Saturday, January 05, 2008

I watched most of the Cotton Bowl game today, (New Years 2008). During the course of the game the announcers interviewed a spry, 83 year old Frank Broyles. They asked him questions about the tradition of the Cotton Bowl, he graciously shared his thoughts, then they asked him his favorite memory of all those years coaching the Arkansas team. His immediate reply was their national championship game in the 1964 Bowl game. That answer brought back some memories.
On January the first, 1964, we had slept late. It was a holiday, and besides we had been up past mid-night attending our New Year's Eve service. I had no more gotten out of the bed when the phone rang. It was Leroy Kirkpatrick and he asked me if I would like to have a couple of tickets to the Cotton Bowl game. "Give me a few minutes and I will call you back." To which he was agreeable. After discussing this with Bettye; kids, baby sitters, etc., she couldn't go, we decided to give Don Elmore, a member of our church at the time a call. He was a faithful member and from Arkansas, both qualified him to be the first I called. Absolutely! No question about it, he was ready and rearing to go. So I called Leroy back and told him I would take the tickets. By the time I was ready, and had eaten a bite, Don was knocking on my front door. Somewhere around 8 A.M. we were on the road to Dallas. We got there in time to do a little site seeing at the Texas State Fair and eat a big hotdog on the midway. The plastic mustard jar was hard and I cranked down on it with a grip of steel, (yeah, right) and it broke lose and sprayed mustard all over me and the lady standing next to me. What a way to start an adventure.
Anyway, we eventually found our seats, well up in the stands, but under the seats above us, because it rained during the game. We remained dry. Arkansas played Nebraska. It was a low scoring game with Nebraska taking a 7 to 3 lead into the last few minutes of the game. Arkansas mounted a late drive that resulted in a touchdown and was enough to win the game and secure the national championship for the Razorbacks and Frank Broyles that year.
I got a voice mail from Bro. Don today. He had heard Frank Broyles' comment, and reminded me that we were a part of his favorite memory during the years he coached at Arkansas University. Do you know where you were 43 years ago today?