AUSTIN, Texas -- As the Texas House of Representatives convened at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, the daily order of business began.
A call to order was followed by a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, then the Texas pledge.
"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."
Afterward, one of the day's honorees, waiting upstairs in the gallery overlooking the House floor, turned around.
"Didn't recite that one," Bob Stoops said. "Didn't know the words."
The legendary Oklahoma coach, the Texas tormentor, the man who was 11-7 against the Longhorns, including five straight between 2000 to 2004, was behind the orange curtain in Austin, a place where Stoops says he can't recall ever spending the night, even when he was in town to recruit local stars like Samaje Perine.