Tommy Lucas punch,Jim Bayless memoir, 1943 Cotton Bowl, Ed Olle’s charms

07/17/202410/28/2024



Photo above . Tommy Lucas delivering the Texas Fight Song to a Sooner.

1973- Not many people can say they played Tennis with President George Bush Senior while George Bush junior watched, but Longhorn Legacy tennis player Jim Bayless and some of his teammates can.

Thanks from the TLSN Board of Directors to all Horns who shared their Longhorn sports memories on the TLSN website. All those articles are now permanently saved to share with present and future Longhorns.

From January 2016 through October 2019, the number of “impressions” created by the TLSN newsletter and the TLSN website at https://texaslsn.org grew from 707 to 11, 192 a month.

This growth is the result of former student-athletes, coaches, managers, trainers, fans, and family members sharing Longhorn sports history on the TLSN website. Each of these articles captures a snapshot of the past told by someone who lived in the moment.

Jim Bayless article/memoir is now part of the TLSN archives. Jim shares the rich heritage of Longhorn tennis — its culture, character, and camaraderie — through the lens of his four years on the team in the early 1970s.

All American Longhorn baseball player Tommy Harmon’s article about baseball in the 1960s under Gustafson is pending.

Please participate in this journey building bridges to the past. Send Longhorn related sports photos and stories that capture, promote, and enhance the vista surrounding the Longhorn sports brand.

The TLSN website is a free, educational, insightful, and historical.

Respectfully,

Billy Dale at Williamdale@msn.com



An absolutely hilarious letter to the incoming freshmen Longhorn tennis class known as amoeba written by Tennis Coach Wilmer Allison. (compliments of Jim Bayless)



Most of this story and photos are compliments of Larry Bob Moore, whose father (#56) played for Randolph Field in the 1943 Cotton Bowl game against Texas. The WWII war effort depleted the talent pool of college football teams, so the decision makers chose to remedy that problem to bolster both civilian and military morale. Former college players in campus-based military training programs were allowed to play for host colleges. Meanwhile, other former college players and even coaches were involved in what was called “service teams.” Randolph Field in San Antonio was one of those teams.

Thirty thousand fans bought tickets to the Cotton Bowl to see this game, but only 15,000 fans due to a lousy weather day watched the #14 Texas Longhorns and Randolph Field struggle to a 7-7 tie. Above is the watch presented to the team members from the Cotton Bowl Association. Notice the engraving on the watch frame. The full article is in the que at https://texaslsn.org

Ed Olle, at different periods of his life, was a player, Coach, Administrator, and Athletic Director for the University of Texas. Living a charmed life before rings and watches were the symbols of a special moment, Ed’s grand-daughter, Katherine, shares Ed’s honors with the Longhorn nation. Ed Olle’s story is in the Que. https://texaslsn.org