Scudday, Thomas Earl Jr. 2001-08-20
Thomas Earl Scudday Jr. discusses his life growing up in deep west Texas and attending Texas Tech University. He discusses how he became a writer and his experiences as a sports writer for high school, college, and the Dallas Cowboys football teams.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Thomas Earl Scudday Jr.
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: August 20, 2001
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Interviewer: Daniel Sanchez
Length: 02:24:04
Abstract
Introduction; Born Alpine, Texas ; Parents; Grandparents; Texas Tech scholarship; Parents moved to Lubbock; Change from Alpine to Lubbock; Tech campus; Agriculture; Temporary class rooms; Foundation laid for new Ag building; Dean expected great things of him; Dairy; 19th Street (current location of KTXT TV); Was used for grazing sheep, cows, etc.; Agriculture biggest of Tech; Athletic events; Enthusiastic; Spent hours on field in 1941 with Del Morgan; Regional Golden Gloves in 1942; Entered the field; Lavern Roach; 1949-1950 fought Marcel Sudan of France for shot at world title; Fought in the old Tech Barn; Brother varsity tennis player; Basketball games in the Tech Barn; Noise was intense; Arizona game; “no autopsy, no foul”; Opponents; Border Conference; Athletics after World War II; Influx of players; 1946 football team; Success against Southwest Conference teams; Old football stadium; Description; Crude press box; Air Force civilian mechanic career; Transfer; Went back to Texas Tech; Did not want to do agriculture; Wanted to enroll into Arts and Science; Late enrollment was not approved; Prior experience selling newspapers as a child; Never thought of writing for a newspaper; Never was for detail; Avalanche-Journal; Working atmosphere; Attending Texas Tech and continued working for AJ newspaper; Avalanche Journal (again); Sports department; Corporate takeover; Early retirement; Tex Schramm’s quote; One- man sports staff; Daily workout stories; Covered high school and junior high school games; Texas Tech versus Texas football game; Featured Tom Landry and Bobby Layne; Joe Kelly; News Editor; Lubbock High School football; Coach Pat Patterson; Assessment of quarterback Bobby Brown; Lubbock High School football (continued); Repeated undefeated and state championship seasons 1951, 1952; “Little Southwest Conference”; 29 straight victories; Patterson’s departure; Dallas Cowboys in 1960; Tom Landry; Other personal connections; Covering the Cowboys; Game day routine; Writing a Monday column store; First exhibition game in California; Texas press contingency; Quarterback briefings; Tom Landry; War experience; Lubbock Army Airfield; Sense of humor; Dallas Cowboys; Still has first press book; 1st Dallas Cowboys program; Glen Davis, former West Point star quarterback; Lubbock ties; Married to actress Teri Moore; Interesting people; Sam Geronimo - Geronimo’s son; Physical description; Cattle buyer; Geronimo’s response to Lindsey theater marquee showing “I killed Geronimo”; Audie Murphy’s visit to Lubbock; Ted “Thirty seconds over Tokyo” Larson; Friends; Part time scout; Gil Brandt; Respected the players’ right to a personal life; His finds; Cliff Harris; Larry Cole; Rayfield Wright; Helped Cowboys sign “unknown player”; Player sent to Seattle; Couldn’t remember the player’s name; Fans; Behavior; Texas Tech versus Texas Christian; Dallas and Greenbay; Switch from spectators to participants; Fans (continued); Security procedures; Southwest Conference (again); Texas Tech’s frustration at not being allowed in to the conference; Lubbock High School State Football and Basketball Championships; Popularity of Lubbock High School’s football games; First two games in Jones Stadium; Lubbock High School versus Brownfield High School; Fire delay during construction; Anticlimactic opening; Texas Tech versus Harden Simmons; Expansion of the stadium; Southwest Conference (again); Beating Texas in nonconference play in 1955; Celebration after acceptance into conference; Impact; Tech Football Coaches; Pete Cawthon; Dale Morgan; J.T. King; Jim Carlin; Recruiting ability; Attitude; Steve Sloan; Jerry Moore; Spike Dykes; Good fit; Disappointments in bowl games; Failure rate against lower rated teams; Tech Facilities (again); Jones AT & T Stadium; United Spirit Arena; New practice facilities; Amount of current expenditures; Tech football coaches (again); Dale Morgan; Pete Cawthon; Morgan (again); Dewitt Weaver; Wade Walker; Connections; Tech football coaches (continued); J.T. King; Personal relationship and mutual respect; Coaching ability; Jim Carlin (again); Steve Sloan; Rex Dockery; Jerry Moore; Spike Dykes (again); Key players; Bobby Cavazos; Cavazos brothers; Danny Hardaway; Conley’s comments about Hardaway’s speed; Racial tensions, late 1940s; American Legion Play in baseball versus Littlefield with a black player; Parker local businessman refused to play and forfeited; The teams met later that season and they played the game; Threat of violence after shooting incident; Racial violence (continued); Del Rio, Texas; Border towns vs. Lubbock; Del Rio, Texas; Border town; Alpine, Texas; Hispanics acceptance in high school; Admission that he never saw a Hispanic person in the local grocery; Hispanic representation; Lack of representation even though Hispanics were the vast majority; Segregation; At Tech was segregated; Childhood incidents; Scudday (again); Struggles versus ranchers’ kids; Reference; Miss Fleetwood; Personal ethics; Opposed to negative reporting; Belief in personal confidences; Personal relationships with Lubbock High School players; Ethics (again); Dallas Cowboys; Reporter breaking a conversation he overheard; Thousand Oaks; Jim Meyers; Tended to curfew; Players using Scudday’s room to get around the curfew; Debt of gratitude to the players, Tom Landry and the organization; Gil Brandt spying request; Groupies; Moving from the Southwest Conference to the Big 12; Destroyed old rivalries; Texas A&M and Texas; Del Morgan’s team versus Texas A&M; Bill Kelly’s comment about Morgan; Other traditional rivalries in the old Southwest Conference; Dale Royal’s “cockroaches” comment after losing to Texas Christian University; Weather forced stoppage of two Southern Methodist at Tech games; Negative Aspect of the series of probations; Southern Methodist University; Oklahoma; Tech player went to the car of an Oklahoma supporter; Southern Methodist University (again); Death penalty; Texas Christian University; Jim Whacker’s self reporting incident; Family feel; Criticism of Oklahoma; Criticism (continued); Scudday’s column; Interest in all aspects; Writing career; Working with younger people; Watchdog; Recommending picks; Dallas Cowboys; Small town feeling; Progress; Merkel High School, Merkel, Texas vs. Littlefield High School, Littlefield, Texas; Basketball game; Low scoring game; Lamesa High School, Lamesa, Texas coach; Threat.
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Transcript: Transcript available in reading room
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