EAT 'EM UP, COUGARS!
Que Sera, Sera.
I could have avoided this subject altogether this morning, but that would have been a lie to the truth about where my heart is today. It’s out there to be fulfilled or broken again, but that’s what we have to risk in the business of being fans of any sporting proposition. I’ve never attempted to add up or compare the various times that my heart has been broken by both the Cougars and Astros, I just know that I’ve never become jaded or desensitized to the awful slope of disappointment that comes with certain games or goals not working out. You can’t do that and really remain a fan. If we really want to feel the joy of victory, we have to be open to the “agony of defeat” emotions that come with the possibility of things not working out.
It’s not the end of the world if our team loses, nor is it the end all of all end all deliriums if our team wins. By this time Friday morning, UT fans are probably still feeling the hum of a last play field goal victory over A&M while Aggie fans remain stuck on the stinger, but these things even our over time. If you’re the kind of person who never really feels the ecstasy of the win nor the agony of the loss, more power to you, Just be advised that your ability to balance things that well means that you may be an interested spectator, but please forego all claims to being a fan.
We fans don’t handle the emotional side in any dull or detached way. The trick is to be able to do it in a healthy mode. I part the line in this manner on the big old diagnostic wheel: Healthy fans know that winning or losing is not a life or death matter, but that it may come close to feeling that way. Not-so-well fans experience winning or losing as immediate emotional deliverance to heaven or hell. We want to stay out of that second category of emotional experience as much as possible.
Today, sometime around 2:30 to 3:00 PM, I will simply feel relieved or disappointed, depending upon how the UH Cougars do against Tulsa up there on the plains of Oklahoma. It will not be either my deliverance nor my doom – and I will ultimately survive the up or the down, whatever it happens to be. It’s just fun for me to invest myself in things I care about. And the big ones in sports for me are the Houston Cougars and the Houston Astros. I got my training as a kid with the Cougars, starting in 1946, their first year in football – and then with the Houston Buffs in 1947. The Buffs and St. Louis Cardinals and Browns were my training wheels for the major league baseball club we acquired in Houston back in 1962.
As for today’s challenge, our UH experience with Tulsa has been a long history with even competition and a few disappointing upsets. UH leads the 25-game series by a single win and our guys need to be up and ready to take nothing for granted. Here’s the complete record in the series:
UH-TULSA FOOTBALL SERIES: WInner’s Name Posted by Year (H/T=Game Played in Houston/Tulsa) By Score:
2010: (H) Tulsa 28-25
2009: (T) UH 46-45
2008: (H) UH 70-30
2007: (T) TULSA 56-7
2006: (H) UH 27-10
2005: (T) UH 30-23
2004-1994: DID NOT PLAY
1993: (H) TULSA 38-24
1992: (T) TULSA 28-25
1991-1987: DID NOT PLAY
1986: (H) TULSA 24-14
1985: (T) TULSA 31-24
1984-1976: DID NOT PLAY
1975: (H) UH 42-30
1974: (T) TULSA 30-14
1973: (H) UH 35-16
1972: (T) UH 21-0
1971: DID NOT PLAY
1970: (H) UH 21-9
1969: (T) UH 47-14
1968: (H) UH 100-6
1967: (T) TULSA 22-13
1966: (H) UH 73-14
1965: (H) TULSA 14-0
1964: (H) TULSA 21-13
1963: (T) TULSA 22-21
1962: (H) UH 35-31
1961: (T) UH 14-2
1960: (H) TULSA 26-16
1959: (T) UH 22-13
1958: (H) TULSA 25-20
1957: (T) UH 13-7
1956: (H) UH 14-0
1955: (T) TULSA 17-14
1954: (H) UH 20-7
1953: (T) TULSA 23-21
1952: (H) UH 33-7
1951: (T) TULSA 46-27
1950: (H) TULSA 28-21
1949-1946: DID NOT PLAY
1946 was the first season of UH Cougar Football.
UH leads the series with Tulsa, 18-17, with the most important game that either club has ever faced with each other coming up later this morning in Tulsa at 11 o’clock. On the bare bones tip of things, UH-Tulsa is about determining the C-USA western division winner and home team advantage in next weekend’s league championship game. For UH, the prize is more ethereal and financial. Will the dream of an undefeated season continue for another week? And will UH keep alive its challenge for a prestigious BCS bowl invitation that would also pad the coffers of the current fund drive for our new stadium?
None of us long of tooth Cougars take the 8-3 Tulsa Golden Hurricane for granted. Those three losses came at the hands of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Boise State – and they have handled their common UH foes as well as the Cougars in most instances and better in some others. Tulsa also challenges with senior G.J. Kinne, a QB who started with UT who is a first class dual threat to pass or run. Tulsa also possesses solid lines on both offense and defense and will be a real challenge to Cougar hopes for an undefeated season. All fans and we Cougar alums can do is hope that our kids are prepared for the threat that faces them on this particular Black Friday after Thanksgiving.
Que Sera, Sera.
Tags: UH-TULSA FOOTBALL SERIES
The Pecan Park Eagle 
November 26, 2011 at 2:17 pm |
The morning after feels pretty good. The hum is still there and the feet hardly touch down when walking. The 48-16 UH (12-0) win over a very good Tulsa (8-4) team cannot be dismissed as a chip shot – and neither can the 5 TD passes and near 457 yards passing performance by QB Case Keenum – nor the record pass catching day of Cougar wide receiver Patrick Edwards. All that on top of the fact that the UH defense played like their long ago fabled Mad Dog ancestors. If it were not for the biases against UH held by so many of the powerful, threatened others, Case would have a really good shot at the Heisman. That’s OK. How many schools have ever put a 12-0 perfect record onto the last page of their regular seasons? All that happens from here for UH is pure gravy.
November 26, 2011 at 6:23 pm |
some side notes:
The 1965 game was, I believe, the first football game in the dome. It was the first varsity game for Warren McVey (freshmen didn’t play then) as a running back and excitement was high. But the ground was almost like concrete and after a couple of encounters with Willie Townes McVey’s effectiveness was all but eliminated. However McVey became a wide receiver, Bill Yeoman, Kenny Hebert and company discovered the Veer T (allegedly by accident) and the Cougars were on their way.
Apparently both Larry Gatlin of C&W music fame and Dr. Phil were participants to some degree on opposite sides in the 100-6 1968 game. I was at each and definitely experienced the highs and lows of which you speak.
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Nice for Patrick Edwards to be mentioned. This was the player whose career was nearly ruined because of equipment left within the playing arena at Marshall. I’d say he’s made a pretty terrific comeback.