The Bear Centennial

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"If we had been more vigilant, September 11 would still be known as Bear Bryant's birthday."

Actor Fred Thompson

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If Bear Bryant still lived, today would be his 100th birthday.

But, as I observed in January, he's been dead for 30 years.

In Alabama, they've been working on plans for the centennial birthday celebration for more than a year. It hasn't been an easy task. The director of the Paul W. Bryant Museum lamented last year that the problem was deciding what could be omitted.

Bryant's life story really was like that. Every moment seems to be so significant that to leave out anything is to somehow diminish the life.

Frankly, it reminds me of the disclaimer at the start of the movie "Gandhi" — "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling."

And so it is with the Bear Bryant story.

(Last night, on the eve of Bryant's 100th birthday, I saw a post from the Huntsville (Ala.) Times about Bryant's last letter. "Bryant would frequently reply to fan mail," writes Melissa Brown, "even in January 1983, the month he passed away."

(Apparently, many of those fans believe they received the last letter Bryant wrote.)

It was just as hard, I suppose, to decide what the most appropriate salute should be.

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About the only thing that would be truly appropriate on this occasion would be if Alabama or Texas A&M, the schools where Bryant left his mark as a coach, could play a game today. But this is Wednesday, and college football teams rarely play games in the middle of the week.

However, college football teams do play on Saturdays, and Alabama and Texas A&M will be playing each other in College Station this Saturday.

That is so perfect that it almost certainly was planned. Considering the stature Bryant has in this game, it might well have been planned even if the two schools were not competing in the same conference.

Let me say right now that I have seen no evidence that it was planned — but Alabama and Texas A&M are conference rivals now (they weren't in the Bear's day), and the modern Southeastern Conference is so big now that it has two divisions. Members of a division always play each other — they alternate their games against teams in the other division, but they always play the teams in their own division.

Alabama and Texas A&M are in the same division. Last year, they played in Alabama, and A&M handed Alabama its only loss of the year (en route to its second consecutive national title). The Aggies' quarterback also became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

There's enough intrigue surrounding that game to entice even the Bear — and that would have taken some doing in his lifetime. He must have faced off against just about every major football coach in the country at one time or another.

I know for a fact he faced Joe Paterno at least once because I was there. My family and I went to New Orleans to see the Sugar Bowl one year, and Alabama was playing Penn State.

In a quarter of a century as the head coach at Alabama, Bryant faced and defeated Bob Devaney, Ara Parseghian, Bud Wilkinson, John McKay, Lou Holtz, Woody Hayes, Tom Osborne, Barry Switzer. He never faced Bo Schembechler, and he never managed to beat Darrell Royal in four tries.

And Bryant once faced Frank Broyles, the longtime head coach at my alma mater, the University of Arkansas. Bryant won, and I've always been struck by an irony. After the 1941 season, during which Bryant was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, he was offered the head coaching job at Arkansas.

I guess a little historical background is needed here. Fred Thomsen had been Arkansas' coach since 1929, and he had done some good things for the Razorbacks. He won the Hogs' first Southwest Conference title in 1933 — when Bryant was playing end for Alabama — but the title was forfeited when it turned out he had used an ineligible athlete.

Thomsen also popularized the forward pass at Arkansas. He even had different quarterbacks, depending on conditions — one for wet weather and another for dry weather. He had good years and bad years through 1937, and if he had left after that season, his name probably would be revered today on the Arkansas campus and, indeed, throughout the state.

But the Hogs went 13–25–2 from 1938–41, and there were rumblings among the fans (according to a book on the Razorbacks that was co–written by one of my former Arkansas Gazette colleagues) that the program needed a "name" coach to revive it.

Thomsen had enlisted in the service after Pearl Harbor, and it came as a surprise to his wife that the Board of Trustees, authorized by the state legislature, arranged to cut him a check — and, in the process, cut the school's ties with him — while he was serving his country abroad.

At the same time, apparently, the school was pursuing Bryant (who was born in Arkansas) to lead the team, but Bryant had enlisted in the Navy. So Arkansas endured some misfires at the head coaching position before finally getting a long–termer in Broyles in 1958, the same year Bryant went to Alabama.

Arkansas fans can only wonder what might have been if the war had not interfered. Broyles had some great years at Arkansas — he even shared a national title with Bryant once — but his career was not even close to Bryant's. In all honesty, no one's was.

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When Bryant died 30 years ago, the people of Alabama lined the highway overpasses in respectful silence to watch the funeral procession go by.

I can think of no other figure from Alabama who commanded that kind of respect — not firebrand politicians, not Supreme Court justices, no one.

The Bear was one of a kind.

There Was No One Like the Bear

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"His nickname was Bear. Now imagine a guy that can carry the nickname Bear."

Joe Namath

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Until I breathe my last breath, I will remember watching football games on TV with my father when I was growing up.

We didn't have a TV until I was in elementary school, but once we got one, my memory is that we always watched college football on Saturdays and pro football on Sundays — and then, when Monday Night Football came along, I watched those games with my father, too.

(Well, I watched the first halves. When the game reached halftime, I knew it was time for me to go to bed — and I would drift off to sleep listening to the banter from the broadcast booth coming from the TV in our living room.

(On rare occasions, my parents would permit me to stay up and watch a game to the end. I always felt a little more grown up at those times, the same as I did whenever my parents allowed me to stay up to watch Johnny Carson.)

I guess one of the nice things — one of the reassuring truths — of life in those days was the certainty that some things never changed.

Tom Landry was always the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Woody Hayes was always the coach of Ohio State. Joe Paterno was always the coach of Penn State.

In Arkansas, where I grew up, Frank Broyles was always the coach of the Razorbacks. When he announced his retirement in 1976, I was shocked. Who would coach the Hogs? I wondered. Broyles had been the Razorbacks' only coach in my lifetime — and I was in my teens when he stepped down.

I simply could not imagine anyone else walking the sidelines that Broyles had walked all those years.

(Ironically, one of the things I always enjoyed as a student at the University of Arkansas when I attended football games was being able to watch Broyles' hand–picked successor, the hyperactive Lou Holtz, doing precisely that — but in his own Woody Allen–like fashion.)

Bear Bryant was much the same way. He wasn't the only man to coach Alabama's football team, but he was Alabama when I was growing up. I'm sure there were thousands of people in Alabama who grew up in those days who believed — to some extent — that the 'Bama coaching job was created for Bear Bryant — and would cease to exist without him.

He was always easy to spot, even if one was seated a great distance from the field — and I speak from experience on that. Once, I attended a Sugar Bowl in which Alabama participated. My seat was in the nosebleed section, but I could still spot Bear Bryant.

He was an imposing figure, and he always wore his trademark houndstooth hat — sometimes with a matching jacket — to football games. Well, there were exceptions. He didn't wear his hat when Alabama played in a domed stadium. Once, I recall, he was asked about that, and he said his mother raised him to take off his hat when he was inside.

Because of that, I didn't get to see him wearing that hat in person. That Sugar Bowl was played in the Superdome.

There were other Southern coaches who wore hats to games — in the pros, for example, Landry did and so did Bum Phillips. Like the Bear, though, most of them wouldn't wear a hat when a game was being played indoors, either.

But I believe Bryant was the first.

When I was a child in the 1960s, George Wallace was the state's most prominent, most popular (and most notorious) politician. Bear Bryant was probably the only man in Alabama who could have beaten Wallace in a race for anything.

In the long and storied history of college football, there was never anyone like the Bear. He coached Alabama for a quarter of a century and averaged a national title about every four years. When he retired at the end of the 1982 season, he had won more games than any other college football coach.

In the last 30 years, Bryant has been surpassed in total victories by a handful of coaches who had the good fortune of playing more games in a given year and who really only needed to break even to receive a bowl bid.

The team Bryant took over in 1958 had won only eight games in the previous four seasons. Bryant led the Crimson Tide to five wins in his first season alone and then proceeded to take the Tide to bowl games in 24 consecutive seasons (1959–1982) — at a time when bowl bids really meant something.

Bowl bids were more precious in the Bear's day. There must be three or four times as many bowls today as there were then. Today's bar is ridiculously low.

Yet winning was even more routine at Alabama in those days than it is today. Whenever a Bryant–coached Alabama team lost — to anyone — it was big news. Stop the presses news.

Bear Bryant died 30 years ago today. That was big news, too.

But it probably wouldn't have surprised the Bear, had he known of it.

The night of his final game, a 21–15 Liberty Bowl victory over Illinois, he was asked what he would do in retirement. "Probably croak in a week," he replied.

It was actually a month later, but his words were prophetic. He passed a routine physical on Jan. 25, 1983 but died the next day.

His cause of death was given as a heart attack, but it was actually a combination of health issues he had been battling for three years. His doctor said Bryant's battle had been "heroic," TIME magazine reported — but his motives for staying at Alabama weren't entirely altruistic.

About the only reason he stayed was to complete his pursuit of the title of winningest college football coach of all time.

He did reach that pinnacle in 1981, and he stayed on to coach another season, but he felt his performance was sub–par.

"[I]n my opinion, they deserved better coaching than they have been getting from me this year," Bryant said of his players. And he chose to step down.

A month after his last game, he was dead.

I will always remember when I heard that Bryant had died. I was working for a small newspaper in central Arkansas where the custom was for the most junior staffer to cover the police and fire beats, which occasionally meant covering trials in the county courthouse.

I was the most junior staffer in January 1983.

On this day in 1983, I was sitting in a courtroom. I don't recall now what kind of trial was being conducted, but I remember there was some kind of break, and I was sitting in the courtroom with a few other people when the bailiff came in and, with an ashen look on his face, said simply, "Bear Bryant died today."

The news was delivered in the same somber tones that are often reserved for the announcement of the death of a president or a pope.

A few minutes later, the judge came in and told us, in the same somber tones, that the court would adjourn for the remainder of the day. As I walked out of the courthouse, I saw some folks lowering the American flag to half staff.

Ordinarily, the courthouse wouldn't lower the flag unless a former president or governor had died. But they lowered the flag that day in honor of a football coach who coached and died in another state.

I suppose it helped that he was born and raised in Arkansas. Nevertheless, that is the kind of respect Bryant enjoyed.

There was no one like the Bear.

Seems Like Old Times

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This weekend brings a revival of some great rivalries in college football.

Notre Dame and Michigan will face each other this weekend in the latest chapter of a rivalry that goes back to the 19th century, and the Southeastern Conference will be showcasing a couple of important clashes, too.

But Penn State and Alabama has to be the most magical matchup of the weekend.

For some folks, the cup is half empty. Steve Greenberg of The Sporting News complains that it is the only game between two ranked teams, but, after all, that is hardly by design. Schedules are made months, if not years, ahead of time.

What's more, it wouldn't be the only game between ranked teams if not for the fickle nature of early poll voting. Defending national champion Auburn won its opener — unimpressively — and fell from the rankings.

Two games between ranked opponents would be pretty good for this stage of the season — when most conference schedules have not yet begun and most contenders are content to play clearly inferior foes as a way to pad their individual statistics.

Penn State–Alabama, coming one week after the LSU–Oregon and Boise State–Georgia tilts, isn't too shabby for the second weekend in September.

Alabama coach Lou Saban has been respectful of the Nittany Lions. He is 3–3 against Penn State and says he expects a challenge when the Crimson Tide takes the field in Happy Valley.

It may be the only Top 25 matchup this week, but it's not a bad one. Enjoy.

Idle: #1 Oklahoma, #4 Boise State, #7 Texas A&M, #20 Baylor.

Thursday

• Arizona at #9 Oklahoma State, 7 p.m. (Central) on ESPN: This was the matchup that concluded both teams' seasons last year — a date in the Alamo Bowl, which Oklahoma State won, 36–10.
  
  Two meetings in the same calendar year is a clear trend in this series. Before that Alamo Bowl, I think you have to go back to FDR's administration to find the last time they met on the gridiron.
  
  But little attention is being paid to it in Stillwater, Okla., where OSU coach Mike Gundy has been emphasizing the Cowboys' long–term future in the Big 12 and the short–term outlook for quarterback Brandon Weeden, who threw three interceptions against Louisiana–Lafayette last week — two of which were returned for touchdowns.
  
  Gundy thinks Weeden will be just fine — and I'm inclined to agree. I expect Oklahoma State to win the game.

Friday

• #21 Missouri at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m. (Central) on ESPN: It's been more than 20 years since Missouri and Arizona State played a football game.
  
  They met in a two–year, home–and–away series in 1989 and 1990, with each team winning its home game. Neither team was very good in those days.
  
  They're better now, and I think the game will be better than many people think it will. I'll take Missouri — but by a touchdown or less.

Saturday

• Northwestern State at #2 LSU: This won't be the first time the teams have faced each other, but it might as well be. They last met in 1942; LSU won, 40–0.
  
  Before that, they met in 1937. LSU won that one, too, 52–0. Before that, they played in 1926. LSU won that one as well, 47–0. LSU also won in 1925 (27–0), 1924 (40–0), 1923 (40–0), 1922 (13–0), 1921 (78–0) and 1920 (34–0). LSU also won in 1911 (46–0).
  
  Like the game this Saturday, all those other games were played in Baton Rouge. And I am certain that, like all those other times, LSU will win. The only question is, will Northwestern State finally score?


• #3 Alabama at #23 Penn State, 2:30 p.m. (Central) on ABC: It's funny how things change over the years.
  
  When I was growing up, Alabama–Penn State was a marquee matchup: the Bear vs. JoePa, both teams in the Top 10 if not the Top 5, probably a Heisman candidate or two.
  
  It's still a big–name game, but it has lost some of its luster. When I was growing up, for example, you never saw those two teams on the same field unless they were playing in a bowl game (and those bowl dates were pretty rare).
  
  A couple of years before Bear Bryant retired (and then died), Alabama and Penn State started playing each other during the regular season, and they continued to do so until 1990 — but they didn't meet again until last season, when Penn State visited the defending national champion Crimson Tide and got walloped, 24–3.
  
  I think both teams are overrated, but Alabama deserves to be in the Top 10. I'm not sure Penn State belongs in the Top 25. And I'll pick Alabama to win.


• Charleston Southern at #5 Florida State, 5 p.m. (Central) on ESPN3.com: I don't think these schools have a history.
  
  But does it matter? I expect Florida State to win handily.


• #6 Stanford at Duke, 2:30 p.m. (Central) on ESPNU: It's been nearly 40 years since Duke hosted Stanford in a football game.
  
  The schools met in 1971 and 1972, just after the only Heisman Trophy winner in Stanford history (quarterback Jim Plunkett) made his professional debut. Today, Stanford has what may be its second Heisman–winning quarterback in Andrew Luck.
  
  Could that be a lucky sign for Stanford? Could be. I'll take Stanford.


• Oregon State at #8 Wisconsin: Oregon State has played some quality nonconference opposition in recent years — TCU and Boise State last year, Cincinnati and BYU in 2009, Utah in 2008, not to mention Oregon and Southern Cal darn near every year.
  
  And Oregon State usually gives as good as it gets — but rarely do the Beavers win those games. And, frankly, I think the Badgers have more than they need to win this one — including their typically boisterous home crowd. I'll take Wisconsin.


• Fresno State at #10 Nebraska, 6 p.m. (Central) on Big Ten Network: Fresno State tends to field a competitive team, but let's be candid here.
  
  When you're playing at Nebraska, you're playing on a big–time stage, and Fresno doesn't usually win those. Sometimes, FSU comes close, but I don't expect that to happen this time. I'll go with Nebraska.


• #11 Virginia Tech at East Carolina, 2:30 p.m. (Central) on FSN: This will be the fifth straight year these schools have played each other in football — and East Carolina did win one, in 2008 when they opened the season in Charlotte, N.C.
  
  But Virginia Tech has won the last two meetings and I suspect the Hokies will win this one, too.


• #12 South Carolina at Georgia, 3:30 p.m. (Central) on ESPN: South Carolina is only 6–13 against Georgia since joining the Southeastern Conference in 1992.
  
  But, after advancing to their first SEC Championship game last season, the Gamecocks (who beat Georgia at home last year) appear to be on the brink of their second win at Georgia in the last 10 years.
  
  I believe South Carolina will win the game — but narrowly.


• Nevada at #13 Oregon, 2:30 p.m. (Central) on FX: These schools have never been regular opponents, but this meeting will end an eight–year drought.
  
  Their last meeting was on Sept. 6, 2003, on Oregon's turf, the same place where they will play this Saturday. Oregon won that one, by the way, 31–23. Prior to that, the schools opened the 2000 season (again, on Oregon's field), and the Ducks prevailed that time, too, 36–7.
  
  They met the year before that, in 1999, and Oregon recorded what is probably the most lopsided win in the series' history — 72–10.
  
  I think Oregon will win this time, too, but not by 62 points — probably more like 10.


• New Mexico at #14 Arkansas, 6 p.m. (Central) on ESPNU: These teams haven't faced each other since 1987, when Arkansas beat a winless New Mexico squad in Little Rock, the same place they will meet on Saturday.
  
  They played in Little Rock in 1983 — and Arkansas won that one, too.
  
  And, as nearly as I can tell, that's been it for the series. Not much to go on.
  
  But here is something that is worth remembering: Arkansas doesn't play as many games in Little Rock as it did when I was growing up, but, with the exception of a couple of losses to LSU, Arkansas hasn't lost in Little Rock since 1997, and it hasn't lost a nonconference game there since 1993.
  
  Arkansas should win by a wide margin.


• Toledo at #15 Ohio State, 11 a.m. (Central) on Big Ten Network: These schools have met twice before — in 1998 and 2009 — and Toledo has yet to score on the Buckeyes.
  
  I expect Ohio State to win by at least three touchdowns — and I haven't a clue whether Toledo will finally score.


• #16 Mississippi State at Auburn, 11:21 a.m. (Central) on SEC Network: There have been times in the history of this series when Mississippi State has held the upper hand, but not in the first decade of the 21st century.
  
  Auburn won nine of the last 10 meetings (the exception was 2007), but many people think that period of dominance may be about to end. MSU has been on the rise, and observers felt all along that Auburn would drop off after losing Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton to the NFL — but I don't think anyone expected Utah State to take Auburn to the wire in the opener.
  
  That suggests to me that Auburn's 16–game winning streak is in jeopardy. The Tigers' stay in the Top 25 has already ended, and I'll take Mississippi State to prevail.


• Florida Atlantic at #17 Michigan State: This will be the third time these teams have met since 2008.
  
  Michigan State won the first two games, and I fully expect the Spartans to win this time, by four or five touchdowns.


• UAB at #18 Florida, 6 p.m. (Central) on FSSouth: On Aug. 31, 2002, UAB and Florida met in the season opener, and Florida roared to a 51–3 victory.
  
  Florida won a couple of national titles and a Heisman Trophy in the years that followed. UAB had one winning season.
  
  I expect Florida to win.


• Norfolk State at #19 West Virginia, noon (Central) on Big East Network: There really isn't much to say about this game — except that something is wrong if West Virginia doesn't beat Norfolk State by about five touchdowns.


• Ball State at #22 South Florida, 6 p.m. (Central) on Big East Network: Ball State is hardly a football powerhouse, having won more games than it lost only five times in the last 20 years.
  
  South Florida, however, may well be an emerging powerhouse.
  
  Granted, beating Notre Dame doesn't necessarily qualify as the ultimate test for a program — but it was when Lou Holtz, who happens to be the father of South Florida's coach, was running the show in South Bend.
  
  Anyway, while Notre Dame probably does not deserve to be in the rankings, South Florida probably does — and I expect South Florida to defeat Ball State by about 20 points.


• Brigham Young at #24 Texas, 7 p.m. (Central) on ESPN2: These schools haven't faced each other since the waning days of the Reagan administration.
  
  BYU was considered something of a powerhouse in those days; Texas, not so much. Anyway, BYU beat UT in back–back seasons in 1987 and 1988.
  
  Things are a bit different now. Texas comes into this game with a Top 25 ranking and BYU comes into it unranked so I suppose the roles have been reversed — but BYU got some support in the latest poll and could catapult into the rankings by knocking off the Longhorns.
  
  I think that is possible because I believe that Texas, which lost seven of its last nine games in 2010, is overrated — and BYU is the kind of team that could expose the Longhorns for what they are. You can't really learn anything from a Texas squad that opened the season with a home win over Rice.
  
  This week's game is a much greater test, and I think Brigham Young will pass it.


• #25 TCU at Air Force, 2:30 p.m. (Central) on Versus: TCU has won five of six games with Air Force since they became conference rivals in 2005.
  
  And TCU, which was 36–3 from 2008 to 2010, is smarting from its loss to Baylor last week.
  
  As I have mentioned here before, neither school was very strong when I was growing up. But times have changed, and TCU hasn't lost back–to–back games since September 2007.
  
  TCU has struggled in its games at Air Force. The Frogs won a 20–17 battle in 2009 and lost by the same score in 2007. I expect another close one, but I'll pick TCU to prevail.

Last week: 21–2

Season: 21–2

Coaches' Day

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Today is September 11, and, in the eyes of most of the people living today, it is the ninth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack ever on American soil.

In fact, this date is so closely linked to terrorism that I presume it will always be remembered — in memory as well as history books — that way.

And, considering what happened on this day in 2001, that is as it should be.

I'm not so sure it deserves the label of Patriots' Day. Perhaps the passengers on Flight 93 staged a revolt that led to the plane crashing in a Pennsylvania field, but the passengers on the other three planes did nothing particularly patriotic. As nearly as I can tell, they huddled in the back or remained in their seats while the terrorists flew the planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

That isn't meant as a criticism. Far from it. Had I been on board one of those planes nine years ago today, I, too, would have done whatever I was told in the mistaken belief that cooperating would help to defuse the situation.

But, in fact, cooperating only made things easier for the terrorists to achieve their goals. Nearly 10 years after the hijackings, I have heard suggestions that only the passengers on one of the airplanes tried to resist. But that is understandable. Who among us had any idea that morning what those goals might be? On Sept. 11, 2001, no one except the Muslim extremists who dreamed up the plan had given much thought to the idea of turning jets into bombs.

So I'm torn over the idea of calling today Patriots' Day. It isn't that I don't feel the people who lost their lives on that day should be remembered. I do. I'm just not convinced that the passengers on those planes acted particularly heroically. In death, they have become propaganda symbols, like the folks who died in the Alamo and on board the USS Maine.

But, before this day nine years ago, it was like any other day on the calendar. In some families, it was someone's birthday. In other families, it was a wedding anniversary. And, in still others, it was the anniversary of a death.

Over the years, important things did happen on this date, but nothing that even approached the devastation of that day in 2001.

• For example, nearly 400 years before two airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center, Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan Island on Sept. 11, 1609.
  
  As more Europeans came to North America, it was probably inevitable that Manhattan would be found by someone so Hudson can hardly be blamed for what happened four centuries later. Nor could he be said to have put everything in motion.
  
  And Hudson didn't make what could arguably be called the sweetest deal in the history of real estate transactions, buying the island for about $24 worth of beads and baubles. That was someone else many years later.
  
  But his discovery was the beginning of a story that certainly must include the events of 9/11.


• And it was 60 years before the terrorist attacks, on Sept. 11, 1941, that Charles Lindbergh, the famous American aviator who flew nonstop from New York to Paris in 1927, gave a speech accusing the British, the Jews and the Roosevelt administration of being advocates of a war with Germany and manipulating public opinion in that direction.
  
  I find that ironic, given the recent flap over plans to build a Muslim facility near Ground Zero and the even more recent controversy over a Florida pastor's announced intention to burn the Quran today.
  
  "We cannot blame them for looking out for what they believe to be their own interests, but we also must look out for ours," Lindbergh said as he insisted that he wasn't attacking the British or the Jews. "We cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other peoples to lead our country to destruction."

Well, before 2001, this day was noted as the birthday of two legendary football coaches — Paul "Bear" Bryant and Tom Landry.

Both men coached in other places before they took the jobs with which they always will be linked in the lore of football — Bryant at Alabama and Landry at Dallas. If you lived in the South in the 1960s and 1970s, you couldn't avoid them.

There were many great college coaches in the South in those days, actually — Darrell Royal of Texas, Vince Dooley of Georgia, Charles McClendon of LSU, Ralph "Shug" Jordan of Auburn, Barry Switzer of Oklahoma and Frank Broyles of my alma mater, Arkansas — but no one had the charisma, the raw star power of Bryant.

True, Royal was said to have revolutionized college football with the development of the "wishbone" offense. And he did win three national titles. So, too, did Switzer. But Bryant won six.

With his trademark hat and his gravelly voice, Bryant would have stood out, anyway, but he was always more noteworthy than his peers. He had sort of a John Wayne aura that probably would have been a weekly hit on TV if college football teams hadn't been restricted in their regular–season appearances in those pre–cable days

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Landry wore a similar hat to Cowboys games.

He was born on Bryant's 11th birthday, and, for decades, he was the only coach the Dallas Cowboys ever had. That changed, of course, as it was bound to. Landry built the franchise, from its first games in 1960 to perennial Super Bowl contender (and occasional winner), but he left when the team was in decline and the whispers that the game had passed him by were no longer whispers.

That concept would have been laughable when I was a child. In those days, Landry was seen as an innovator, a coach who was always ahead of the curve.

In my childhood, the Cowboys were just about the only successful pro football team in the South. New Orleans was decades from becoming a legitimate Super Bowl contender, as was Atlanta. Houston had its moments but never seriously challenged anyone for much until Earl Campbell came along in the late 1970s.

The other option was Miami, which became more appealing after the Dolphins went undefeated in 1972. But, in my hometown in central Arkansas, Miami was too far away. Dallas was close enough that actually attending a game there was possible — even if, much of the time, it wasn't likely.

So the Cowboys had a clear fan base in my hometown that was influenced by both the team's success on the field and its proximity.

Now, much of the time, the Cowboys were known as the team that couldn't win the big one. They always seemed to be coming up short in the conference championship game or the Super Bowl, which Landry lost three times (twice to Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers).

The Cowboys were always in the thick of things. They became known as "America's Team," for which they were both loved and loathed.

My grandparents lived in Dallas, so I visited the city far more often than most of my friends when I was growing up. And, occasionally, my father and my brother and I attended Cowboys games. I saw Roger Staubach and Landry in person, and they had a magical quality of their own.

I also saw Bryant in person once. It was a Sugar Bowl game against Penn State in the mid–1970s. No national title was on the line on that occasion, unlike their next meeting in New Orleans a few years later.

Some folks will tell you that they think of Alabama's legendary rivalry with Auburn when they think of the Bear. Or perhaps they'll mention the series with LSU or Tennessee or Georgia.

But, even though the schools seldom played each other, I always think of Alabama's rivalry with Penn State, both on the field and off the field, when I think of Bear Bryant. Even if they didn't play each other on New Year's Day, they were rivals for the pollsters' affections.

And, in my mind, Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions are forever linked to Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide.

Therefore, it seems appropriate to me that the schools are playing each other today, on what would have been Bryant's 97th birthday.

And tomorrow night, the Cowboys will kick off the season against the Washington Redskins.

In his coaching career, Landry had many rivals. His Super Bowl meetings with the Steelers of the 1970s are legendary. His NFC clashes with the likes of the Vikings and the 49ers were classic, and his rivalry with Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers produced the iconic "Ice Bowl."

Thoughts of Landry really bring back a lot of memories for me. In part, I suppose that is because I could watch him on TV just about every week. I was far beyond the blackout range but close enough to see just about every game every Sunday (except for one fall when my father, a college professor, went on his sabbatical and took the family with him to Nashville, Tenn., where, as I recall, we got more variety in our weekly pro football coverage than we had in Arkansas).

But I guess you could say that I always think of Dallas' rivalry with the Washington Redskins when I think of Landry. The Redskins emerged as a force to reckon with in the 1970s, and the Cowboys–and–Indians imagery was just too enticing.

So, likewise, it seems appropriate that, on the day after what would have been Landry's 86th birthday, the Cowboys and the Redskins will open their season against each other.

Happy Coaches' Day.