's at a different level at Brentwood Christian. And that's one thing that's really jumped out to me is just my daily relationship with Jesus because there's no peace without him. Amen. And I know you're a lot closer image to that than I am in my life, but forever long the Lord blesses us here on this earth. I hope I have your demeanor and your wisdom when I get to be your age. And I really mean that, Dallas.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

I appreciate that. You can sit there and rag on me as a sportscaster from now until the lake drives up. Doesn't mean near as much as that does. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 28:29

Yes, sir. I and I know we don't talk or text that much, but I think about you from time to time. And I think it's just because of the person that you are and the legend that you are. And I know you don't like me saying legend, but it is it is what it is, Dallas. And you know, I I had a crazy dream last night, Dallas. This this is just coming to me. So was that your given name when you were born? It wasn't. Okay. Do you mind telling that? No, I don't mind. And what where were you born and raised?

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Corpus.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Corpus? On the coast, okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

And then at two years of age, I came here. Okay. So most of it here.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

I gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

And my dad's name was Vernon.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

A Houston Senior. And all they did was put a junior on it. Okay. And that was it.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

So uh who started calling you Dallas? Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Well it it came actually from the radio station because at that time when I was nineteen, twenty, I would go and take requests and do menial chores for him. And I happened to be down there one night and Jim Pruitt, who uh made a name for himself down in Houston, probably more than any other, but Jim Pruitt was on the board. He was running the thing and he had about six guys around the radio station that were I forget whether it was football or politics or something, you know. And uh it's boring. You read the results and and that's all. You don't uh there's nothing to it. And so he said, Hey, go in there in that little room and uh when I introduce you, read those. I love the opportunity, so I said, Yeah, sure, I'll go. And I get just about the door open, and he says, Hey. I said, What? He said, What I introduce you as and that's what he introduced me as. Wow. That's it. And it embarrassed me to death. And the next day people were calling me that and laughing and everything. And I said, God, I gotta get rid of this. And I couldn't do it. I never did it. And uh so that's a great story in itself. But it was Jim Pruitt who gave me that name.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Jim Pruitt.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:18

All right. So, May, you're being inducted to the Texas Football Hall of Fame. The last time I was at that ceremony, my cousin Mel Maxfield, who was my hero, received the Tom Landry Award. Right. So I'm going through the inductees for this. I think there's nine of y'all going in. And you're the Dave Campbell's contribution to football. I think that's the title of it.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

It's a big long fancy title. And then they actually have a Gordon Wood award for the team, right?

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

So I probably knew that and just forgot it, but when you have awards like Tom Landry and then Gordon Wood, and then, you know, the inductees, which isn't that many names. Like I said, it's kind of like going into the Hall of Fame, everybody talks about the Hall of Fame for the NFL up in Canton. This is the equivalent to that for Texas football. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

It is. And I've I've never been there, so I'm anxious to go look at the museum and all of the inductees. And it's it's very, very special, I think. And uh you find out when you uh when you're uh told it gets so many people that want to come, and you find out that there are a lot more people who want to come than didn't want to come. But it's been a i i it's really people don't owe me anything, but it's amazing when they give you something like that.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Well, very well deserved and happy for you. I don't know who's happy when I I bring it up. You or Mitch Moore. Mitch is so excited about. I'm gonna have to get him on the show one of these days. Amen. Since he's going into retirement. Yeah, right. That's what he texted me the other day and said, Hey, do you hear I'm retiring? I said, Yeah, that's old news. I heard that before you decided, I think. But Brown was gonna miss Mitch. Yes, well. Wasn't he the Gordon Woods last quarterback on the field? One of them?

SPEAKER_01 33:30

He was certainly one of them. I think he was the last. Mitch, you better not test this because I'm testing an old brain. But I think Mitch was the starting quarterback and may have broken his leg or something. Okay. But anyway, I remember his last game, his last win, is he beat in by district. Mineral Wells 36-35 and turned around the next week and we got clubbered.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

Mineral Wells Rams, all right?

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Right.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

I could sit for five hours and just look, because I know you could pop those games off just right and left, from the days of winning on penetrations.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

And then did it ever go to first downs, any of the games that you called? I think we did one. One time.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

And you know, you talk about a mess in the radio movie. Usually trying to keep it. What's the score? I know what the score is, but what's the real score? And it was a mess back when they did it that way. And thank goodness it's gone.

SPEAKER_03 34:40

I know, I know that was one one question. I uh one or two more questions, we'll wrap this up. But what what okay, so there's good and bad, I think, from the the way the game was played back then in the 60s and 70s until now. What's something that you miss about the game played back then that you think's changed maybe for the worse?

SPEAKER_01 35:04

I don't think any of them changed for the worst.

SPEAKER_03 35:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

I've seen well, let me put it this way. When I started in 1960, there was at least one player, maybe more, with Howard Payne playing other people. And the other team, I think it was Saul Ross, but I may be wrong. The other team actually had no face mask. You know, I mean it was one one or two players had no face mask. And I said, Isn't that a rule? And they said, Yeah. It is now, but we're gonna let him, since he started with it, we're gonna let him play his senior year without a face mask if he wants to. Wow. So I've actually seen people play without a face mask. I mean, that's that's old.

SPEAKER_03 36:03

And uh not many people can say that.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

No, I've seen that, and the thing that really uh amazes me more than anything is I think it amazes me more than anything. The ones that qualify for state, region, whatever, you had um one lost back in the old days, and that was it. You couldn't have um well, we had several teams back in the day that lost one game. And that was it. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 36:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

You lost an history game and that's it. And you know, the first year we had two. Um I think it's a team at Beaumont's lost the first four games of the season in one state. Wow. One of the Beaumont schools, I think. But they went ten and four. And won it. You were asking what changes I say, you know, that is uh I I don't know, I still think four is a little bit too much. I think two is perfect.

SPEAKER_03 37:27

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

But uh I agree with you.

SPEAKER_03 37:30

They used to drive my cousin Mel crazy. But then once it's a blue moon, you might have a third or fourth place team get on a rolling. Yeah, but that doesn't happen very often.

unknown 37:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

Oh, that's gonna lead me to another good question. I loved hearing stories Ken, Coach West, tell about there was two different state championships. I think one came down to the end and they won it, and another one came down to the end and they lost it.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

You probably knows which games it is, but Well, the one we lost, uh there wasn't uh no, it wasn't close. It wasn't close. No. Dickinson beat us bad. And I, you know, Gordon. Sometimes I'd ask him, I'd say, What's a scouting report? And he said, Hey, I don't even mess with it. I'm not even, you know. He just have a nonchalant attitude and we'd kill everybody. And he had a nonchalant attitude about Dickinson. And we're down twenty seven to nothing in the first half. I mean, we're lost. And we scored right before halftime and made it twenty-seven to eight at halftime. I said, Well, we can win, but they're gonna have to get on a tier. And they scored the first two times they touched the ball in the second half. It's forty to eight. Oof. And I said, Well, this one's over. And then finally, we played the way I thought we could play, and it ended up 40 to 28, I think. Okay. That's the only one we lost. I don't remember those that Coach West does.

SPEAKER_03 39:19

He, I tell you, I've got to tell this one story. The funniest story he told me, because you you know as well as anybody. If Coach Wood put his mind to something, he was gonna do it. Yep. And he pulled up and said, Come on, Ken, drive us to the cotton boat. We're going to the cotton boat. You might know the story of these coach, we don't have tickets. How are we gonna get in? He's like, we'll figure it out when we get there. He gets there and they come up to the gate, and all of a sudden he looks around and Coach Wood's gone. He had got in the gate somehow. And so he's standing on the fence just out of the parking lot, and then Coach Wood came around and gave him, I think it was a Coca-Cola apron or say he had put this on. And Ken said, I put it on and I got in.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

I got in, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

There's probably a thousand of those stories. Oh gosh. He came by and picked me up one morning and said, What are you doing? I said, I don't know whatever I was doing. And he said, Let's go to Abilene. I said, I gotta change clothes with him. He we ain't got time. He said, He said, Dunbar is playing Abilene High, I think, in a regional game or something. And it went over time and was a one-point ball game. But we went in that without a ticket. And I kept expecting the police to show up at any time and haul us off, but it never happened. But anyway, he was he was a classic.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Yes, sir. And y'all two together, well, that's two legends that have a lot of memories together right there.

SPEAKER_01 41:03

Amen. Kyle, I I know you kind of downplay your time at Brownwood, and some people probably won't consider you in the right perspective because I thought you were a fine coach. You had a great record at shallow water.

SPEAKER_03 41:22

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

And it was a privilege to have you as a coach.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

Oh and I enjoyed it. You you're gonna make me emotional, Dallas. That's that's coming from you, that that means a lot. I really appreciate that. Because a lot of opinions out there don't matter, but yours does. And you know, that that's the thing about the coaching world is you know, in shallow water, everything just came together. We had great kids, you have to have those. We had great coaching staff, and we all worked well together, administration, and we had some hurdles in the beginning, but everybody was behind us, and it took some time. And some jobs you just don't have as much time, you know. Whether it's high school, college, professional, though, those guys make so much money, they don't give them much time. Like you said, the Lord works in mysterious ways. I appreciated my time here. Number one, building relationships like I got to do with you. And shoot, I only know three or four people personally that are inducted into the Texas football high school hall of fame. And you're one of those people, and I'm glad that you consider me a friend, Dallas. And I really appreciate your time sharing your thoughts and your stories with us. And we're we're gonna try to publish this stuff maybe the first of March. I've got some tech people that work out the kinks, but as soon as we get it out there, I'll send you and Linda a copy. Thank you, Julie. I appreciate it. Yes, sir. Good luck in Waco. Thank you. All right.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

The sun is down, the lights are bright, getting my fix on a Friday.