Quote:
|
One Sat. in the 1970s there was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico that produced two 67-yard FGs (NCAA) and one 69-yarder (Abilene Christian, NAIA).
|
Several problems in this statement. First, there was no hurricane in the Gulf that day. Even if there was, Abilene is quite a long way from the Gulf and is rarely affected by hurricanes, except for some after-effect rain, but even that doesn't happen much. Second, there was no 67 yard field goal made by any NCAA kicker that day. Tony Franklin of Texas A&M made a 65 yarder -- a record at the time, and then later hit a 64 yarder. 2 60+ yarders are still NCAA records. It was a year later when Russel Erxleben of Texas and Steve Little of Arkansas both kicked 67 yarders 2 weeks apart. Finally, while the wind did aid the Abilene kicker, it was an estimated 16mph wind. Not unusual for ANY fall Saturday in West Texas.
Just FYI, North Texas got some after-effects earlier this year from a hurricane. Any high winds were due to hurricane related tornadoes and their high straight line wind cousins -- and they are very patchy and location specific. The tropical winds from the original storm have long since died down. We didn't get much wind at all where I am, but east Texas got hammered. If hurricane related winds COULD aid a kick, you can be sure they won't be playing the game! At least around here.