Texas Football and Reality Television

When I was about 10 years old, my dad and I were traveling from our hometown of Austin to Benavidez in South Texas where we went every year to hunt quail, and Dad found a college football game just getting underway on the radio. I remember that the Texas Tech Red Raiders were playing and I believe their opponent for that game was the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Dad thought the Razorbacks would take the game but I decided to make things interesting by suggesting a friendly wager. I knew nothing of point spreads, handicapping players, or even very much about college football... all I knew for certain was that the Red Raiders were a Texas team, and therefore would win the game.

The bet was straight up, and the stakes were a whopping 50 cents. Serious coin for a preteen boy back in the late 60's.

I won the bet when the Red Raiders won the game. I collected my earnings and splurged on a can of Coke when we stopped to refuel the car.

This innocent bet was just that, an innocent bet between father and son. It did not lead to a lifetime of sports wagering or handicapping or anything like that, but it did leave a permanent impression upon my young mind. I knew then that sports could be a form of entertainment that was different from Gilligan's Island reruns or Sesame Street which was in its infancy on public television.

I went on to play one season of football on The Mustangs in about 1972 where we were undefeated, although I was on the second string team. A few years later, Dad took me to the Astrodome to see the Houston Oilers play. It was ok, but to this day I prefer to watch professional football on television.

College football is different though. I have been to several college games and the excitement and atmosphere of a college contest is electrifying. The last college game I went to was a few years ago in Charlottesville, VA when the University of Virginia beat Maryland. I took my daughter and one of her friends and we had a blast. It was a good game too.

I also played one year of baseball about the same time where I was a decent fielder but a total disaster at the plate. My batting average for the year was .000. That's right, I never hit the ball in a game. At team practices, I could smack the hide off the ball with the best of our hitters, but in actual games, nothing. I had a good eye for strikes and balls so did get on base often enough, and I was guilty of leaning in a few times to get hit. I just couldn't hit.

Dad took me to the Astrodome for several baseball games. Unlike professional football, I prefer to watch baseball games in person. I still like to watch them on TV, but there's that atmosphere thing going again when you're at the game. I remember seeing the likes of JR Richards, Lee May, Bob Watson, Cesar Cedeno, Roger Metzger, Tommy Helms, Doug Rader, Rusty Staub, Jimmy Wynn, and Larry Dierker take the field for the hometown boys.

I remember seeing Ron Cey, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Willie Stargell, Tug McGraw, Willie Davis, Bud Harrelson, Lou Brock, and Bobby Bonds come to town to take on the 'stros.

I played some church basketball for a few years, but this was in my teenage years and girls were a higher priority.

I learned to play golf, with some help from my dad and a set of clubs from Pat Derrick when he won a new set at the El Campo golf tourney.

I also started playing tennis when I was stationed at Castle Air Force Base in California. I played some racquetball there also.

I never played hockey, but I really enjoy attending games. My dad took me to a Houston Aeroes games back when Gordie, Mark, and Marty Howe were all on the team. I had no idea what was going on, but it was me and Dad, and that alone made it good. When my friend Craig used to take me to Los Angeles Kings games when we would travel from Castle down to L.A. for family visits, I began to learn the rules and hockey became very enjoyable. I also attended many games at the Houston Summit in the mid '90s where the new Houston Aeroes used to play.

One of the most exhilarating moments in all of televised sports to me was in the 1976 Winter Olympics when Franz Klammer won the gold medal for the Men's Downhill Run. That and Mohammad Ali lighting the torch in 1996 are two of my favorite Olympic moments.

The point is, I really enjoy sports. Televised sports were the very first of what we now know as "Reality Television". Watching the warriors take the field and then engage in a battle of wits, strategy, and strength is so much better than most of what the entertainment industry regurgitates and offers to us.

Sports, for the most part, is reality.

And then there's Vince McMahon and all those wrasslin' guys.

Until next time...