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I just want to make a thread about my dad

Goo Punch

By Goo Punch
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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Nobody knows more about sports than my dad. Nobody. I know that everybody has someone in their life who they think that about, but my dad is actually that guy. He has a freaky brain, a photographic memory, and he spent more than three decades covering or working in high level sports, mostly NCAA football and basketball. There are many people here and within the UT interweb universe who know him and can attest to this fact. Every single day that I spend time with him I hear three new stories that I've never heard before. The last time I saw him before today he was regaling to me in great detail several stories about a Texas vs Georgia game from 1958 or something and he said, "I remember it like it was yesterday", telling me all about Fran Tarkenton's contentious relationship with his HC, not to mention stories about the Texas team as well. The man is a walking encyclopedia.

 

Today he and I met for dinner at El Patio and then headed over to the NIT game, and between those two places he just did what he always does- paint pictures of the past with his words. It's amazing. My dad worked with and knew Lam Jones, and today at El Patio he was telling me stories about Lam, including his opinion that Lam, Earl, and Vince are the three guys at Texas who made every defense they played completely change their normal game plan to focus on him alone. As he put it they were the three most "feared" offensive weapons we've had at Texas in his time covering or working with the team. Then later at the basketball game we just happened to be sitting amongst a whole slew of people who he knew and used to work with, including John Bianco, who as I understand it more or less replaced my dad when he left UT. The reminiscing on Lam continued, and as always I just sat back and listened and soaked it in. 

 

Now i'm no professional, but i am passionate about photography and film, and every single day of my life i am constantly photographing or recording anything i deem worthy of it. I like to put together film and photography projects, I went to school for that type of thing, and my dad obviously did it for a living for a while as well. So anybody who knows me at all is used to me taking candid photos and videos of our daily lives, even mid conversation. Most people think it's weird at first, but they always end up appreciating it. And I know I do too.

 

Today was no different, and as you're about to see I took some candid video of my dad talking about Lam (I say candid, you say "creeper", tomato/tomato), and I've now uploaded those two clips to youtube. The first clip is at dinner, and he's telling me about a game Texas had in 1978 against someone important, some rival/important team, maybe U of H or TCU, and we ended up losing the game by three, essentially because of a blown play where the entire opposing defense focused on Lam who was merely a decoy. He said that when they watched the film that Fred Akers ran the play back 5 or 6 times just so that everyone could see how intently the D was focused on Lam. The second clip is of my dad talking with Bianco about how when Lam returned from the 1976 Olympics, the athletic department (or maybe his news station? couldn't hear it all) had my dad fly out to Lampasas with a crew to pick him up and film him (or bring him back to UT? again I couldn't quite hear it all), and how there were people from Lampasas on the runway chasing his jet as it took off from the air strip. 

 

Getting to be a fly on the wall for these types of conversations is always something I've treasured about my dad, and the truth is that I don't want to wait for him to get sick or die before I make a thread about him. He wasn't always in my life; our relationship wasn't always good; but he has been in my life for quite a while now, and I really appreciate that, as well as the wealth of knowledge he's given me on so many subjects that i'm passionate about. Not many people got to grow up around/knowing their heroes like I did, and not many people have a dad who happens to be the world's expert on their favorite subjects. So this one's for my dad, and all the other dads out there who are loved and appreciated  by their sons. Thanks dad.

 

 

 

Edited by Goo Punch
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Grippe

Grippe 313

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Derka, just a thought: Set up two chairs, good lights, a good camera and a good microphone.  Schedule a regular time with your dad to sit with you for a few hours a week and recant his experiences and then post them on YouTube.

History like that must not be lost.

Edited by Grippe
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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8828

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3 minutes ago, Grippe said:

Derka, just a thought: Set up two chairs, good lights, a good camera and a good microphone.  Schedule a regular time with your dad to sit with you for a few hours a week and recant his experiences and then post them on YouTube.

History like that must not be lost.

Seconded, good work Derk...

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It's very awesome that you and your dad have such a profound connection through sports.

Thank you for sharing that  perspective and something so deeply personal.

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ImissWallyPryor

ImissWallyPryor 9046

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3 hours ago, tejas60 said:

what Grippe said.

I never missed the Fred Akers show on Sundays. your dad made it a great show. 

I always found it amusing how Fred would look away from the host and stare straight at the camera the entire time he was giving his response, as if the host wasn’t even in the studio. Good times.

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orange dream

orange dream 1256

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I don't know if the video exists or if it could be accessed but it would be cool to have your dad describe famous plays, or even little known ones, (like in the 1st video) with a split screen of him discussing his recollection of the play on one side and the video of the play on the other side synced to his discussion.

Thanks for sharing.

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Wally Pryor

Wally Pryor 5263

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I always liked your dad growing up. His sportscasts were the word in the Austin area.  Several years back I hooked up with him, for some reason, for lunch.  Pretty sure it had to do with some game tickets but it's been that long ago.

Just remember him being the nicest, seemingly most genuine, guy in the world who could fill up an hour, quickly, with really, really good sports stories. No news to you, I'm sure.  

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Thank you all for these responses. I've already emailed him about getting the ball rolling on assembling his stories/memories in some form or fashion, and he's on board. Sincerely thank you for suggesting.

And as those you who've known him or met have said, he really is a great guy. I truly believe that my dad will live his entire life without ever intentionnalt acrewing anyone over or doing anybody wrong. It's just who he is.

Ill try and see what else he already has in terms of old clips or highlights or photos that might be pertinent here and i'll add them as i find them. Thanks for engaging me about my old man, and Inappreciate all the kind words about him. He is a great man. 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Here's something i've already found- a few years ago when they first started multicasting big football games, they had my dad and Fred Akers set up with Switzer and some OU media guy, and i got some good screen captures from that day as we beat OU. This was either 2013 or 2015. I just remember really enjoying getting to watch how miserable Switzer was that day. 

deda4b5778c75ca850afc9bd8f5d51f4.jpg

f46638246e1e71ff34e4df9a581ba4b8.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by Goo Punch
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ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21154

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DerkaDad>Derka 

I’m sure Derka will agree.  And I can finally say someone is better than Derka without derailing a thread.  

Jokes aside, very cool.  Get this stuff on film.  You’ll thank yourself forever.  And Switzer is an asshole (obligatory) but I’d bet he could get out some great stories with your old man.  

Edited by ChiTownDoc
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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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3 hours ago, Clintonaldo said:

Who else thought it was going to be Rick Barnes being filmed??

 

jk. Your dad seems like a cool dude. Film more stories. Also, as a non Texas fan what did your dad do?

My dad was the sports anchor/director for channels 7 and 42 in Austin in the 70's, and he was the Assistant SID at Texas (which translates to "assistant football SID, SID of everything else") during the 80's and 90's. He's also had jobs working for ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS, freelance work both in front of and behind the camera, he hosted The Fred Akers Show on TV, SWTS football post-UT, he's hosted radio shows in Austin, and announced most major college sports, he covered the NBA at one point, and plenty of other things I can't even remember. He's been around the block a time or two. 

Heres a cool story- he announced the 1975 college World Series where Mickey Reichenbach won MVP for champion Texas, and although my dad hadn't met her at the time, my mom was a high school classmate of Mickey's (and Kirk Bohls) at Taylor High. Later on our families would move into the same neighborhood in Pflugerville and Mickey's middle son Ryan has been my best friend for 15+ years now. 

And since I brought it up:

(for the record that's not my dad announcing, he was doing a radio broadcast)

 

edit: First off, that pitcher is an idiot for throwing that pitch 0-2. Second, ole Stone Face didn't even get all of that, he's just strong as a fucking ox. third, he's a bonus csb- it's  the story of how Mickey met his wife:

Mickey was an All State pitcher and 1B at Taylor high, and his future wife was a junior at Brenham when they played Taylor back in 1972 or whatever. Long story short- Mickey went deep the first two times, and when they tried to intentionally walk him on his third AB the pitcher left one too close and Mickey went oppo and hit it off the wall. That's when the future Mrs.Reichenbach decided she'd like to meet Mickey after the game. Side note- his oldest son Clay started at 3B for Rice against Texas in the 2004 Minute Maid Classic, alongside Paul Janish, on a team with Phil Humber and Jeff Niemann among others. Texas won. 🤘🏼 

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next2naus

next2naus 439

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On 3/20/2019 at 6:24 AM, Grippe said:

Derka, just a thought: Set up two chairs, good lights, a good camera and a good microphone.  Schedule a regular time with your dad to sit with you for a few hours a week and recant his experiences and then post them on YouTube.

History like that must not be lost.

and get a Fern

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11052

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On 3/20/2019 at 1:38 AM, Goo Punch said:

Nobody knows more about sports than my dad. Nobody. I know that everybody has someone in their life who they think that about, but my dad is actually that guy. He has a freaky brain, a photographic memory, and he spent more than three decades covering or working in high level sports, mostly NCAA football and basketball. There are many people here and within the UT interweb universe who know him and can attest to this fact. Every single day that I spend time with him I hear three new stories that I've never heard before. The last time I saw him before today he was regaling to me in great detail several stories about a Texas vs Georgia game from 1958 or something and he said, "I remember it like it was yesterday", telling me all about Fran Tarkenton's contentious relationship with his HC, not to mention stories about the Texas team as well. The man is a walking encyclopedia.

 

Today he and I met for dinner at El Patio and then headed over to the NIT game, and between those two places he just did what he always does- paint pictures of the past with his words. It's amazing. My dad worked with and knew Lam Jones, and today at El Patio he was telling me stories about Lam, including his opinion that Lam, Earl, and Vince are the three guys at Texas who made every defense they played completely change their normal game plan to focus on him alone. As he put it they were the three most "feared" offensive weapons we've had at Texas in his time covering or working with the team. Then later at the basketball game we just happened to be sitting amongst a whole slew of people who he knew and used to work with, including John Bianco, who as I understand it more or less replaced my dad when he left UT. The reminiscing on Lam continued, and as always I just sat back and listened and soaked it in. 

 

Now i'm no professional, but i am passionate about photography and film, and every single day of my life i am constantly photographing or recording anything i deem worthy of it. I like to put together film and photography projects, I went to school for that type of thing, and my dad obviously did it for a living for a while as well. So anybody who knows me at all is used to me taking candid photos and videos of our daily lives, even mid conversation. Most people think it's weird at first, but they always end up appreciating it. And I know I do too.

 

Today was no different, and as you're about to see I took some candid video of my dad talking about Lam (I say candid, you say "creeper", tomato/tomato), and I've now uploaded those two clips to youtube. The first clip is at dinner, and he's telling me about a game Texas had in 1978 against someone important, some rival/important team, maybe U of H or TCU, and we ended up losing the game by three, essentially because of a blown play where the entire opposing defense focused on Lam who was merely a decoy. He said that when they watched the film that Fred Akers ran the play back 5 or 6 times just so that everyone could see how intently the D was focused on Lam. The second clip is of my dad talking with Bianco about how when Lam returned from the 1976 Olympics, the athletic department (or maybe his news station? couldn't hear it all) had my dad fly out to Lampasas with a crew to pick him up and film him (or bring him back to UT? again I couldn't quite hear it all), and how there were people from Lampasas on the runway chasing his jet as it took off from the air strip. 

 

Getting to be a fly on the wall for these types of conversations is always something I've treasured about my dad, and the truth is that I don't want to wait for him to get sick or die before I make a thread about him. He wasn't always in my life; our relationship wasn't always good; but he has been in my life for quite a while now, and I really appreciate that, as well as the wealth of knowledge he's given me on so many subjects that i'm passionate about. Not many people got to grow up around/knowing their heroes like I did, and not many people have a dad who happens to be the world's expert on their favorite subjects. So this one's for my dad, and all the other dads out there who are loved and appreciated  by their sons. Thanks dad.

 

 

 

 

I remember that play. Hate to break it to you buddy, but Lam was going left to right, not right to left, across the backfield.

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