Long Live The King!!!

Barry Switzer, one of OU's greatest football coaches, the official inventor of Sooner Magic, and the Barry of "Bennie, Bud, Barry, and Bob" turns 70 today. He is still known as "The King" in Oklahoma, and we used to joke about Oklahoma being "Switzer-land". If he were so inclined, he would probably never need to pay for another meal or drink anywhere inside the state lines. Even with his less-than-honorable departure from OU in 1988, he is still widely revered by all Sooner players, alumni, and fans. In a testament to his power, one of the first things Bob Stoops did when he became coach in 1999 was bring Barry back to OU, to speak to the players and talk about OU's tradition. I asked Mom this morning what she thought would happen when he finally passed away. My guess is the entire state of Oklahoma will shut down for a state-wide day of mourning (outside of Stillwater, of course), and his body will lie in state for a week, either at the state capitol or at the OU campus, and be visited by 300,000 people.

In honor of this momentous day, here are a few choice quotes from His Majesty:

Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.

The key to his success? He's just faster than the guys who are chasing him.

It was like a heart transplant. We tried to implant college in him but his head rejected it.

Some sports writer asked Barry how he expected to do against the
powerful "Texas scoring machine," and he said.

"We may play to a tie."

Puzzled, the reporter asked Barry what he meant by that.

Barry said, "Well, I don't think Texas can score on the Selmon brothers,
so if we don't score, the worst Oklahoma can do is a 0-0 tie."

Some people don't know what it is to be a champion. Oklahoma invented it.

Hear, hear!! Happy Birthday, Coach!