The Red Raider's comment about sinking in this Oct. 15, 1979, cartoon was one of Dirk West's best lines. Texas Tech had dropped to 2-3-1 and had not yet played the "rapids" - Texas and Houston, who were ranked No. 4 and No. 7 in the nation, respectively.
However, Arkansas, which had just beaten Tech, was not far behind. The Razorbacks were ranked No. 12 at the time and ended up as Southwest Conference co-champions with Houston in 1979. Texas finished third in the SWC and Baylor was fourth.
The bandaged bullet hole in the Red Raider's hat represented a tie with Arizona, and Trombono was a nickname Dirk had hung on Tech athletic director Dick Tamburo.
The Boo Bird's comment about SMU referred to the school's trouble with the NCAA. The Mustang football program was put on probation by the NCAA five times between 1974 and 1985 and was suspended (popularly called the death penalty) in 1987.
Tech was searching for a new president, and Dirk mentioned Moss as a candidate in several cartoons.
Dirk's sign about Muleshoe restaurants drew protests from Muleshoe residents, and Dirk responded by kidding them again in other cartoons.
Both sides had a lot of fun with it. Muleshoe invited Dirk, who was Lubbock's mayor at the time, and his wife, Mary Ruth, to a dinner in his honor catered by all of the Muleshoe restaurants. Dirk accepted, wore a tuxedo and greatly enjoyed the sense of humor of the Muleshoe people, who set the table with Pepto-Bismol and other stomach medicines along with the food.
