The Pecan Park Eagle

The sign above them says it all for Bill and Neal McCurdy and their father/son trip to the UH Cougars opening football game versus Southern at Reliant Stadium last night, Friday, 8/30/13.

The fact it was only tiny Southern and that the Cougars handled them 62-13 hardly mattered in the bigger scheme of things of spending time with the people we love while we each have it is what really matters. ~ Add to that credo the fact that none of us, no matter the state of our ages, health, or life circumstances, can ever count on more than one moment of precious opportunity for contact – and that’s the one we are in at this time, on this day, at this particular sweep of the little second-hand on our watches. ~ Weigh that prospect against the always present possibility of nevermore and it gets easier to devote our precious time to what’s really important to us.

It was an interesting night for random thoughts and observations at Reliant Stadium.

Walking in through the NE gate from the parking lot north of Reliant, one can get a little better appreciation for the state of antipathy that many Texan and rodeo people feel for the Astrodome. I had not truly realized how close that abandoned old icon feels to the new stadium until we came into the place from that angle last night. To anyone with no historic attachment to “the old girl”, it must be close to feeling like having a falling down, abandoned house sitting in the lot next door to your still new, bright, and shiny home.

That environmental contamination feel has to be cured for any rehabilitation of the Astrodome to be successful – and it has to be for a purpose that is compatible with the main business of the neighborhood, Texans football and the rodeo. Nothing else will do ~ so, throw out that monstrous gambling casino idea from the start. You couldn’t get that one by my HOA either.

UH QB John O’Korn, #5, awaits confirmation of his 3rd and final TD pass of the game.

My son Neal doesn’t feel too optimistic about the November referendum, even though we both favor a plan to salvage the Dome in some manageable form. Neal fears that there are too many new residents who care nothing about the Dome and too many people who will vote against anything that smacks of higher taxes to get the Astrodome safely home. The park conversion proposal may be the only one that flies aesthetically and financially. It would certainly open up and beautify that proximity of the Dome to Reliant that causes, with neglect, that sore-eyed hovering feel about the place.

As for the game, we Cougars are not delusional about who we beat so badly, but then, neither should Texas A&M today, if they do the same thing to Rice.

I did like the 6’4″ UH freshman QB, John O’Korn, who completed 11 of 15 passes on 5 scoring drives, including 3 TDs by passes.  The Cougar pass defense looked vulnerable and they committed far too many dumb penalties to hope for much success against a good team, but their running game looked really healthy with 372 yards rushing. All totaled, UH garnered 627 yards by ground and air.

It helped make for a nice start to the Labor Day Weekend for us Cougars, in spite of who we actually beat. (I guess I’m still primitively hooked on the idea that it’s better to win than lose, no matter what.)

Anyway, we hope your holiday is great too – and that you get to spend it doing what you want – with whomever you care to share the moment.