[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 197 (Thursday, November 19, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5939-H5940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING LEGENDARY GENE ARRINGTON ON HIS LIFE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Arrington) for 5 minutes.

[[Page H5940]]

  

  Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a very special 
constituent, a legendary west Texan, and a great American and the most 
recent inductee into the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame, Gene 
Arrington.
  At 6-foot-6, ``Big Air,'' as his friends call him, is a giant of a 
man with a larger-than-life story.
  He was raised by a single mom on the south side of Amarillo, Texas, 
with little more than a roof over his head. In spite of his humble 
beginnings, God blessed him with an abundance of athleticism and drive 
that helped him achieve tremendous success in the sport of basketball.
  In 1956, Arrington led the Palo Duro Dons to their first State 
championship basketball title, averaging 20 points a game, and named to 
both the all-State and all-tournament teams. He was the only Texan to 
be invited to play in the North versus South All-Star Game in Murray, 
Kentucky.
  After high school, Arrington joined Polk Robison's Texas Tech Red 
Raiders, where he started for 3 years, scored 652 points, and pulled 
down 409 rebounds in 71 games.
  His greatest feat, Mr. Speaker, while playing ball at Texas Tech was 
winning the heart of a young coed from Austin, Texas, Betty Lee Cook, 
who is now his wife of over 50 years.
  If you asked my dad about his greatest achievements, he wouldn't 
reference championship titles, all-star games, or all-State and all-
conference teams. He wouldn't mention a single athletic achievement or 
accolade.
  Instead, he would talk about the day he met Jesus and joined God's 
kingdom team and what joy and blessing and peace and purpose he 
experienced from that relationship.
  He would talk about his most impressive score of convincing my mom to 
marry him and spend over 50 years doing life with him and how she has 
been such a faithful friend and partner and such a hardworking woman 
and an amazing mother.
  He would talk about coaching three boys to be men and how proud he is 
of all three of us and how he prayed every day--every day--for our 
happiness in life and in the Lord.
  He would talk about his all-star friends and what a blessing they 
have been and how sweet life has been and how they have helped him be 
more successful.
  I am proud of my dad's induction into the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall 
of Fame, but, Mr. Speaker, the most important thing to my dad is not 
being a Hall of Fame athlete. It is being the best husband, father, and 
friend that he can be.
  So I congratulate my dad on his Hall of Fame honor. But, more 
importantly, I congratulate him on realizing his deepest desires and 
his biggest dream of being a world-class father and teaching his boys 
the game of life, the love of God, and the true meaning of success.
  He is our hero. God bless, and go West Texas.

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