Ray Alborn was in his sixth season as the football coach at Rice University in 1983. The Owls would be hosting the Gophers on Sept. 10 in a battle of head coaches, Alborn and Joe Salem, who were on the way out at their alma maters.
Alborn was rumored to be a character. I called him. Right away, he named a street in Houston known as a gathering place for prostitutes and said, "I'm so unpopular these days even the ladies there won't wave at me.''
The conversation drifted to Bill Peterson, a coaching legend with a Rice/Houston Oilers connection.