Barry Switzer was a great coach. In fact, that was the first and best litmus test question my friends immediately used for newcomers to the sports betting scene. It was absolutely uncanny. When we asked about Barry Switzer and received the standard reply about lousy coach winning with Jimmy Johnson's players, we adopted a little shared grin because we knew that guy had no chance in that town. He was going to watch every game and subjectively grind himself out with one conventional wisdom gaffe after another.
But if we got the rare positive response, then we immediately took notice. I am still friends and colleagues with some of those guys today. I'll never forget when my friend Paul and I asked a newcomer named Larry about Switzer at the Frontier sportsbook. Larry rattled off everything relevant, including Switzer's bowl record against excellent coaches like Paterno, Bowden and Osborne, along with the fact that Switzer won the Super Bowl with a team that had just been dethroned as Super Bowl champ. It was an unheard of feat. Only George Halas had managed it, before Switzer. Now Belichick has joined them. In fact, Belichick can do it for the third time if he wins this Super Bowl. But overall it is a horrendous situational scenario yet Barry Switzer did a remarkable job overcoming it in 1995.
The Patriot team cannot be used as good example for anything. Once Belichick departs I'm sure we won't see many -- if any -- forthcoming examples of a team winning the title just one season after being dethroned. Sometimes there will be an entire decade without a playoff victory for that lot, let alone a title.
That guy Larry Mathews was incredibly sharp. I may have mentioned him previously but I'm not sure of that. Unfortunately he bragged about his winnings too much. We kept warning him to shut up. Eventually Larry was found dead in the desert, spring 2004.
