Many readers may have noticed Dirk West drew a cross by his signature on his cartoons. He did this, pardon the pun, religiously and often included it even when he did sketches.
The cross was an expression of his faith that he made publicly but rarely discussed privately, even among close friends.
His personal note in this cartoon, in a word balloon coming from his signature, was an even more visible expression of his faith and was unusual for Dirk.
This was printed on Nov. 25, 1974, which was the Monday before Thanksgiving. The Red Raiders, who had finished their regular season at 6-4-1, had accepted a Peach Bowl bid.
Baylor and Texas A&M were tied for first place in the Southwest Conference with 5-1 records. The Aggies had beaten Baylor but lost to SMU.
Baylor had Rice left to play and A&M had Texas. The Bears pinned their Cotton Bowl hopes on the Longhorns beating A&M.
The Aggie was already planning his trip to Dallas, and the Longhorn’s only response was a sly smile. The Longhorns smothered the Aggies 32-3, Baylor beat Rice and the Bears went to the Cotton Bowl.
The Boo Bird and the Razorback both referred to Texas Tech’s 21-13 loss to Arkansas the previous weekend. The Hog referred to Arkansas coach Frank Broyles.
Peach Bowl tickets became a running joke because Tech had committed itself to buy 6,000 tickets. And Tech did forget to pack the offense for the bowl trip. The Peach Bowl was a 6-6 tie between Tech and Vanderbilt.
