Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Ole Miss football, more Larry Johnson and that cat

I am going to the Arkansas-Ole Miss football game this weekend in Oxford, Miss., with about six friends from Fresno and we’re looking forward to having a great time.

We started going to football games in 1998 or 1999. I’ll fly to Fresno on Wednesday, then we’ll fly to Oxford on Thursday morning. We’ll spend three nights in Mississippi.

Ole Miss is very pretty campus. I went there once as a consultant, I think it was 1992, to talk with Rob Evans, who went on to coach at Arizona State.

My friends and I have seen some great games. We saw the USC game at Notre Dame when Matt Leinart received that push into the end zone, and we saw Tim Tebow and Florida lose at LSU two years ago.

I like Tebow. I think he’s great. He passes the ball well. I can’t understand how some say he’s a running quarterback, not a passing quarterback. I think he passes pretty darn good.

He’s just so competitive. I like him a lot.

Last year, we saw Alabama beat Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa.

This year, I think Alabama looks so good. They are so well coached. They have an assistant from Fresno State. People there loved the guy, Jim McElwain. People wanted him to take over the Fresno football program.

He’s the offensive coordinator and coaches the quarterbacks at Alabama, and he does a lot of recruiting. He does a great job.

Florida will be good, because of Tebow. They’ll be right there. Texas, too. I like Mack Brown, the Longhorns’ coach, as a person. He takes such good care of us.

I wrote Mack this year, congratulating him on their great start. He wrote me back, wondering when we’re coming back there again.

Oh, that cat. Some have wondered about that damn cat that was wandering around my house last time I did one of these.

It was my granddaughter Amy’s. I got it out of the house, but I didn’t know it was hers. No big deal. Danny, my son, lives right behind me.

I was very happy that Larry Johnson talked to the team the other night during its scrimmage at the Thomas & Mack Center. That was a great move.

There was a time Larry wouldn’t step foot on the campus. He was bitter with the way things turned out.

A lot of players were. They had every reason to be bitter. We had an unbelievable record. We went to the Final Four three out of five years, and they weren’t treated too well by former athletic directors and presidents.

It was a tough time. Many players were bitter. They’re very loyal people.

They’re all happy now. It’s a good move by Lon Kruger to embrace the past. I think it helps bring back the old tradition. A lot of people in the community have told me that they think it’s a good move.

Larry’s great now, because an effort has been made to patch up the problems. It’s a great move.

Larry calls me about those things. He said he was invited. I said, Great, go ahead. I think it’s great doing that stuff. UNLV, as I have said, needs to get Larry involved with the boosters and public relations.

He’d be the biggest asset they could have. Everybody who ever meets Larry loves him. He’s probably the most impressive individual you’ll ever meet.

He would like to get involved, in some capacity, with the athletic department. That would be fabulous.

When we got Larry, Dave Bliss, the SMU coach, told me, Coach, you don’t realize it now but he’ll win more games for you off the court than on the court. I was shocked to hear that, but I’ve always remembered it.

Anyway, I’ve got to get to some plans for the big weekend in Oxford. Next time, we’ll discuss UNLV hoops, Pete Rose, Northwestern women’s basketball and transfers.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy