ROLL CALL: NEWS CONF. & MERCURY GRILLE

[Diehard Pony]

Cool. I'll be there. My schedule just opened up for a few hours... Also, just ran into Jeff Penington (former Pony fullback) at lunch- he said he should be at the press conference as well.

PonyExpress83 I am curious about your pen name. The Pony Express graduated after the 1982 season?

[ThadFilms]

Yes... but they played their final game on 1.1.83... which is one of my earliest specific sports memories, as the Ponies beat Dan Marino and Pitt. I have a couple of memories from that era (Dickerson's jersey tearing apart as he busted down the sidelines, etc.), and I do remember that my favorite player was Craig James (because everybody else seemed to like Dickerson)... The thing is, I specifically remember that game, how cold it was, how utterly tense the game was, I probably didn't understand in actual terms how close the game was... but I could feel it, you know?

I was four. I'll never forget sitting under that blanket with my family, freezing... watching the Ponies play football... and beating the guy everybody seemed to be talking about- Dan Marino, Dan Marino, Dan Marino... (I thought he was some sort of unbeatable god.) Walking out of the Cotton Bowl, and everybody talking about a National Championship.

I really became aware of sports on that day (and a few others in that era)... and not just a fan of the "blue team".

(Also in that "era" the Cardinals won the World Series. I was born in Dallas, but the rest of my family was from St. Louis- so that was a huge deal in our household.)

It's rare that you can actually pinpoint a date, of anything in your life... and well, I can pinpoint 1.1.83... thus PonyExpress83.

Thanks for asking Diehard Pony. (My handle creates much confusion, and I often want to change it... but c'est la vie.)

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1.1.83 = SMU 7 Pitt 3
National Champions?