Dave Nitz to the rescue

        Almost everyone who knew him fairly well has a Dave Nitz story. Here is mine.

      He rescued me once from having to do play-by-play of a basketball game.

      Those of us with Louisiana ties -- especially North Louisiana -- know that Dave is one of the most accomplished sports radio broadcasters of our time. 

      His affiliation with Louisiana Tech University athletics spanned almost 50 years, and he was the Shreveport baseball -- most the Captains -- play-by-play radio man for 20 years.

      He was dedicated and knowledgeable, personable (always with some stories), fun ... and talented. We all loved "Freeway Dave." He did love to travel, mostly by car.

      Give us Jim Hawthorne, Tim Brando and Nitz, and you've got "The Big Three" of northwest Louisiana broadcasting fame. 

       They were the modern-day successor to IZ, Irv Zeidman, the Shreveport Sports baseball/Centenary College basketball "voice" of the 1950s/early 1960s.

        We all listened to Nitz for hundreds -- maybe a couple of thousands -- of games (football, basketball, baseball) over the years. You had to love it!

         Dave passed away Tuesday at age 82, and we are sad. He was a character to remember.

         It was a pleasure to occasionally sit in with Nitz in the broadcast booth or on the basketball media table. And one memorable weekend is my "Nitz story."

---

       The week before Christmas, 1979, Dave was broadcasting Louisiana Tech women's basketball but also had agreed to do three Centenary College men's basketball games in New York (City and state).

        Jim Hawthorne had been Centenary's play-by-play guy for much of the 1970s -- before, during and after the Robert Parish era. But starting with the 1979-80 season, he had been hired to be LSU men's basketball announcer.

         Tracy Jackson -- who operated the Manpower temporary employment agency in Shreveport -- had play-by-play experience and did some Centenary games early that season. But he and wife Jo had a large family and he wanted that Christmas time with them, so he wasn't available for the New York trip.

          Centenary was scheduled to play Long Island University on Thursday night, then Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. -- near Albany, three hours from New York City -- on Saturday night, and finally national power St. John's University in Queens on Sunday night.         

         It just so happened that the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters were going to play in a big holiday tournament at Madison Square Garden that weekend.

         So Nitz was going to be in NYC, and we needed a play-by-play announcer for the Centenary games. Ah, yes, Nitz would do it.

         And as the Centenary sports information director for four years I was the "color" analyst for the road games, butting in to Hawthorne's play-by-play for much of that time.

There was a catch to Nitz's availability. The Lady Techsters, who the previous season had emerged as a national power (a status they would maintain for two decades), were playing in a tournament in Las Vegas early that week. They won that title and the team -- and Nitz -- flew to New York City on Thursday.

        Fine, except the time frame was short. Centenary's game with Long Island actually was in Brooklyn. So the question was, when and how would Nitz find the game's location?

         (It was a weird setting. The Schwartz Athletic Center was a gymnasium converted from an auditorium -- it once had been a theater -- and it was on the third floor of a building attached to  LIU's main building. Go figure -- Long Island U. in Brooklyn?)

          Game time, thankfully, was 8 p.m. (Eastern time). I had brought the radio equipment and set it up, and actually started the pregame broadcast.

         Quick note: I had never done play-by-play on radio, in public. Had been the "sidekick" -- analyst -- for high school football games and Centenary basketball. But the only play-by-play I'd done, many times, was in the bedroom of our home in Sunset Acres. 

         Never desired to do play-by-play on radio. Not my thing. (Would have been worse on television.)

         But game time was close, Nitz wasn't there. Oh, my .. where is he? I am not relishing this.

         And then ... two minutes to tipoff: Here's Dave!

         Freeway Dave to the rescue. Actually, Subway Dave ... because -- experienced and savvy traveler he was -- he had found his way to Brooklyn by subway and then a cab to LIU.

          Very times in my life was I happier to see someone than Dave that night.

           And it was a wild game to broadcast -- a 114-101 game, Centenary on the short end. But what a pleasure to do the game with Dave.

--- 

          Even better was the Saturday experience. First, Dave broadcast the Lady Techsters' game with Rutgers at "The Garden," which -- again, thankfully -- had a 1 p.m. start. High-profile matchup, which the Techsters won 89-83 in overtime. Got to sit with Dave at press row on the Garden floor.

           Then, we were off to Centenary's 8 p.m. game at Siena. Rode the train to Albany -- a neat trip near the Hudson River, and a passenger's view of the U.S. Military Academy. Caught a cab from the train station, and broadcast a good effort by Centenary but an 86-82 loss. Still fun.

           The next day, Sunday, back to Madison Square Garden and the Techsters' thrilling victory against powerful Old Dominion, 59-57. Tech's record after that: 16-1.

           That night, we made our way to Queens for Centenary's test against a talented St. John's team, one of the many powers for legendary coach Lou Carnesseca. I did a pregame interview with him, and he was very nice (to a radio novice). Centenary was no match for Lou's team; the final was 92-72.,

           What a weekend with Nitz.

---

           A follow-up: The Centenary team that had a 1-8 record (the victory had been in the season opener) after the New York trip improved slowly, then blossomed in March and wound up with a winning record and as the Trans America Athletic Conference postseason tournament champions.

         The Lady Techsters made the national semifinals (it was the AIAW then) for a rematch with Old Dominion (which starred Nancy Lieberman, Anne Donovan and Rhonda Rampolo). ODU won that one easily, but Tech's final 40-5 record was a sign of great things to come in the future.

          One other Nitz connection with me: The first Louisiana Tech events he broadcast were the games in the 1974 NCAA baseball regional at old Arlington Stadium. I covered that for The Shreveport Times, an early career highlight. 

         The University of Texas had one of the nation's best college baseball progams, but Tech darned near earned a College World Series trip, beating the Longhorns to reach the winners' bracket. Texas came back to top Tech twice. 

           It was a heckuva start for Nitz's career at Tech. He was a "new" guy for all of us then and became a legend over time. 

           We remember him fondly, and we are thankful for the memories. 

          

Sixty years later, J.W. Slack is a Hall of Famer

       (Note: This was written for the Louisiana Tech sports information office for the Athletics Hall of Fame induction weekend Oct. 18-19. This is the full version; a shorter take has been released on Tech web sites.)    

     Sixty years after he played his last football game for Louisiana Tech, J.W. Slack -- finally -- is going to be inducted into the Tech Athletics Hall of Fame.

     In the 1950s, he was a do-everything back and athlete for Bossier High and then arguably one of the more underrated players in Bulldogs' football history.

         A three-year starter, all-conference as a senior on one of Tech's best-ever teams, a solid running back, safety, punter, placekicker, kick returner, and team leader, the honor is for much more than just football.

       James Watkins Slack -- always just J.W. to everyone -- followed with a notable career in law enforcement, numerous contributions to life in Bossier City and Parish, and at Tech, where he has remained a fan and supporter, he created a legacy.

        The Slacks are the first three-generation football family in Tech history.

        Two of J.W. and Ginger's sons played defensive back for Tech -- the oldest, Terry, in 1974-77; the youngest, Jay, in 1984-87. And Terry's son, Hayden, was a walk-on wide receiver who earned a scholarship to play for the 'Dogs in 2011-12. (Middle son Dwayne also played in high school, as an offensive lineman, but not in college.)

       But the Tech Athletics Hall of Fame was a missing honor.

       J.W. thought it was possible in September 2001 when he was chosen as one of Tech's top 50 football players on its All-Century (100-year) team. But the call did not come until early in 2019.

       "They caught me so unprepared," he said of his response when told of his impending induction. "I thought it was never going to happen. Good gosh, I don't even remember what I said."

      "One great individual and one heckuva great athlete," said Dr. Billy Bundrick, the Tech legend as longtime team physician, orthopedic surgeon and university supporter who when he played end in 1959 was a team co-captain with Slack. "No one could ever say anything bad about J.W."

---

      If there is one regret, it is that Mary Virginia Williamson Slack -- "Ginger" -- is not here for this occasion. She was his No. 1 fan; they were married for 56 years. The three sons gave them six grandchildren.

      They met as sophomores at Bossier High School. She had moved in from Vivian, and his first sighting was in his science class when she came in to pick up absentee slips from the teacher.

        "I thought, 'Who in the world is that?' " J.W. recalled, and he slipped out of class, out the door, caught up to her in the hallway and asked, "Who are you?"
        "She must have thought I was an idiot," he said, and to prove it, he then noticed she was wearing a chain with a ring. When she said it was her boyfriend's, J.W. told her, "Give it back to him."

        Must have worked. Two years later, they married before J.W.'s senior football season at Bossier, in August 1954.

        Her death, at 74, in November 2010 came after nine years of treatment for multiple myeloma (bone cancer).

     The fateful day they learned of the disease, he told her, "I will make every step you make." And for the repeated treatments, in Dallas and in Shreveport, he was there, with one exception -- a heart bypass surgery forced him to miss one Dallas trip.

      "We got closer than we'd ever been," he says in reflection.

     "She was the matriarch of our family," J.W. said, "a silent person who never jumped on me or criticized me. She was a good mother, a good wife. I could have looked the world over and not done better."

      A pause, and a chokeful thought: "I miss her so much."

---

      The youngest of eight children in his family, he grew up on Waller Street in Bossier, and after his early football roots, developed into the star player at Bossier High in 1953 and '54, an All-City choice (unanimous pick as a senior).

      He was the Bearkats' team captain in his junior and senior years, and the big star.

       As a senior (1954), he was a second-team All-State selection in Class A, his district leading scorer by more than 20 points with 106 -- 16 touchdowns, 10 PATs. He ran for 1,130 yards on 139 carries.

      He scored the first touchdown, on a 51-yard double-reverse run, in Coach Bill Maxwell's 10-year stay as Bossier coach; the next week he  scored three TDs -- one a 48-yarder -- against Jonesboro-Hodge, the first Bearkats' victory for Maxwell. He had TD runs of 95 and 23 yards against Homer, and three more TDs vs. Ouachita (Monroe), including 42- and 55-yarders. 

      And in his final home game against powerful Springhill, he scored all 19 Bossier points (in a 32-19 loss). 

      In the spring, he was a sprinter in track and field, and a speedy centerfielder in baseball.  

---

    And yet, his college days had a rocky start and they almost began, of all places, at arch-rival Northwestern State. Almost.

     He followed some Bossier High buddies there, reporting for two-a-day practices. But an off-field issue cropped up and  "I knew right away I was in the wrong place," J.W. said. He returned to Bossier, intending to find a job, but was encouraged to call coach Joe Aillet at Tech, who added him to the squad deep into fall practice.

      In Coach Aillet, as so many at Tech did, he found "the person who had more impact on my life than anyone except my parents. ... He was my mentor, my coach -- a brilliant coach -- and, more importantly, he was my friend." 

      He played some as a sub for the outstanding 1955 Bulldogs, but not enough to letter. Then he left school after the season and, with a young family to support, worked in the oilfields "and I found I didn't want to do that." He asked Aillet for another chance, received it, and returned to school in January 1957.

       To become eligible, he needed to earn 24 hours credit by the fall, so summer school and working a job were a necessity. Aillet helped arrange a job for Ginger and a place for them and a very young Terry in the famed Tech Vetville residencies.

    He became a Tech regular at running back and safety for three Gulf States Conference-title seasons -- records of 6-4, 7-3 and 9-1, including a combined 13-2 GSC record.

      As a sophomore in 1957 -- when he played both ways, rushed for 350 yards, punted, placekicked, and returned kicks -- he earned Tech's Billy Moss Memorial Trophy for contributions to the team.   

      The '59 team, one of three Aillet-coached Tech teams that finished with a 9-1 record (also 1955 and 1964), was one of the best defensive teams in school history, if not the best -- six shutouts and only 48 total points by opponents. The only spoiler was a 13-6 opening loss at Lamar.

       "Two or three games I did really well," J.W. said, and in typical modest fashion, quickly added, "If I am bragging on myself, I'm sorry."

      Slack was the team's biggest star in three victories -- a then-school-record 158 yards rushing (with TDs of 52 and 13 yards) in a 28-0 romp at McNeese; 135 yards (and a fourth-quarter TD) in a tough 14-0 battle at Southeastern Louisiana; and the season's biggest test, a 10-8 slugfest with Memphis State -- ranked No. 7 nationally among small-college teams -- on a cold, sleeting, and J.W. noted, "miserable" mid-November day in Ruston.

        Norris "Bud" Alexander's late 26-yard field goal settled that game, but Jim Dawson's story in The Shreveport Times the next day emphasized Slack's contributions.

      Calling him "a solid candidate for Little All-America honors" as he mentions Slack scoring the game's first TD and kicking the PAT in the first quarter, Dawson went on to write: "Slack was magnificent in every phase of the game. His booming punts kept Memphis in deep holes much of the time, his defensive play was sharp and his ball-carrying was sensational. Slack led the rushers with 84 yards on 23 pile-driving carries."
     J.W. had punts of 54 and 53 yards that left Memphis State at its 2-yard line and inside its 1.

     Indeed, after the season, J.W. earned one All-America honor.

     The other starting halfback, Paul Hynes, was more explosive and talented enough to play in the pros for a couple of years. But Slack was the team's leading rusher in 1959 with 588 yards.

     The statistics, however, pale in comparison to future years' stars. One reason was that playing time was limited by the college rules then; it was the era of three-platoon systems (at LSU, the famous White team, Go -- short for Gold -- team and the Chinese Bandits; at Tech, the Red, Blue and Green teams), in which substitutions were limited.

    So the first unit, playing both offense and defense, would play two full quarters -- only one sub allowed, except for injuries -- and the other two units, one for only offense, the other for only defense, would alternate in parts of the game.

      "We might play only 2 1/2 quarters in a game," Slack recalled. "So the stats were weathered down, even for guys like [Heisman Trophy winners] John David Crow (Texas A&M) and Billy Cannon (LSU)."

      Slack did finish as Tech's No. 5 all-time rusher at the time.

---

    Pat Garrett was a fellow Tech running back for a couple of years, the fastest man on the Tech campus -- a champion sprinter in track and field -- and later a respected English professor.

     "J.W. was a very consistent runner, an up-the-field runner, not sideways like me," Dr. Garrett said. "He was dependable, so level and consistent. You could depend on him; he was the kind of back Coach Aillet liked to have.

     "He was quite a guy, admired and well-liked by all of us."

      Billy Bundrick, like Slack, arrived at Tech in the fall of 1955, a year after they made the Shreveport-Bossier All-City team, Bundrick as an end at Byrd High.  Dr. Bundrick recalled that "our offense [Tech 1959] wasn't wide-open, but J.W. would do whatever was needed for the team. ... We were co-captains, but really he was the head honcho."

      Mickey Slaughter quickly became a J.W. Slack fan as a freshman on the 1959 team.  

     "He was a wonderful running back and an outstanding safety," said Slaughter, destined to become a Tech quarterback star who went on to pro football and then was the offensive mastermind of the Maxie Lambright era coaching staff. "He was a really good tackler and good cover man, although he didn't have to cover much in that time because not many teams threw the football a lot.

     "He was very strong physically, not very big, but tough. [On offense] he could cut on a dime, and he was always going forward. ... He had the unique ability of shredding tacklers. Guys would hit him and maybe stop him for a moment, but he would break away and get more yards.

     "The best thing about him was his leadership," Slaughter added. "He was a born leader, in practice and in games. All the guys looked up to him, especially the young ones, and I was one of those."

---

      After Tech graduation in 1960, with a B.A. in education, there were two brief tries to play in the new American Football League. They did not take.

      He twice went to the California training camp of the Chargers (Los Angeles 1960, San Diego 1961), with an $8,000 free-agent contract and $500 bonus the first year. That coaching staff included some NFL legends -- head coach Sid Gillman and assistants Al Davis and Chuck Noll; his defensive backs coach was Jack Faulkner, who had a long career in the AFL and NFL.

      Among the best-known players in those camps: quarterback Jack Kemp (who went on to politics) and punter-end Paul Maguire (who went on to TV broadcasting).

       But "I didn't do a good job of trying to make the team," recalled J.W. "I was homesick [for his family] the first year" and a job opportunity with the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Department -- he had gotten to know Sheriff Willie Waggoner a few years before -- enticed him in '61.
      Going into coaching had been a consideration, but being a student teacher cooled that idea, and the money in law enforcement was more appealing. He did turn down coaching offers a couple of years later.

      In two stints with the Sheriff's Department for much of two decades, his roles included deputy, head of the records section, detective, chief polygraph examiner, and juvenile officer working with middle and high school students who had discipline problems.

      He also received special training at centers in New York City and other law-enforcement schools, and in the mid-1990s, was liaison officer for the Bossier police and sheriff's departments and point man for security efforts, working with the U.S. Secret Service branch.        

      J.W. also was a serial candidate for political offices in Bossier Parish. He ran for clerk of court in 1967, for tax assessor in 1971 (lost in a runoff), and for sheriff -- the job he most desired, to succeed  Waggoner after his death -- in 1976, finishing third in a 10-man race. 

      "I probably should not have run for a couple of those," he concedes. But after losing the sheriff's race, he subsequently rejoined the department.

The Slack family in 1967

       He found a longtime place in the Bossier Parish School Board as the District 7 representative, selected to fill a spot vacated by a death in July 1998. He has served in that role for more than 20 years, running unopposed and, with thoughts of retiring, being encouraged by constituents to remain in the post a year ago.

       He was school board president in 2004 and a bond issue was passed in that year. He says now that "we have been able to accomplish a lot" in his time on the board, building new schools and boosting facilities. "We've been pretty successful. I don't take credit for that, but I guess we were doing something right."

      He also became a Masonic Lodge member, and at First Baptist Church, was on the board of deacons, in the adult men's Bible classes, the adult choir, and on the properties and grounds committee.

      He and Ginger later moved to Airline Baptist Church. And their religious convictions carried through to the family.

      Terry Slack, after a decade coaching career at Airline High, including five years (1984-88) as head coach, became Northwest Louisiana area director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and has been FCA state director since 2011. Hayden now is the Northwest Louisiana area director.

      J.W. always has stayed involved with Tech, serving on the Alumni Association executive committee in the mid-1970s, and following his sons' and grandson's careers as Bulldogs players.

      Unsurprisingly, Terry and Hayden both call him "my biggest hero."

       But other than the usual father/son/grandson play around the house, the former star player did not coach them. 

       "He never interfered," said Terry. "He must have made a decision to back off and let my coaches do the coaching in junior and high school. ... He did not really get technical with me in talking football.

     "People thought I would be a running back because he was," Terry added. "I played there a little, but mostly I was on defense."

      Hayden played at Calvary Baptist under head coach Doug Pederson, who went on to be the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. J.W. did offer Hayden some advice on punting, but very little.

        "Wish I had had some of his speed," said Hayden. "Obviously I did not know him as a player, but I know him as a man. He's a Godly man, with high character, and I know the great example he set for our family."

     Of his Tech days, J.W. was especially proud to have been teammates -- as others were -- with the three Hinton brothers (Pat one year, Tommy for two and Joe for three). And, "I enjoyed my time there and made so many great friends."

        Now, those friends who remain with us and all Tech fans will know J.W. Slack as a Hall of Famer. It was overdue.

Opening Night at Joe Aillet Stadium -- 50 years ago

The first touchdown in the first game at Joe Aillet Stadium, 1968 season, by
Louisiana Tech fullback Buster Herren (31). No. 50 is center John Harper.
 (photo by Ralph Findley)

(Note: The last in the series commemorating the first 50 years of football at Louisiana Tech's Joe Aillet Stadium. This story is about the first game there and the view from the new press box.)

---

By Nico Van Thyn

(Louisiana Tech student sports information assistant, 1965-69)

      The first football game at Louisiana Tech's new stadium -- then just Tech Stadium, renamed Joe Aillet Stadium four years later -- was Sept. 28, 1968, a night game against East Carolina University.

      The most notable player in the game, of course, was Terry Bradshaw -- future Pro Football Hall of Famer, four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.

      Fortunately, he was on our team. Louisiana Tech won easily, 35-7, in what was to be a season of revival for Tech football (9-2 record, after dips to 4-4, 1-9 and 3-7 in previous seasons).

      The stadium opening was, as you can imagine, a long-anticipated event after decades in the old Tech Stadium on the main campus.

      The new place was less than a mile away, in an area which had been woods just a few years earlier but was picked out -- and envisioned for development -- by Joe Aillet, the longtime and by then legendary Tech athletic director-head football coach.

      The press box at the old stadium had a certain charm because it was a tight fit -- two levels of seating, maybe 10 to 12 people on each row. So the occupants were in close proximity; it was not cozy.

      The two radio crews, home and away, were near the ends on the top level; it wasn't much of a secret what the announcers were saying.

      Obviously, the new stadium and new press box brought much excitement. We watched it being built over a two- or- three-year period.

      It wasn't a long walk up to the old Tech Stadium press box, not as long as the walk to the new stadium press box. And the first couple of years, it was a walk; the elevator -- maybe for lack of funds -- was no installed then until much later. We got shafted on that.

      So for the press box crew -- Tech's sports information department and the radio and film people -- it meant carrying up equipment up through the stands and back down afterward. A hassle, but Paul Manasseh -- Tech's SID that year before moving to a long tenure as SID at LSU -- never let much rattle him.

      Seating was plentiful in this press box, there was elbow room for everyone, and there was a deck above for film and (when needed) TV crews (this was before the upstairs area was expanded years later).

      But seating downstairs wasn't exactly comfortable, especially at first. Structurally, seats were built too close to the working tables, so people whose bellies were somewhat expanded -- we did have a couple of sportswriters who fit that description -- were unable to get into those seats. Adjustments had to be made quickly.

      Second problem structurally: The area behind the seats on the lower level was too tight -- a tight squeeze just trying to move down the aisle. That never did get much better.

      Third problem the first night: Although the air conditioning system surely had been tested, this was a humid Saturday night. When the air conditioning got cranked up, the windows in the press box looking out on the field fogged up.

      Those of us trying to watch the game and keep statistics had to move around to find non-fogged areas. We even had to go outside the press box for a while to do our work.

      That did get cleared up in a short while.

      As for the football game, the Tech team came in feeling very good, having beaten an SEC opponent in the opening game the week before. Winning at Mississippi State 20-13 was a boost to the program after three mediocre seasons. (True, Mississippi State did not win a game that season, 0-8-2 record, but it was a "major" opponent for Tech).

      Bradshaw, taking over as the permanent QB starter when Phil Robertson -- future "Duck Commander" -- decided not to play after being the starter in the 1966 and 1967 seasons (with Terry as his backup), showed his great promise in the first two games of 1968.

      East Carolina was a new and very interesting opponent for Tech, and a challenging one. For one, it was one of the few college football teams still running the old single-wing offense -- a tricky scheme for the opposing defense. Two, under coach Clarence Stasavich, the Pirates were coming off consecutive season records of 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 and 8-2.

      But Tech's team was up to the physical and mental challenge. And East Carolina could not stop Bradshaw's passing to talented receivers such as Tommy Spinks, Ken Liberto, Robbie Albright and tight end Larry Brewer. 

      Tech's running game balanced the attack, and it was fullback Buster Herren who scored the first touchdown in new Tech Stadium history.

      The new stadium, strangely, did not mean a big boost in home attendance. This was years before official turnstile counts; crowds listed were guestimates by the wise media people in the press box.

      Attendance for the East Carolina game was listed at 10,000 -- the original stadium capacity was 24,000 -- and that was what was listed for a couple of the conference games at the old Tech Stadium the previous season.

      For the remaining three home games in 1968, the listed attendance was 14,000, 10,000 and 5,000 (a cold night game vs. New Mexico State on Thanksgiving). The press-box windows did not fog up that night.  

Tech's second bowl game: a long day in Baton Rouge

          (This was written for the Louisiana Tech sports information department as part of its bowl package)
---
      To start, two significant factors about Louisiana Tech's second football bowl game: (1) It was Terry Bradshaw's final college game; (2) he was sacked 12 times for 143 yards.

      That should tell you something about how the game went. It was a long Saturday afternoon for the 1969 Tech Bulldogs.

     Oh, there were similarities with Tech's first bowl game, played 364 days earlier:

      -- It was still called the Grantland Rice Bowl, although the site had changed ... from Murfreesboro, Tenn., to Baton Rouge, La.

      -- It again was the NCAA College Division Mideast Regional game (no playoffs beyond that, though).

      -- It was another powerful Tech team (8-1 regular-season record, with an excruciating one-point loss), even better than the year before (8-2, with a six-game winning streak).

      -- And Bradshaw was still the Tech quarterback, the star attraction.

      He was the College Division All-America QB (an honor announced the previous week), and considered by many the best at his position in the country, regardless of classification. And that included the NFL talent scouts who saw him as a potential high first-round draft pick.   

      The most notable similarity: The final result was a 20-point margin. But this time Tech -- a 33-13 winner against the University of Akron on Dec. 14, 1968 -- was a 34-14 loser.

      Because, in a significant difference, this opponent -- East Tennessee State -- obviously was much stronger, an unbeaten, once-tied team that had won the Ohio Valley Conference championship. 

      Didn't matter that the "experts" -- primarily the Dunkel Power Index -- had Tech as a 14-point favorite coming in. ETSU had won games by 2, 4, 6 and 2 points; Tech had only one narrow escape (a 1-point victory). Results against two common opponents made Tech appear as the much stronger team.

      Prediction fiction.

      No, ETSU had a heralded, ball-hawking defense which had held seven opponents to no more than seven points. (More on that unit in a moment.)

      Turned out it had no fear of a Tech team that had averaged 35.2 points a game -- a school record that stood for 29 years -- and was boosted by one 77-point game. ETSU's speed and aggressiveness proved too much for the Bulldogs, and even Bradshaw.

      From almost start (Bradshaw was sacked for a 19-yard loss on his first play) to finish (Terry sacked on his final three  plays, for 9, 14 and 14 yards), not much went right for Tech.

      Maybe Bradshaw had tougher days in a 14-year NFL career and was treated more roughly -- such as 1976 when Cleveland defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones slammed him on his head and neck, causing a concussion and sidelining him for a few weeks. He was sacked 307 times in the pros, but likely never more in one game than this one.

      Still, despite all the harassment and some mistakes, he stood in and showed his talent, completing 20 of 39 passes for 299 yards and the Bulldogs' only two TDs, and -- briefly in the third quarter -- leading a Tech comeback and hopes for a victory.

      Bill McIntyre, The Shreveport Times sports editor/lead columnist, reflected Terry's status in his postgame column.
      The second paragraph read: "You get a Terry Bradshaw every three or four decades, maybe. You don't get one very often. A Y.A. Tittle comes wheeling through Louisiana football in the '40s and you get a Terry Bradshaw in the late '60s. Probably a Joe Ferguson in the early '70s, but you don't get one very often."

      He went on to write about Bradshaw's travails that afternoon, including an injured leg near the end of the game.
      And, in his game story, McIntyre turned to a cliche'-filled paragraph to describe the scene: "Bradshaw, the finest passer ever produced in Louisiana, was the boy caught on the burning deck as the Pirates climbed aboard. He was the kid with his finger in the dike and the water swirling around his shoulders."

      Actually, ETSU was the Buccaneers; its defensive players -- the "Hardrock Club" -- were rewarded for good deeds with skull and crossbones decals (the pirate theme) on their helmets. In this game, they could have used an extra supply.

      (Both teams' helmets also included a "100" logo, emblematic that season of college football's 100th anniversary.)

---

      Not only was it Bradshaw's finale, but so, too, for his fellow seniors who had helped resurrect Tech's program in the 1968 season after a couple of down years.

      The group included split end Tommy Spinks (Bradshaw's teammate and close friend since junior high in Shreveport), tight end Larry Brewer, offensive tackle Butch Williams and defensive tackle Johnny Richard -- all all-conference selections -- plus others such as fullback Buster Herren, center John Harper (a team tri-captain with Bradshaw and Spinks), speedy wide receiver Robbie Albright, safety Ricky Taylor, running back  Dwain Istre and punter Butch Troegel.

      But there were rumors ...

      In the game's aftermath, and maybe beforehand, word was that Tech's players -- after a long, hard season -- voted to refuse the bowl bid. Head coach Maxie Lambright, his program fully functional in his third season at Tech, wasn't having that. 

      Another factor: the site of the game. Baton Rouge perhaps wasn't the players' idea of an ideal bowl trip.

      For its first five years, the Grantland Rice Bowl had been played in Murfreesboro, hometown of America's most famous sportswriter. The bowl was named for him. 

      But as Tech's team and fans well knew, the weather in Murfreesboro the day of the game in 1968 had been brutal (snow flurries and a wind that brought the chill to near 0 degrees) and the attendance at Middle Tennessee State University's old stadium had been estimated at 600.

      So when Baton Rouge and its downtown Lions Club bid for the game, the NCAA was happy to move it. (Why it remained the Grantland Rice Bowl at the new site is hard to explain, but it remained that way through 1977 and two more host cities -- Fargo, N.D., and Anniston, Ala.) 

      Now the site was Memorial Stadium, Baton Rouge's best high school stadium, a no-frills facility just off downtown in the long shadow of the majestic Louisiana State Capitol building. It seated 22,000 -- and this game, on a beautiful mid-50 degrees afternoon for football, drew 16,101 paid spectators.

      But that stadium ...

      "Some of the players, and even some of the coaches, were not enthused about a bowl game in Baton Rouge," remembered Tech offensive backfield coach Mickey Slaughter, Bradshaw's coaching mentor in 1967-69. "We knew what Memorial Stadium was like, and playing there didn't seem the preferable place to end a very good season."

      And, as Slaughter recalled, "They had had a circus there the week or two before that game, and the smell was still just awful."

      About a circus and the smell, that was a fit for Tech football that day.

---

      It was 13-0 at halftime. A zero for a Tech team that had scored no fewer than 23 points in any game.

      The Bulldogs never caught up, although they closed to 13-7 and later 20-14. At the end of the third quarter, they were on the ETSU 34 with a chance to take the lead.

      Typical of the day: On the first play of the fourth quarter, Bradshaw was blitzed and tackled for an 18-yard loss. Tech ended up punting, and then its defense sank.

      The omen, though, came on Tech's first offensive play and series.

      ETSU defensive end Ron Mendheim (No. 89) introduced himself right away, closing on Bradshaw as he dropped back to pass and then retreated on his scramble ... and Mendheim chased him down from behind. So second-and-29, and it got worse.

      Terry completed two passes in a row to Istre, for 13 yards (nullified by a motion penalty) and then a 35-yard gain (brought back by a clipping penalty). On Tech's fifth play, Mendheim was back, blindsiding Bradshaw and causing him to fumble. ETSU recovered at Tech's 17, and soon scored.

      By halftime, Mendheim had five sacks, and Bradshaw had avoided another sack (and a 24-yard loss) with a desperate throw. Intercepted.

      Another pass, deflected, was picked off, too. So was a third one.

      But, considering ETSU's 34 interceptions in the regular season, it fit a pattern. The Bucs' defense was known as "Bennett's Bandits" in honor of secondary coach Buddy Bennett.

      "We made that guy famous nationally," Slaughter recently recalled, laughing. "Well, if not nationally, maybe just in the deep South."

      Indeed. The next year Bennett was the secondary coach for the Tennessee Vols and first-year head coach Bill Battle. An unheralded secondary improved rapidly, intercepted 36 passes (eight against Alabama) -- the "Bennett's Bandits" nickname had moved to Knoxville -- and then four more in a 34-13 Sugar Bowl victory against Air Force, capping an 11-1 season. And the following season, 1971, Bennett became defensive coordinator for Frank Broyles at Arkansas.

     More early offensive misery for Tech: After the Bulldogs recovered an ETSU fumble on a punt at the 30, Herren caught a flare pass from Bradshaw, but fumbled the ball away at the ETSU 10. (Buster later did go in for Tech's first TD on an 8-yard pass.)

      Meanwhile, ETSU broke two significant offensive plays -- a 37-yard halfback option pass that completely fooled Tech's defense for the game's second TD, and just after the Bulldogs' first score, a 61-yard run (longest in NCAA College Division bowl history then) by Jerry Daughtry to the Tech 1. 

      "When No. 44 (Daughtry) broke loose on that simple little dive play," Bradshaw said after the game, "and ran all the way to the 1-yard line, that mentally broke us."

      Except it didn't; Terry misfired on that recall. Because he rallied Tech again for its second score on a 19-yard pass to old buddy Spinks late in the third quarter. 

      Tech's top receivers -- who had totaled 94 catches for 1,854 yards in the regular season (Spinks 46 for 995, Brewer 30 for 357, and Albright 18 for 502) -- had decent days vs. ETSU: Brewer five catches for 111 yards, Spinks five for 76, and Albright four for 72. Didn't matter.

      The last quarter was all ETSU, drives of 88 and 44 yards, capped with touchdown passes by Larry Grantham for 33 and 18 yards. Ballgame.

      Proof that Tech made a lot of little plays: It led in first downs, 17-15. But the Bucs' total-yardage edge was big (419-256) and their 245 rushing yards was 14 short of the then-NCAA College Division bowl record.

     Tech assistant coach Pat Collins, then the linebackers coach and later the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame/national championship head coach at Northeast Louisiana, summed up the game in his usual direct, salty manner:

      "They just flat beat the hell out of us," he told an Alexandria Town Talk reporter covering the game. Slaughter, standing nearby, nodded in agreement.  

      Lambright was more low-key, as was his media manner.

      "East Tennessee State was the best team out there today," he said. "They are a fine, fine team. ... I didn't think anybody could get to Terry as many times as they did." 

      He specified ETSU's third-down success as a key. "They made their big plays, and we didn't," he said. "It was as simple as that."

      That, and a dozen sacks, three interceptions and two lost fumbles, and a leaky defense.

---

    Bradshaw afterward was disheveled, battered and bruised -- red welts were evident -- as he shed his grass-stained white jersey in the quiet Tech dressing room. He appeared to have been on the losing end of a fight.

     Moments after speaking with general manager Don Klosterman of the Houston Oilers, he faced the surrounding media.

      "Most of the time they blitzed on second down," he said of the ETSU defense. "I thought I had picked up a key, but the way they were jumping around, it was hard to tell what they were going to do."

      Then he reflected on the past four years.

      "I've had a great career at Tech," he said. "I just hate to lose the last game. I hate to lose any game."

      But the game proved -- if there was doubt -- that Terry could take a beating and keep playing, and Klosterman voiced what NFL teams were thinking.

      "We want him," he said. "We think he is one of the greatest pro prospects to ever come along. We just hope we get a chance to draft him." 

      Picking 14th, they had no chance. A little more than six weeks later, after Bradshaw had played in a couple of all-star games (one with Spinks and Brewer as teammates), the Pittsburgh Steelers made him the No. 1 overall pick. 

      Terry would go through two difficult losing seasons in the NFL, but by his third year the Steelers were in the playoffs and soon winning four Super Bowls in six seasons, and he was on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

      Louisiana Tech football would sink badly in 1970, then hit its greatest era -- 44-4, three national championships -- from 1971 to '74. (That included a 12-0 record in 1972 and another Grantland Rice Bowl at, yes, Memorial Stadium in Baton Rouge, and a 35-0 victory against Tennessee Tech. That one didn't smell.)

      For East Tennessee State, it never before or since had a season like 1969 -- its only season without a loss. Under respected coach John Robert Bell, the Bucs were very good again the next year (7-1-2), but winless in 1971. After that, only once in 35 seasons did they win more than seven games, and interest in the program waned so badly that the university dropped football after the 2003 season. 

      After 11 dormant years, ETSU fielded a team again in 2015; its head coach until Dec. 8 this year was Carl Torbush, a Louisiana Tech assistant in the early 1980s, then head coach for one year (1987).

      But on one December 1969 afternoon in Baton Rouge, ETSU had its finest football hours. And Louisiana Tech -- in Terry Bradshaw's last stand -- had a game to forget. If only we could. 

---

      Note: From 1965 to spring 1969, I was student assistant in Louisiana Tech's sports information office. The fall of 1969 was my first fulltime football season at The Shreveport Times.

      Photos copied from Alexandria Daily Town Talk, Dec. 14, 1969.