Professor Bainbridge notes this article (PDF) from the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy in which the authors, Gold and Gupta, outline the options at hand for changing the filibuster rule, and specifically points out that Byrd threatend the so-called “nuclear option” himself in 1979. Bryd stated:

[I]t is my belief—which has been supported by rulings of Vice Presidents of both parties and by votes of the Senate—in essence upholding the power and right of a majority of the Senate to change the rules of the Senate at the beginning of a new Congress (208).

The more one learns, the more remarkable the whole tale becomes. Bainbridge has additional quotes and comments that are worth reading.

Meanwhile, Pennywit suggests a real filibuster.