David Claybourn: Sports Views: Barry Switzer sang 'Poke Salad Annie' in elevator
Oct. 29—Tony Joe White, the Wolfe City-ex who is now the head football coach at Birmingham-Southern, had a chance encounter once with Barry Switzer.
They rode on the same elevator together.
White recognized the former Oklahoma-Dallas Cowboys head coach and complimented him. Switzer then asked for White's name.
"I'm Tony Joe White."
Switzer then started singing the 1960s rock classic "Poke Salad Annie." Hilarious!
Switzer, of course, coached Oklahoma to three national championships and the Cowboys to one Super Bowl title.
That song was written by Tony's namesake Tony Joe White when the singer/musician was living and working in Corpus Christi in South Texas. That Tony Joe White made the song famous and so did Elvis Presley, who covered it.
This Tony Joe's father Eddie White, who's coached in Hunt County and served as superintendent of the Lone Oak ISD, named his son Tony Joe after hearing the song "Poke Salad Annie" back in the day on the car radio.
Tony Joe's brother Nathan White told me the Barry Switzer elevator story after Nathan's son Jake White quarterbacked Forney to a 35-0 victory last week over the Greenville Lions.
The Tony Joe White who's a coach has led Birmingham-Southern to its best start since 1934. — The Dallas Cowboys could have used former Texas A&M University-Commerce running back Gary Perry in their 35-29 overtime victory over the New England Patriots.
The Cowboys failed to convert several short-yardage plays on third and one and fourth and one despite the efforts of running back Zeke Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott. The Patriots' defense stopped Elliott and Prescott short of the yard needed though the officials may have missed the call on one or both of Prescott's sneaks from the 1-yard line.
Anyway, Perry had a knack for leaping over the pile to score touchdowns in short-yardage situations. He was so good at it he was nicknamed "Air Perry." Perry earned all-Lone Star Conference honors for the Lions in 1990 and 1991. — Good manners are alive and well at Greenville High School.
Last week I held the door open for nine members of the Greenville Lady Lions' volleyball team as they one by one were heading out of the locker room area following a volleyball match. Every single player said "thank you" to me.
I was impressed and said so to Lady Lions head volleyball coach Jenna Sickels and assistant coach Angela Butler.
You want to see athletes compete hard during the game but show good manners before and after the game. Well done, Lady Lions. — Congratulations to the six new members of the Royse City Athletic Hall of Fame: D'Kaira Otis, Class of 2016, track and field; Raven Alexander, Class of 2009, basketball; Don Bumpass, Class of 1957, football; Martin Harvey, Class of 1958, football; Bobby Crowell, Class of 1959, football; and Royce Swiney, special contributor.
Otis was an outstanding hurdler for the Lady Bulldogs and later competed at Stephen F. Austin. Alexander was a standout basketball player for the Lady Bulldogs and later played at Texas Wesleyan.
Swiney, who grew up in Greenville, has been a constant presence at Royse City athletic contests for the past 40 years and the Bulldogs' indoor practice facility is named for him. — About once a year I write an All-Name Team for a sports column, listing names that caught my eye.
Someone recently sent me a suggestion for another name to the team: Bric Wall, a former football player at Hereford. I hope he was a defensive lineman.
David Claybourn is sports editor of the Herald-Banner.
