March 13, 2003
This is another "B" Line column, a periodic collection of news items of particular interest to members of the Baylor "B" Association. Contribute news about you or your teammates via e-mail to Lee Harrington (leenelaine@281.com), Dutch Schroeder (Dutch_Schroeder@baylor.edu), Reba Cooper (Reba_Cooper@baylor.edu) or Jack Loftis (Jack.Loftis@chron.com). The mailing address is Baylor "B" Association, P. O. Box 8120, Waco, TX 76714
GRANT TEAFF TEAM - The 1983 Bluebonnet Bowl team will be honored at Baylor Homecoming next fall. The team, coached by Grant Teaff, was 7-3-1 before losing to Oklahoma State, 24-14, in the 25th anniversary edition of the once extremely popular bowl game in Houston. How good were individual members of the '83 team? The Baylor Football Media Guide lists eight players as making All-Southwest Conference lists that year: wide receiver Gerald McNeil, offensive tackle Mark Adickes, defensive end Ervin Randle, defensive back Aaron Grant, running back Alfred Anderson, wide receiver Bruce Davis, and quarterbacks Cody Carlson and Tom Muecke (he of goal-line offense fame).
The '83 Bears will be honored guests at a dinner in the "B" Room on Friday night, Nov. 7, and given special recognition during the Homecoming Parade and the afternoon game with Texas Tech on Saturday. The "B" Association's Lee Harrington says mailings have gone out to all of the 1983 team members and he urges those planning to attend to make hotel reservations as quickly as possible. "There's always a crowd for Homecoming," Harrington reminds us. Anyone needing more information may contact Harrington or Reba Cooper at the e-mail addresses preceding this column or call the "B" Association office at 254-710-3045 . . .
ANYONE FOR TRAVEL? - Bill McCleary, who played tennis at Baylor in the early 1960s, and wife Pat came in from their home in Shenandoah recently to watch the Bear netters in action. He also used the Waco visit to do some research for a vacation trip the McClearys will be taking any day now. Since their stops will include Germany, Poland and Hungary, they sought helpful travel tips from Baylor tennis players and coaches familiar with those areas. For instance, Baylor has three men's players and one women's team member from Germany, one from Hungary and an assistant coach from Poland. Maybe there is a cottage industry in the development since other nations represented on the combined men's and women's squads include The Netherlands, Scotland, Argentina, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Spain. And for travelers just looking for day trips there are players on the BU courts from Dallas, San Antonio and New Braunfels . . . And speaking of travel, Houstonian Matt Miller, a BU baseball letter winner from the 1950s, was among guests that Houston Astros owner (and Baylor regents chair) Drayton McLane treated to a one-day trip to Florida this week for an Astros exhibition game with the Atlanta Braves. The pilgrimage is an annual event for Astros team sponsors and other friends of McLane . . .
READERS RIGHT - We were half right, half wrong about certain facts relating to Ted Uhlaender's family in the in the March 6 "B" Line column. We were correct in saying the former Baylor and major league baseball player was a longtime resident of McAllen, but should have said that he had been living in McGregor prior to selling the family home and moving to Colorado. The reader who called this to our attention also pointed out that we failed to mention Uhlaender playing in a World Series with Cincinnati, which he did. But we will plug McAllen one more time by announcing that the city named its baseball facilities Ted Uhlaender Field in February of 2002 . . . Another reader says we set him up last November for a punch line that was never delivered. It involved whether Mike Singletary, Baylor's only resident of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, would make CBS Sports' list of the 10 Greatest College Players of all time. He didn't. The list, as established by voting fans, sportswriters and coaches, included Red Grange, Jim Brown, Jim Thorpe, Herschel Walker, Archie Griffin, Sammy Baugh, Dick Butkus, Roger Staubach, Doak Walker and Tony Dorsett. Again we wonder: Only one defensive specialist? And why not 11 all-time greats? After all, it's football . . .
JACK LOFTIS
CHAIRMAN
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
