After Upset, Texas Coach Is Really Upset

After Baylor upset No. 23 Texas, 76-72, in men’s basketball Tuesday, Baylor public-address announcer Brad Cox said, “The Baylor Bears embarrass Tommy Penders and his No. 23-ranked Longhorns at the Ferrell Center.”

Baylor Athletic Director Tom Stanton has since sent a letter of apology to Coach Tom Penders. Stanton said disciplinary action will be taken against Cox but wouldn’t elaborate.

Penders said Cox “should have been fired on the spot,” adding, “What was said will be put up on everybody’s locker before that [Baylor] game for as long as I’m the coach here.”

Penders is a little touchy, isn’t he?

*

Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for turnovers in a game?

*

Cocktail break: Actor Jack Lemmon recalled this story while playing in a celebrity event preceding the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am:

“I remember when Dean Martin hit a ball on the 18th toward one of the houses along the course. He went to get his ball and kept going into the house and had a martini. He wasn’t invited back. Bing [Crosby] didn’t like that.”

*

Trivia answer: John Drew of Atlanta, with 14 against New Jersey on March 1, 1978.

*

And finally: Here’s a strange mix: Classical pianist Van Cliburn will be performing the national anthem for 200,000 auto racing fans at the inaugural event scheduled at the new Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on April 6.

It wouldn’t be Cliburn’s first venture into the world of sports.

In 1994, he and the Fort Worth Symphony performed the national anthem at the opening of The Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers.