An article with this headline ran in newspapers around the state of Texas back on a Friday, December 11th. Hey wait, TODAY is Friday, December 11th. How ‘bout that? See the comments for the article.
Back during the 1981 version of December 11th, Roos were marveling that the very next day their tiny, academically oriented school would somehow be hosting a football game to decide an NAIA national championship:
“Which brings us to the most glorious campaign in the history of the school. [Coach Larry Kramer] has a squad of 69 players who compete in the [TIAA] for the pure love of the game. Oh, Kramer recruits them: the kids the big football factories don’t want. The school has a high academic standing – pre-med, pre-law, strong liberal arts. But even if you weigh 120 pounds and stand 5-feet-2, you’re a keeper on Kramer’s team. ‘We don’t cut anybody,’ he says. ‘That’s the second thing we tell them. The first thing is that we aren’t located in Austin.’”
“With good weather Saturday [December 12th], Austin College Athletic Director Bob Mason is looking for some 3,000 fans to watch the Kangaroos get after the [Concordia College] Cobbers. And the parking is free at one of the last places in the country where they still play football just for the fun of it.”
The 1981 national championship is meaningful to Roos in different ways, depending upon your age. If you have a degree from the 1970s or 1980s, then you probably enjoy the reality of that title. If you have a degree from the 2000s or 2010s, then you probably enjoy the ancient history of that title. Roos with a degree in the 1990s, however, have something else. A Bob Mason-fueled myth.
Bob Mason talked about 1981 all the time. AC Athletics literature always seemed to include the game, the setting, the outcome, and of course Gene Branum’s “kick.” And because Bob Mason was an AC man to the core, he never mentioned athletics (Branum’s kick) without including academics (Branum was AC pre-med and a doctor). In a speech on campus, I recall Mason saying something like “nothing can compare to the atmosphere on campus in the week before that title game.” Of course, he was wrong. Like the 2006 Rose Bowl, the game itself exceeded even those lofty expectations.
How strong was the Bob Mason myth? Well, so strong that a 1990s Roo who wasn’t even around back then (that’s me) told the story of the 1981 title online, alongside many of those 1981 Roos whose blood, sweat, & tears earned the championship for AC. This happened back in 2016, on the 35th anniversary. Since then, it’s become a tradition of mine to always post something, anything really….about the 1981 season on the December 12th anniversary. Tomorrow is December 12th, and yup……..I got a neat story for 2020.
On Friday, December 11th, 1981, Roos tried and probably failed to fall asleep before the title game. It surely didn’t help that the AC coaching staff provided the players with a packet on Friday night of December 11th that included a motivational page (see the comments) as they prepared for their 13th and final game of the season:
“Same Song, 13th verse!! Pride! Determination! Discipline! Dedication! You heard them in August, and you heard them this week. They mean the same thing now as then, but the results of putting these terms into action is never more evident than tonight and tomorrow.”
“The last verse of the 1981 Kangaroo football team will be written on Saturday, December 12, 1981 on the field of Calder Stadium. The opportunity awaits you as you prepare yourself mentally for the task at hand, the opportunity to become the National Champions.”
December 12th should be an Austin College holiday. The date is also now a Marc tradition. Will post the December 12th story tomorrow, about the 1981 National Championship team from a little school called Austin College.
