[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 24677-24678]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 18, 2007

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, according to Darrel Royal, there are only two 
sports in Texas--football and spring football. In coffee shops, barber 
shops, and even in the beauty salons all across Texas, the talk is all 
the same--how's the team gonna be this year? It's that time of year, a 
time that folks in Texas and across the south prepare for all year 
long. Football in Texas is its own religion, where even your preacher 
cuts the sermon short on Sundays to get you home in time to watch the 
game. Nowhere else on earth will you find a culture so wrapped up in 
football like we are in Texas.
  Proud Texans naturally believe everything is bigger and better in 
Texas--and that's because it is. And like most fathers, I am a proud 
dad. My son Kurt started playing football when he was 8 years old and I 
have watched him play every game from pee-wee football in Humble, Texas 
until he took the field wearing the purple and white of my alma mater, 
Abilene Christian University.
  Throughout school, Kurt played quarterback. Quarterback is one of 
those positions that is tough on parents--it's all the frame or all the 
blame. Every time I saw him take the field wearing number 3, I saw that 
same little 8-year-old boy full of determination. It was that very 
determination that led to him walking on at ACU and earning a spot as a 
safety and becoming an Academic All Conference player. With this new 
position, came a new prayer for the Poe family. The word 
``interception'' took on a whole new meaning for us.
  I was a judge during that time and I would head out on Friday nights 
after court and drive all night to towns such as Kingsville, Canyon, 
Wichita Falls, Commerce, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Ada, Oklahoma, and 
of course, Abilene, to get there for Saturday's game. There is nothing 
more fun that being in a stadium on that first crisp fall weekend and 
seeing your team, and your son, take the field to thousands of college 
fans chanting: W-I-L-D-C-A-T-S, purple, white, purple, white, fight, 
fight, fight!
  Texas football is that of legend and legacy. It has spawned books, 
movies, and a TV series. A look into a way of life that is so unique, 
so Texan. It's the Junction Boys, the Tyler Rose, the last minute 
touchdown run by Vince Young of Texas against USC in the Rose Bowl 
National Championship game--I was there by the way with my son Kurt. 
What a game. What a memory.
  Yes, Texans love their football--right down to the names they choose 
for their children to the cars they buy. I am sure there is some big 
executive up in Detroit wondering why they have to send so many maroon 
pickups to Texas. We may not have too many fall weddings on Saturdays, 
because they conflict with college football, but I am willing to bet 
that you have been to a wedding where the new Mr. and Mrs. took off 
down the aisle to the ``Eyes of Texas'' or got a big ``Whoop!'' after 
the preacher declared them husband and wife.

[[Page 24678]]

  Now I am not one to say that we don't love our Texans and Cowboys. A 
smile still comes across my face when I think of the Astrodome and 
those Luv Ya Blue days. But, professional football today just doesn't 
have that same thrill and excitement anymore. Sure, maybe up North it 
does since they don't have high school stadiums that hold 15,000 
people, field turf, jumbotrons and the caliber of coaches and players 
we have in Texas.
  But it's not just the facilities, what makes the game so special is 
the atmosphere of it all. It's the band, the drill team, the 
cheerleaders, the moms selling T-shirts, the school clubs hanging 
banners--the whole atmosphere is what makes the game great. The whole 
community comes together, people from all walks of life get together 
every weekend and share in the tears and cheers and root for their team 
to victory.
  So this weekend and every weekend in the fall, Texas families put on 
school colors and head to the game. They grab some hot dogs and a coke 
and take part in one of Texas's finest traditions. You see some of 
those folks that you went to high school with and some of the same old 
guys sitting in the same seats they were in 20-30 years ago. The 
players, the coaches, the trainers, the cheerleaders, the drill team 
and all those people that volunteer their time to support the kids are 
all part of the excitement. Football in Texas is something special. 
It's the Texas Religion.
  And that's just the way it is.

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