Texas Tidbits: Two Words: Dandy Don

Jeff and Hazel's Baby Boy

On December 5, 2010, a one-of-a-kind man died in New Mexico. He was one of the most famous and well-liked sports figures in Texas History. He wasn't a bad quarterback either. I wanted to pay tribute to this man as the NFL is in the Stretch Run to the Super Bowl. This man loved the Big Stage and the Super Bowl is the biggest of them all. Sadly, Don Meredith never played in a Super Bowl, and in my opinion, one of the best QB's in NFL history to have missed out on the honor.

Joseph Don Meredith was born April 5, 1938 in Mount Vernon, Texas to Jeff and Hazel Meredith. He often called himself  "Jeff and Hazel's baby boy". Dandy Don was a star quarterback at Mount Vernon High School and was heavily recruited by colleges from all over Texas, including Texas A&M whose coach at the time was the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant. Meredith turned down the Aggies to play college ball at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. At SMU, Dandy Don was a two-time All American, led the Southwest Conference in passing completion percentage for three straight years and his Number 17 jersey was retired in 2008.

After completing his college eligibility, Meredith went on to the NFL and played for the Dallas Cowboys. It was with the Cowboys that Dandy Don became a star. I remember when he and Bullet Bob Hayes were the most-feared pass-catch duo in the National Football League, "The Bomb" being their signature play. I have never been a Cowboys fan, but I have always had great respect for Don Meredith. Here was a guy that even the stoic Tom Landry called Meredith the toughest player he ever coached. Need I remind you that over a 29 year career as Head Coach of the Cowboys, Landry coached players like Randy White, Bob Lilly, Walt Garrison and Harvey Martin? But Dandy Don was the Toughest Cowboy. Meredith was a 3-time Pro Bowler back when it meant something, NFL Player of the Year in 1966 and always had the Cowboys in position to play for the NFL Championship. Dallas never won the title under Meredith because of one small factor - the Green Bay Packers. Those Packers teams are ranked amongst the greatest in the history of the NFL. Nobody was going  beat them at that time, yet  Dandy Don had the Cowboys on the brink of the Championship against the Packers year after year. Meredith quarterbacked the Cowboys in one of the greatest games ever played in the NFL - The 1967 Ice Bowl against Green Bay. that was one helluva football game. Ask any old guy about it, he'll tell you.

Don Meredith retired suddenly from the NFL after the 1968 season a man without a title, but a man with the respect of his coach, teammates, opponents and fans. "Number 17 on your program, but Number 1 in you hearts", as he was prone to say, went on to stardom as the comic foil to Howard Cosell's asshole announcer guy persona on Monday Night Football. When the outcome of the game had been all but determined, Meredith did his best Willie Nelson impression with this little diddy. The Danderoo, as he was called by Cosell, was one of the best sports announcers ever as far as I am concerned. His knowledge of the game, his wit and his comedic timing were second to none. For some eamples hit up this YouTube Page. It's good stuff as only Dandy Don could do it.

I've already made this post way longer than I had intended and I could go on for a while yet, but I think you understand the kind of man and athlete that Joseph Don Meredith was. Rest in Peace, Danderoo. "Turn out the lights, the party's over, they say that all good things must end........"

Texas Tidbits : Thomas Wade Landry

Any football fan worth his salt knows the name of the first coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The word "legend" is over-used on most occasions, but Tom Landry is a Legend, with a capital "L". He is the third winningest coach in NFL history with 270 lifetime wins, 2 Super Bowl Titles, 13 Division Titles, 20 consecutive winning seasons, an NFL record that may never be broken, a record 20 playoff wins and two Coach of the Year Awards. The man was a star player for the New York Giants and before that was a defensive stand out for the University of Texas. To bestow
"Legend" status on Tom Landry simply because of his achievements in football would be insulting to a great man off the field as well. Landry joined the Army Air Forces in World War II and as wikipedia.com tells us,"Landry earned his wings and a commission as a Second Lieutenant at Lubbock Army Air Field, and was assigned to the 493d Bombardment Group at RAF Debach, England, as a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber co-pilot in the 860th Bomb Squadron. From November 1944 to April 1945, he completed a combat tour of 30 missions, and survived a crash landing in Belgium after his bomber ran out of fuel." Thomas Wade Landry was a True Texan, a man forged of a hotter fire. He was also a devout Christian and was a not ashamed to say so when asked about it, but he was not one to push his religious beliefs on others. Coach Landry demanded excellence and dedication from his players and coaching staff, but he also demanded the same, if not more, of himself. The stoic man you see in the photo above is of a Coach who not only set records in the NFL, but left a lasting impression on many of the men who played for him as well as just plain old folks who came into contact with him in daily life. Quick story : my sister wanted to give her then-husband a special gift for his birthday one year, an autographed football from the Dallas Cowboys. She called the Cowboys' office in Dallas and set up an appointment. When she got there, she was invited into Coach Landry's office, where he talked to her for a few minutes then handed her an NFL football signed by the Dallas Cowboy players and Coach Tom Landry. That's the Tom Landry I know about. And before you get the idea that I am a fanboi  of the Cowboys, stop right there. I am 54 years old and have been a Green Bay Packers fan for almost 50 years.I salute Tom Landry not as a Coach, but as a Man. A good, decent man of Faith. Football is secondary considering the Man.

Working On the New Blog & Best of TSPO Sunday

Vs TCU for the Title?

Yesterday I made a Big Announcement about a new blogging endeavor I am undertaking. I am gonna spend some significant time today watching football tweaking the new digs (<----hint,hint) and gathering stories for the Big Debut tomorrow. Taking that into account, I have picked out some of the "best" (I am trying hard not to laugh here) and most-read (that is, somebody  besides my wife actually read it) posts from the past for you. So, grab your Pepto Bismol and enjoy endure what you can on a Best of Three States Plus One Sunday!

• Texas Tidbits : Remember When... - Cheap gas, neighborhood kids' baseball and when going out to eat was a treat.
• Maine Minutiae : I Saw the Future Ge On a Bus Today - I have faith that the future of our country is in good hands because I saw it (the future) get on the school bus today. 
• Colorado Chronicles : Caught - Me and God, we be mates.

A couple of football notes : Three words : Texas.Longhorns.Defense. Those guys are brutal. Holding Texas Tech to less than 200 yards total offense? And they are a very young defense. I'm sure the rest of the Big 12 is just thrilled to hear that. Texas 24   Texas Tech 14  Hook 'em! Next victim, UCLA at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Saturday, September 25, 2:30 (CDT) on ABC. In the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys are home at the House That Jerry Built to tangle with the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears. Kickoff is at Noon, CDT on Fox. Here in the Northeast, the New England Patriots are in the Big Apple to battle the Jets in the late game (4:15 EDT) on CBS. The rest of the NFL schedule can be found here. Have a goodern, y'all and thanks for reading Three States Plus One!

It's the Sabbath Edition (Or Toby is a Lazy MoFo)

• It's Sunday! That means it's the Sabbath and "thou shalt keep the Sabbath holy" That's means go to Church and pray the Priest, Preacher, whatever guy, keeps the sermon short so you can make it home to watch the NFL. Amen. Today is the first full weekend of the NFL's 2010 season!  In Texas, that's means the Dallas Cowboys. The Pokes open on the road in Washington, D.C.and will commence to stomp a mud hole in the Redskins. Here in New England, Tom Terrific (I think I threw up in my mouth a little for saying that) and the Boys of Boston play host and will beat the bejeezus out of the Cincinnati Bengals featuring that whirling dervish, Chad Ocho Cinco (which means eight five, not eighty-five, 85 would be ochenta y cinco). As for the third member of our Three States Plus One Triumvirate, Colorado, the Denver Broncos travel southeast to Jacksonville to tackle the Jaguars. On the subject of jaguars, the word is pronounced "jag wahrs, NOT "jag wires". It's chaps my ass when some goofball calls them the "jag wires". For God's sake, get some Hooked on Phonics or some shit and learn to talk! For the remainder of the NFL schedule click here. Have fun, be safe and don't drink and drive (you might hit a bump and spill some).

Here are some of the most popular posts from the last few weeks. After all, you can't get too much of a good thing. Right Right? 

• This post about Buddy Holly was a big hit (pun intended) with readers from all around the world.
• The undisputed most popular Maine Minutiae post was the one about my wife is beating me. 
• I turned a bit philosophical when I wrote about fishing in the Rockies.

 Thanks to all of you again as this tiny blog continues to grow like a weed. According to blog-ranking service Alexa, here's the latest :

• Alexa Traffic Rank: 2,590,028
   
• Traffic Rank in US
   
  : 123,870

A few weeks ago we were at #17,9xx,xxx. As of yesterday, Three States Plus One was ranked 2,590,028 in the world! And in the USA  we ranked 123,870 ! Sure, I'd love those numbers to be much better, but considering what has happened here in less than three months, is nothing short of phenomenal. We are also approaching our 4000th page impression. For comparison's sake, it was only three weeks ago that we hit #2500, and that took two and a half months. God has blessed me with a great group of readers from, literally all over the world. This blog has been read in thirty-eight states in the US and twenty-one foreign countries, our latest being India (must be some AOL phone support people) and Denmark. If such a thing interests you as it does me, click on the "Flag Counter" display about half way down the page on the right. It will give you a few facts and figures about our readership. You guys keep me going and trying to get better at this blogging thing every day. For that, I thank you. God bless you all and Adios, y'all!

Toby

Texas Tidbits : Are You Ready? NFL Edition

Here It Comes !*

Are you ready for some footbaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllll?  (in my best Howard Cosell voice) "There's only eleven days until the kickoff of the two... thousand ten... season of  the...National....Football....League!" Yup, it's that time of year when we fondly remember our summer vacations, curse the Dog Days of August, lament the annual rite that is the Texas Rangers as cellar-dwelling has beens in the American League West....Wait!...The Rangers are in first place with a comfortable lead over Oakland? Pardon me a minute while I   have "The Big One" a la Fred G. Sanford. (time passes) The kind folks at the Maine General ER, Red Sox fans all (eat the Rangers' dust Sawx fans everywhere!), said that I had a case of "What-the-hell-are-the-Rangers-doing in-1st-place-going into-September-itis" and "It's-football-season-atosis", a very rare disorder - rare simply because the Rangers are in first place heading into September. They told me to take one season opener and call them next week. Speaking of season openers...(they don't call me the Swami of Segue for nothing) The season kicks off on Thursday, September 9, with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints (I already had a Big One for that) hosting (insert more Howard Cosell voice here) "Numba Fo-wa, "The Brilliant One" from Kiln, Mississippi, Brett Fahve and the Vikings of Minnesota at the Supah Dome in the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Big Easy, New...Or...leans...Louisiana!" The Saints are currently at 10-1 odds to win the Super Bowl again, according to the Las Vegas Hilton. Minnesota, along with Dallas and my team, Green Bay, are listed at 12-1, while Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts sit at 6-1. We'll see how all that prognostication holds up throughout the season, say late November or so. The Dallas Cowboys open on the road in D.C. against their hated rivals, the Redskins, on the 12th and that game will be in prime time on NBC. Here's the entire regular season schedule from NFL.com . The crisp autumn air is slowly but surely making it's way southward and not soon enough for me because I am ready for some footbaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllll !

Photo from fanpop.com