The gentleman who owns the building my office is in has a newspaper pic from the old Houston Post. It shows the ball pinned against his chest with both knees digging trenches through the grass.

He also has an article that was printed a day or so later with a quote from a SWC spokesman.

It read something along the lines of, "well, the call may have been incorrect but we sure are glad texas is playing for a championship."

Every sport at some time or another has had games fixed. I believe this to be one. Get over it and move on.

When they took the picture, he did not have control of the ball. However, you can clearly see that he clutches the ball firmly with his knees on the ground before going out of bounds.

Not sure if the refs "screwed us", but t.u. does seem to get lucky a LOT.

quote:

---

You heard the 12TH MAN screaming, "You're blind!!!." "Pull your head out!!!" and "No! No! No!" but there was no booing.

---

My, how times have changed.

TAMU did not water down the field prior to any game. I do remember that the sips watered down their field when pot head ricky was there. They had their team where longer spikes where as the AGs had shorter spikes. If it were not for RC's so called prevent defense at the end of the game the sips would have lost that game. But as many have said it is all history. Over the past 25 years I believe the record is very even.

I was at the game. It was a very overcast day with constant drizzle, and had been all week. There was no need to add additional water. The sips can believe what they want.

In College, the receiver (or interceptor) must get one foot down in bounds, even if he is being forced down. If Duke did not do that, he was OB.

You are the world, we are the USA, don't mess with us and we won't blow your $hit away.

To: Godfather;Rebcon 68;PJ Young; Highwayman;
Others not there then;
I was a sergebutt Junior 1963. I saw the whole thing. It was not even open to discussion. Jim Willenbourg caught the ball and slid on his knees out of bounds.It was a rainy day. Noone watered the field prior to game. I was soaked in the stands. The newspaper San Antonio Light front page showed FRAME by FRAME it was clear interception! Jim sat next to me in class. He looked at me and shrugged He did his best. He thought it was a no doubt interception. My family is half longhorn, half Ag all concede BAD call.
Guys: what made it so hard to swallow was that on any given day the Horns were a much better team. On that day thru sheer determiination and grit we outplayed the Horns. Anyone with a half bit of fairness who sees a clear film will admit ref blew it!
Gig Em!

I have no dog in this fight other than to say it's easy to see how it was called an incomplete pass. Sorry.

And if I was there I'm sure I would feel exactly like the old Ags who were there feel - robbed.

I don't know how anyone can see even that bad video and not see that he was in bounds. His head and upper body were out, sure, but his feet were CLEARLY in bounds, and that's all that matters where that is concerned.

You can't see much from that angle as far as posession, but there's too many that did see it, and too many pics published in the aftermath to see it as anything but a bad call.

I'm not bitter about it, heck I wasn't even 3 years old, but the commentary from league officials and quotes the refs made are very sad and seem to reinforce how much of a truly unfair advantage the sips had for years in that rivalry.

From the looks of that bad video he's bobbling the ball and kinda traps it when he lands out of bounds. His hands look to be on top of the ball when he hits the ground.

Anyway - like you said it's a bad video and I'm certainly not making any conclusions other than to say it doesn't seem like an obvious cut and dried call.

And still pictures wouldn't help if he was bobbling it I would think.

Squadron 11--

I have heard that before, and it sounds good, but I don't believe it happened. I worked with Willenborg in the late sixties and I never heard that from him.

Godfather--

What video are you referring to? The youtube version linked above is full speed. You have to see the slomo version taken from field level about right on the end line. All of us from that era have seen it and it confirms that he had possession of the ball, while on his knees, inbounds, while sliding out of bounds. You just cant see this on the youtube version because it is too fast and from the wrong angle.

Also, the only school I remember watering down the field was tu in 1998. There had been no rain for two weeks before that game, yet the field looked like it had been sprayed with mineral oil.

Before the tu game in 63 it had rained a bunch the previous two weeks. I was there on the campus and I know. Sips were complaining at that time about the wetness, and it was wet, but it was because of rain, not an intentional watering down of the field. You were not there so you do not know.

I won't even respond to your assertion that 1963 is meaningless and irrelevant. Obviously, to a lot of us, that was a pretty good year.

Why don't u get an Ag tag? If you can.

I was there in the stands, east side, north end, about half way up, best possible position to see the catch being made, no juggling, no fumble, no doubt. Obviously, the ref had some connection to TU. He knew he made the wrong call. Everything was on the line that year and the Ags played knowing that. They clearly won that game and had there been an honest unbiased ref on the field it would be recorded that way. The TU football team who were close saw it, even heard hands strike the pig skin. TU disgraced itself that day and like chocolate or blood the Stain of that day cannot be removed and will remain in memory until the end. Do not worry Sips, time will pass and we will all be gone, but this post will remain somewhere in digital form forever. Eat your hearts out for a phony national title granted to you January, 1964.

Correction, Jim did not slide out of bound. I counted the steps. There were 4 until he crossed the end line.