Good night on the football front, as both my Muskogee Roughers and Henryetta Knights won first-round playoff matches. It's still stunning to me to see Henryetta's record sit at 10-1.

Wild.

And, with the Oklahoma Sooners looking to take revenge on Texas Tech later today, I thought I'd give a simple shout out to the memory of a man I befriended during my two years in South Texas, from 1994-1996.

His name was F.D. "Smitty" Smith, and he died Tuesday at the age of 86. Smitty was a giant OU Sooners fan in a vast wilderness of Texas A&M hell -- and, yes, I do mean hell. Great town El Campo was, but the Ags are a tad overbearing.

He was also a great guy, even if he had the extra bonus trait of bleeding crimson and cream. Smitty and I watched a couple of basketball games at his house together, just sitting back in recliners. One of the games I recall pretty well -- down by 10 or so to the Texas Longhorns, Ryan Minor led new coach Kelvin Sampson's team to a 100-78 or so rout.

I didn't spend a lot of time in the recliner because I was too busy pumping my fists, an energy I think the old man enjoyed.

Smitty was married to the accountant at the newspaper I worked for, and she's a gem, too, particularly for marryin' a carpetbagger Sooner in the middle of Ags and Texas orangebloods. Sometimes, he'd wander on over to the Leader-News and visit with me about the Ricebirds (who open up their playoff run against LaMarque next week), the Sooners or his beloved San Francisco Giants.

My hunch was always that he was actually a New York Giants fan from back in the 1940s, but I never recalled asking. I do remember specifically rooting for the Giants in 2002 against the Angels solely because I knew they were Smitty's team -- and I did figure he was getting up in years.

It's not like we stayed in contact one minute past my departure from what is honestly a great small town in the middle of Texas. If they didn't have so many damned Aggies, it might be a perfect town, and I say that with a giant dose of kidding considering half the Longhorns who live there say it everyday.

However, for a young, dumb kid in the middle of Texas who was essentially eight hours away from anything resembling family, having ol' Smitty nearby was a fair replacement for two years, and I always enjoyed talking to that guy.

Quick Notes Before The Weekend's Officially On:

Speaking of death, we've had a barrage of it lately in the world of celebrity. Ed Bradley, Jack Palance, Adrienne Shelley and Gerald Levert. And, I'm still leading my deadpool league by 60 points.

I am the master of celebrity deaths, but I haven't had a hit in months. However, if I can just stave off my competition for the next month and a half, I will be crowned the 2006 champion, my first year in the league.

I'd like to thank the Academy ... all the little people ...

Do any of you listen to Loveline Uncensored? It's the radio show that got turned into an MTV program featuring Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Corolla a decade ago, and it struck me odd tonight listening to it for the first time, while driving home from work, that it hasn't drawn more ire from Oklahoma parents.

The first question came from a 16-year-old girl who asked Dr. Drew something about getting ejaculation in her eye. My thought was that parents would flip OUT if they heard their kids listening to this. On the other hand, Dr. Drew explained that the girl could get chlamydia or gonorrhea of the eye.

Holy %$#&!

This is highly educational!