I posted this blog item once — on Dec. 8, 2009 — but I feel compelled to share it again today.
It’s an anecdotal story about a legendary football coach and his experiences in the Texas Panhandle.
Here it is:
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Today’s weather reminds me of a story I’ve been telling for years. It involves the legendary football coach O.A. “Bum” Phillips and it’s gotten great laughs from those who have heard it.
I have not verified its complete accuracy. But it sounds sufficiently true. Thus, I believe it to be so — and so do others who have heard it. The story goes like this:
Many years ago, when Bum was coaching the Houston Oilers, he took his team to Buffalo to play the Bills. It was late in the season. Winters in Buffalo can be, well, bracing. The Oilers and Bills played that day in one of those classic winter weather events on the shore of Lake Erie: heavy snow, wind, sleet, rain, temperature well below zero.
The Oilers won the nationally televised game. As the teams were leaving the field, a TV sideline reporter and cameraman approached Bum and asked him, “Well, Coach, how did you like coaching in this cold weather?”
Bum responded: “Cold? This ain’t cold! Why, shoot, I used to coach in Amarillo, Texas!”