What If? 1983: Texas Longhorns win the National Championship (The TL)

Do you want this TL to have ramifications on College Football ?

  • A.) YES

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • B.) NO

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • C.) Too Soon to Tell

    Votes: 1 33.3%

  • Total voters
    3
Chapter 1: Polls

49ersfootball

Well-known member
Who do you want to win the 1983 National Championship? Pollsters asks college football fans
*December 14th, 1983: CBS News did a polling survey only consisting of college football fans across the country. Asking who do they prefer to win the National Championship of the 1983 Season.

Among the following questions:
*Do you believe there should be a playoff in College Football?
Yes: 62%
No: 27%
Undecided: 9%

*Who do you think should win the National Championship?
#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers: 38%
#2 Texas Longhorns: 21%
#5 Miami Hurricanes: 5%
Undecided: 36%

*Would you prefer a split national championship among two college football teams?
Yes: 30%
No: 57%
 
Last edited:
One-on-One Interview

49ersfootball

Well-known member
White
4:00 PM CST, December 14th, 1983
Houston, TX.
med_res
TX Governor Mark Wells White, Jr., (D) had just gotten done with his first year in office: where among the highlights, his first legislative session as Governor wasn't that too great due to lack of effectiveness of following through on campaign pledges during the 1982 gubernatorial campaign trail (where White defeated Clements 53% to 45% in the Blue Wave of 1982).

To ask where to begin: let's start with the following:

Upon taking office as the Lone Star State's 43rd Governor on January 18th, 1983 & the months that followed during the early part of his administration: tough decisions needed to be made. The difficult budget crunch, which engulfed a once-proud multibillion-dollar surpluses of the Briscoe & Clements administrations; it also didn't help that Governor White had non-stop difficulty on whether he wanted to follow through on campaign promise of wanting a tax increase. Then all of a sudden in typical political double-speak, he couldn't decide which kind of an increase he would prefer if he wanted to pursue it.

The TX State Legislature also had difficulty on what to do during the 1983 legislative session of the 68th TX State Legislature: the TX State Senate was bogged down in a bitter battle over former Governor Clements' holdover appointments & couldn't get any wiggle room to getting rid of the holdover appointments; what also didn't help matters over in the TX House of Representatives, which is where the lower chamber was bogged down into multiple issues & crises, where TX House Speaker Gib Lewis (D-Fort Worth) was strongly criticized for failing to disclose his financial holdings. The big issues facing Texans: trucking, deregulation, utility reform, interest rates: all of whom fizzled out with deals that had no clear purpose or alternatives.

Once again, Governor White still couldn't grasp into telling the Legislature what he wanted done & passed. More critical issues of interests continued to die: Horse Racing, Water Package, Teacher Salaries (which White promised during the 1982 campaign) all died out. It also infuriated many people that the tax bill was viciously gutted & dismantled non-stop.

Results of the 1983 legislative session: It did NOT end well for Governor White, who made teacher pay & education one of his top priorities of his administration. Due to his annoying aloofness from getting involved in the tough, difficult negotiations on reforming the Public Utility Commission in the House & Senate, the Governor wasted his big opportunity & pretty much his political capital into earning the respect of legislators in the heavily Dem-controlled TX State Legislature by doubling-down on one hopeless issue, an elected 3-member Public Utility Commission, which most folks KNEW wasn't going anywhere.

Among the gaffes & embarrassing pitfalls of Governor White's administration: his follies of the tax bills were downright pathetic & embarrassing; while White successfully embraced & dismissed highway bonds, gasoline taxes, severance taxes & sin taxes; what also infuriated many in the Legislature was White's aggressive treatment of legislators, including the fact he went in the home districts of those he perceived as enemies, by campaigning against them, which infuriated & angered many. His antics & ruthless tactics reminded people of his GOP predecessor, former TX Governor William P. Clements, Jr., including the controversial, pathetic tactics that were used by then-US President Jerry Brown, which infuriated Congress to the point that they overrode many of his policy initiatives during Brown's presidency. Make no mistake, White was named as one of the biggest losers of the 1983 legislative session by Texas Monthly.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Top