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The Fiesta, Phoenix and Me
Published: 12/27/2011 6:57 PM
Last Modified: 12/27/2011 6:57 PM

It has been 37 years since Oklahoma State last played in the Fiesta Bowl.
It is memorable because I was 20-years-old and it was my first bowl game.
The Cowboys beat BYU, 16-6, and OSU running back Kenny Walker, the best player on our intramural softball team, was the MVP of the bowl (and our intramural softball team, too).
The Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma State football and myself have done a lot of growing since then.
The Fiesta Bowl was just three-years-old at the time but it would eventually grow in stature and prestige to the point that it was selected as one of the designated BCS bowls back in the 1990s.
That 1974 Fiesta Bowl was OSU football’s first bowl game in 16 years. Now, the Cowboys, ranked third in the nation with an 11-1 record, have been to nine bowls in the last 10 years.
And, I’ve been back to Phoenix dozens of times over the last 35 years both for games and vacations.
In fact, some of the most memorable games I’ve covered in my career were in Phoenix.
OSU’s Fiesta Bowl in 1974 was the first taste of success by the Cowboys in the old Big Eight. It signalled a new and improved era of O-State football, although not even close to where OSU football finds itself today.
I covered Dallas’ victory in Super Bowl XXX, a victory over Pittsburgh that gave former OU coach Barry Switzer his one Super Bowl victory as coach of the Cowboys.
And, I was there the night Boise State pulled off one of the most stunning victories in BCS Bowl history - the upset of Oklahoma using a hook-and-ladder play for a TD in a miracle end to regulation followed by a statue of liberty play for the winning TD in overtime.
I wonder what kind of memories will be made in the next week by OU and OSU.



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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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