(03-16-2020 12:20 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(03-16-2020 09:15 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  The best thing about every competition in every sport while I was at Rice was knowing the guys on the field. Friends, roomies, classmates, collegemates.

This... I guess unless those guys are douchebags, eh Tanq? lol

Knew I could yank a chain there, Hambone.

(03-16-2020 12:24 PM)ruowls Wrote:  

(03-15-2020 07:18 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  1. At Rice stadium, jus a little more than 5 years out of graduation, and being part of the crowd when Rice beat the T-Sips in the rain. (football, of course).

2. Being arrested in Lubbock ('84) after some douche bag Rice kicker won Rice's first SWC game in 3 years on a time running out field goal. I think the bourbon helped (aided, in great part, by my sedate personality.)

I have, to this day, blamed that kicker for the event. A persona non grata in my life since then.

(Thanks to modern technology, I have later learned I was only 'detained', as there is zero record of the event in Lubbock police files....)


3. Watching The Dream and The Glide do their magic against a horribly outmatched Rice BB team at Autry

4. being a part of Bill Yeoman's decision to retire after a loss to Rice (again, in the crowd, standing right behind him as he said it to a radio reporter immediately following a loss to the Owls. I remember his on-air comments were 'You know your time is up when you lose to Rice')

5. helping to incite future Oiler Bubba McDowell to flip off the student section, and further dropping his pants and pads to moon them when he got piqued at the car keys and 'come play for us' when the Miami Hurricane and Jimmy Johnson traveled to play at Rice. Johnson stood next to Bubba when he did that, and did more that nothing. He grinned and patted McDowell's shoulder in appreciation of the acts. Hated Johnson with a passion since then. What a scumball. Far and away worse than the #2 scumball in college coaching -- Barry Switzer.

6. Watching the Aggie band screw up when Rice students on the sidelines started blowing whistles. I heard the Aggie Corps band cut short their halftime show because of that. The *only* time that has ever happened.

7a. Attending the law school graduation of a Rice football player whom I tutored as a Athletic department tutee for three years;
7b. Having that same tutee make sure to come to my law school graduation as part of a 'let's seal the deal' on an offered position (I went to law school for the most part as a part time student, so I was not on the traditional 2L summer clerkship program...)

Must have been some potent bourbon....That kick happened in '85

Need to get me some of that whiskey!

(03-16-2020 12:37 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  (2) Seeing the freshmen bskb team playing with 2 or 3 players having fouled out so many (72 or so)

I saw one of these also, although it would have been about 1963-4. Finished with 3 players and still increased the margin of victory.

(03-15-2020 07:18 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  6. Watching the Aggie band screw up when Rice students on the sidelines started blowing whistles. I heard the Aggie Corps band cut short their halftime show because of that. The *only* time that has ever happened.

They (the Corps) did cut their show, and whatever tune they were playing, short when they started running into each other, and just ran off the field. But I think they just f'ed up on their own. I doubt with all the background noise in the stadium whistles from the Rice student section would have been discernable enough to make a difference. Not strictly a sports memory, but certainly a memorable memory!

(03-16-2020 02:40 AM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Sept. 21-24, 1966 -- Winnebagos start rolling into the Rice Stadium parking lot on Wednesday night, leading up to my first college/Rice football game -- which was a WIN against LSU, 17-15. So exciting! What a start to my Rice sports experience!!

It kinda went downhill from there, didn't it?

Quote:Jan. 20, 1967 -- It was standing-room-only at Wiess College to see Muhammad Ali speak up-close and fabulous, prior to his Feb. 6 unanimous-decision victory over Ernie Terrell in the Astrodome.

A someone who was involved in the back story there, I can say that was a truly amazing event.

Quote:1971-2 Basketball season -- I broadcast freshmen basketball games for KTRU. In the old Autry Court press balcony (we couldn't call it a press box, could we?) I met Houston's UPI Bureau Chief, Darrell Mack, who would later offer me a job in daily journalism after he moved to become Executive Editor of the Beaumont (Tex.) Enterprise & Journal in mid-1973.

Darrell was one of my favorite people in the business.

(03-16-2020 02:40 AM)Almadenmike Wrote:  1971-2 Basketball season -- I broadcast freshmen basketball games for KTRU. In the old Autry Court press balcony (we couldn't call it a press box, could we?) I met Houston's UPI Bureau Chief, Darrell Mack, who would later offer me a job in daily journalism after he moved to become Executive Editor of the Beaumont (Tex.) Enterprise & Journal in mid-1973.

Was my recollection correct re a game where the Fresh were down to -3 players? See my post above.

In Person:

1. Beating LSU in football, 17-7 in 1980
2. Beating Texas in football, 19-17 in 1994
3. Beating Texas in Omaha, 12-2 in 2003
4. Twice shutting out LSU at Super-Regional in 2002

On TV:

1. Beating Stanford 14-2 in Omaha
2. Beating 8th-Ranked Baylor in Waco, 20-17 in 1991
3. Beating 9th-ranked UC-Santa Barbara 67-64, on the road, in 2000 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament

1) 1957. In Austin. We were living there while my Dad was in graduate school at UT. He got us tickets to sit in the flash card section (remember those?). Rice lost but I remember King Hill and the Rice all blue unis.
2) 1994. Watching the UT game on TV. ‘Was living in New Orleans and my wife and kids were out of town so I had the whole house and TV to myself. Incredible game. Didn’t the students try to tear down the goal posts? I had tears in my eyes.
3) 2003 National Championship game. I was on vacation with the family in S. Padre. Afterwards I think I got calls from 20 of my friends congratulating me. They knew my Rice connection and they all knew that at a place like Rice it was a really big deal to us.
4) winning the CUSA football Championship (2013?) in a FRIGID HRS. Absolutely dominated a good Marshall team. We sat next to Tiki and Mrs. Dr Tiki. Again, very emotional win.

(03-16-2020 09:07 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  1) 1957. In Austin. We were living there while my Dad was in graduate school at UT. He got us tickets to sit in the flash card section (remember those?). Rice lost but I remember King Hill and the Rice all blue unis.
2) 1994. Watching the UT game on TV. ‘Was living in New Orleans and my wife and kids were out of town so I had the whole house and TV to myself. Incredible game. Didn’t the students try to tear down the goal posts? I had tears in my eyes.
3) 2003 National Championship game. I was on vacation with the family in S. Padre. Afterwards I think I got calls from 20 of my friends congratulating me. They knew my Rice connection and they all knew that at a place like Rice it was a really big deal to us.
4) winning the CUSA football Championship (2013?) in a FRIGID HRS. Absolutely dominated a good Marshall team. We sat next to Tiki and Mrs. Dr Tiki. Again, very emotional win.

Please disregard previous reply posting here; my reading comprehension obviously has slipped a bit...

Just a couple of many in-person memories that stand out and stand the test of time:
Watching Rice’s win in Lubbock (SWMoSt) to advance to our first CWS (and the reception afterwards for the team and fans!!)
Watching the last win of the Wayne Graham era at Rice in Biloxi (FAU). Put us 2-0 for the week and I was convinced we were on track to a second consecutive underdog tourney win.
Those were both pretty special road trips and a whole lot of special baseball memories in the 20+ years in between.

(03-16-2020 02:07 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(03-16-2020 12:37 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  (2) Seeing the freshmen bskb team playing with 2 or 3 players having fouled out so many (72 or so)

I saw one of these also, although it would have been about 1963-4. Finished with 3 players and still increased the margin of victory.

I was at one of those, although I don't recall seeing any of you, or much of anybody but Bill Little and myself, because we were keeping the book, in old Gregory Gym in Austin in 1970. Varsity was first, for TV, freshmen played afterwards, and virtually everyone had left. There were something like 74 fouls called between two teams, which to give you an idea is enough to foul out 14 people plus have 4 on a 15th. And that's pretty much what happened. Texas had a guy who started both halves, played less than two minutes total, and fouled out. He is the guy who was killed after a storm in Austin, he was walking with friends, they all walked under a downed power line that nobody saw, but he was taller and got zapped. Rice was down to 3 players, but Texas was deep into their walk-ons, who couldn't play a lick. Texas had about a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left, we were pressing 3 on 5, and coming back, ended up with about a 4 point deficit.

At one point, a guy who must have been about the 15th guy on the Texas bench comes up to the scorer's table. "I'm going in for 22." Little asked, "What's your name?" Kid tells him. "How do you spell it?" Little asked, as he was adding the name to the scorebook. I asked, "Should we call the official over for using a guy who was not in the book?" Little responded, "Do you know how long that would take to straighten out? Do you really want to be here that late?" I didn't, so I didn't call the referee over. Bill and I used to laugh about it every time we saw each other.

Ratterre’s Dad taking a line drive foul ball off his leg in the OR (original Roost) whilst not not spilling a drop of beer. We used to drink beer from cups back in the day, circa 2010.

(03-16-2020 09:49 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  Just a couple of many in-person memories that stand out and stand the test of time:
Watching Rice’s win in Lubbock (SWMoSt) to advance to our first CWS (and the reception afterwards for the team and fans!!)
Watching the last win of the Wayne Graham era at Rice in Biloxi (FAU). Put us 2-0 for the week and I was convinced we were on track to a second consecutive underdog tourney win.
Those were both pretty special road trips and a whole lot of special baseball memories in the 20+ years in between.

yes, and interesting how rice baseball is rarely mentioned in this thread despite the 23 consecutive post-season championships (never a one before the wg era) with each one resulting in incredible plays throughout each year to lead to consecutive championships...third behind Florida State and cal state Fullerton in post season play, for gods sake...:) wow....loving the agenda...and rice baseball prominence is no more...sad, but hey...it is what it is...thank you, joey (and big bro rick of Forbes , Bucky, tudor and Lebron...at least you all succeeded at one thing...taking rice baseball and the wg influence down...good jobs to the kings that wear no clothes...ugly vision considering).

Everything about the CWS in 2003 was amazing. I was sitting in the 2nd row behind the Rice on-deck circle for the final game, so close I felt like I was in the dugout. And the afterparty downtown was unreal...but I think my favorite moment was when we beat Texas the second time, to eliminate them and move into the finals. All the Rice fans made their way back to the team hotel expecting a big party. But the bar had already closed down...enough people showed up that they re-opened the bar and we drank and partied for hours. Frankie B. Mandola (RIP) stood up on the top of the bar and the whole room got as quiet as Fondren Library. Frankie yelled: "Rice 5...A$$holes 4" and the place erupted.

My favorite moment? I have spent more than 33 years watching the Owls play basketball and I can say the November 30, 2004 game against UH was my favorite when Lorenzo Williams drove baseline to baseline with seconds on the clock to hit a reverse jump shot and beat the Tommy Penders Coogs 74-73. After the game Brock Gillespie jumped on the scorers table and took a bow pointing directly at the UH fans who were standing in disbelief that the Owls had pulled off their 3rd straight win in the series. Michael Harris, Jason McKrieth , JR Harrison all had big games but Zo had the killer instinct when it counted that evening.

Clinton Welch's home run.

(03-15-2020 07:18 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  2. Being arrested in Lubbock ('84) after some douche bag Rice kicker won Rice's first SWC game in 3 years on a time running out field goal. I think the bourbon helped (aided, in great part, by my sedate personality.)

Just a few more comments....
Rice beat TCU at home the weak before to snap a 25 game SWC losing streak. The TT win in Lubbock was the first SWC road win for Rice since 1981.
That was one of my favorite moments as well. I also got to see Bill Doran (2nd baseman for the Astros who flew on the plane to Lubbock with the team) tell the kicker that he would kick a 57 yard FG to win the game....on the Thursday flight to Lubbock. I also had the best seat in the stadium to watch the flight of the FG and was the first to know it would be good. I also got to see Doran standing under the goalposts for the kick and then go over and get the ball from a hesitant ball boy. I then got to see Doran hand the ball to Hambone back in the locker room and say, "57 yarder baby! I told you so." That made the moment even more surreal.

(03-17-2020 12:24 PM)Kayjay Wrote:  My favorite moment? I have spent more than 33 years watching the Owls play basketball and I can say the November 30, 2004 game against UH was my favorite when Lorenzo Williams drove baseline to baseline with seconds on the clock to hit a reverse jump shot and beat the Tommy Penders Coogs 74-73. After the game Brock Gillespie jumped on the scorers table and took a bow pointing directly at the UH fans who were standing in disbelief that the Owls had pulled off their 3rd straight win in the series. Michael Harris, Jason McKrieth , JR Harrison all had big games but Zo had the killer instinct when it counted that evening.

Wow, I forgot that one. Their fans were mad as hell......

(03-16-2020 01:13 AM)MartelOwl_08 Wrote:  

(03-15-2020 09:14 PM)DFW Owl Wrote:  2006 18-17 win over ECU that kept our bowl chance alive.

I was going to say the same thing as I was there and part of that student section rush onto the field.

Otherwise I’d say Jordan Dodson’s heroics in the Super Regionals Game 1 against A&M in 2007. Walkoff in the 10th is forever plastered in my mind. Was there for that too!

Funny, aside from the back-to-back shutouts of LSU in 2002, my fondest super-regional memory was Zornes 8th inning, come-from-behind, game-winning blast to shut up the Aggie faithful and send the Owls to Omaha in 2008 (for the 3rd consecutive year and the our last trip to the promised land). It was a laser shot to Bikini Hill that appeared to never get over 25 feet off the ground. BTW, in Game 1 vs. the Aggies that year, Dodson (who had a horrific season in 2008) was 3-3, with 4 RBIs, including the game-winner, in another come-from-behind victory.

(03-17-2020 12:24 PM)Kayjay Wrote:  My favorite moment? I have spent more than 33 years watching the Owls play basketball and I can say the November 30, 2004 game against UH was my favorite when Lorenzo Williams drove baseline to baseline with seconds on the clock to hit a reverse jump shot and beat the Tommy Penders Coogs 74-73. After the game Brock Gillespie jumped on the scorers table and took a bow pointing directly at the UH fans who were standing in disbelief that the Owls had pulled off their 3rd straight win in the series. Michael Harris, Jason McKrieth , JR Harrison all had big games but Zo had the killer instinct when it counted that evening.

I had quit working basketball games by then, although I was still doing football. My greatest basketball memory was beating TexasU 107-93 in 1992. Funny thing, several members of the stat crew and I had felt for some time that we were a better team playing up-tempo, but Thompson just didn't want to play that way. We started out playing slow-down and quickly fell behind something like 25-11. At the timeout, David Louwerse turned to J Fred and me and said, "Couldn't be better. Now we have no choice but to run." So we did, and we ran right by them. I had seen ricex in the stands before the game and he said, "I hope we play this game in the 60s or even 50s." I said, "I don't, I think we can outrun them, and I want to see it in the one-teens or so." As the game neared the end, and we had convincingly shown that we could outrun them, I looked back into the stands, caught his eyes, and he gave me the thumbs up sign.

Sitting at the scorers' table, we were close enough to pick up bits and pieces of what coaches were telling players from time to time. On several occasions, it was clear that Penders was telling the Horns not to run with us. But I think we were having so much fun playing up-tempo that we were not going to allow things to slow back down.