Bob Barry Sr., the play-by-play voice of the Sooners for 30 seasons, will retire after this year. The Daily’s Zack Hedrick sat down with the broadcasting legend to talk about OU-Texas.

Zack Hedrick: This is your last OU-Texas to call. How would you describe your experience calling the rivalry?

Bob Barry: I didn’t have a very good start with OU-Texas as far as the Sooners are concerned. When Bud Wilkinson named me to be the play-by-play guy in 1961, we lost all of Bud’s three years [coaching]. Gomer [Jones] came, we lost. In other words, I had done 10 OU-Texas games, we won one. Of course, the thing that Bob Stoops did — he beat them five years in a row, twice scoring more than sixty points against them. So that was a thrill. It’s a great rivalry. I love broadcasting from the Cotton Bowl. I love that stadium, the press box. It’s the perfect height; it’s one of my favorite venues. So, it’ll be tough not to do that. But I’ve had a great time broadcasting the games. Wish we had won more, though.

ZH: How do you feel about the rivalry?

BB: Well, you want to beat them. It’s a great rivalry. Texas is an enormous state. You’re silly not to recruit out of Texas. And Texas says, “Well, you gotta use our players.” Well, everybody does. Texas is a great state. It’s a natural big rivalry from that standpoint. I got a note that I really appreciated from Mack Brown, the Texas coach, congratulating me on my career and so forth. Really meant a lot to me. There is a friendship, and yet there is a rivalry. So it means something — big time — to me, better than any other game. Even better than OU-Oklahoma State.

ZH: What is your favorite memory from OU-Texas?

BB: Well, when OU scored sixty points or more on [Texas] twice in the Coach Stoops era. But one of the favorite memories after we lost all those years — hadn’t won since I had been doing them — five years in a row we lost [the game], I’m riding on the bus sitting next to Jack Mildren, the quarterback. He told me, “If we don’t beat ‘em today, we’re never going to beat ‘em.” And they beat them that day. That’s a great memory, to have Mildren the quarterback for OU say that, and then they go out and beat them. That was the first time they had won in several years.

ZH: What will you miss most?

BB: Actually doing the game. Just the actual act of doing the play-by-play, I love doing that, trying to describe and get the fans excited.

ZH: Should the Red River Rivalry stay in the Cotton Bowl or move to Cowboys Stadium?

BB: Keep it where it is. The [Texas State] fair is there; it’s a big deal. The Cotton Bowl is so much better than that Jerry World place. It is more fan friendly. The Texas State Fair adds so much more to [the game]. I think it’s more unique than any other game in the country. And to move it to Jerry World would be a big mistake, I think.

ZH: Do you try to do anything different for OU-Texas?

BB: No, you just have a standard way of doing things and getting prepared. If you prepared well and go into a ball game, some days you can talk better than others — your tongue works better. If you’re prepared, that’s a great feeling. You get everything set up and exactly like you like it. I usually go in and talk to the other announcer from the other school. I ask if he needs anything, I get stuff from him. You go through a routine and after you do that, you’re ready to go.

ZH: What will make your final rivalry game special?

BB: OU winning would be very special. That would be neat. And I think they have the capability. It should be a heck of a game. It appears to me the teams are pretty even at this point.

ZH: Have a prediction for the game?

BB: I don’t think it’ll be a high-scoring game. I think maybe 28-21, something like that. In favor of OU, of course.