Duke Carlisle, Face Mask Enigma, 1990 swimming, Richard Wortham

The Horns win their 8th women’s national championship by the closest margin in NCAA history beating Stanford by 9.5 points. (Texas 632 and Stanford 622.5).

Leigh Ann Fetter is the first woman in swimming history to break the 22-second barrier in the 50 freestyle. For Texas to win the National Championship, the Horns had to win the final event – the 400 freestyle relay. Texas is in second place after the first three swimmers, but Fetter comes from behind, and the Longhorns are national champions. Click on the link below to learn more about the history of Longhorn women’s swimming- 1989-1992.

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/1989-1992-coach-schubert

On Richard Wortham’s recruiting trip to Texas, Coach Gus wrote on a blackboard in his office the words Cadillac and Ford. Wortham said, “I thought, He’s going to give me a Cadillac.” “Gus asked me which one I’d pick. I’m trying to figure out which car I’m going to get.” So Gus said, “If you come to Texas, it’s a Cadillac program.” It turns out that Richard was the Cadillac for the Horns pitching for an NCAA record 50 wins in his career.

Working on a project in Gregory Gym, during the offseason, Richard suffered a life-threatening injury. He was involved in an elevator accident, and the damage was so severe that the doctors questioned whether he would ever walk again.

He did more than walk. In 1975 he completed the season with a 14-1 record, and he pitched a four-hitter to win the CWS National Championship for the Horns. More of Richard’s story is at

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/mens-baseball-t-ring-reflections

Duke Carlisle is a consummate storyteller using his sense of humor to drive his stories. In his book Longhorn, and Tall Tails, Duke Carlisle says, “Fans have certain rules they expect a coach to follow, such as don’t pass if it’s going to be intercepted, or never go for two unless you make it.”

During the recruiting process, Duke Carlisle learned the hard way about the dark side of college football recruiting. He tells the story of rejecting a recruiter’s courtship. When he called the Baylor coach recruiting him to cancel his visit to attend the Longhorn Spring game instead, the coach was upset. He said, “Well, then, why did you schedule it?” “He (Duke) might want to be careful with his flippant attitude.” After this incident, Duke said: “the fun and glamour had fast gone out of my recruiting experience.”

Before the Cotton Bowl game, the East Coast writers inferred that the Longhorn’s lacked talent, speed, and size. Freelance writer Myron Cope stated that Texas was “the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the football public… Texas plays the kind of football that was fashionable when players wore perforated cowhide helmets…Duke Carlisle executes a hand-off like a construction foreman passing a plank to a carpenter.” Other writers questioned the Longhorn player’s anatomy pondering how skinny legs and no butts could play football.

Please Revel in Construction Foreman Duke and his crew as they use those skinny legs with no butts and a “plank” to set defensive and offensive records in the Cotton Bowl game on January 1, 1964.

Duke shares his story in a podcast format in the link below with supporting text and visuals on the TLSN website.

Horns ???? Up

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/duke-carlisle

The Face Mask Enigma

Photo above was taken in the 1950’s . No devices were used to protect the face or teeth.

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