Was at the pep rally for the Oilers after losing to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game, and I was there!. They drove the buses straight from the airport right into the Astrodome. The Dome was packed, it was amazing! Evidently there is supposed to be something on Channel 8 (?) next week with film footage, etc. according to 610. To bad I live in Austin, I'd love to see it.
I lived in Bellaire on Jaquet by the little park at 610 and Elm. I remember cars were pulling over on the freeway and people were getting out and waiving pom poms and Luv Ya Blue signs. I had my Earl Campbell shirt, my Earl Campbell lunchbox, and my Earl Campbell hat that I used to wear to school. I had my 45 single of the Oiler fight song. The B side was "Luv Ya Blue", a country version sang to the tune of "Love Me Do" by The Beatles. Good days. BTW, Earl Campbell is God.
I was 12 and remember it well. Exciting times, but the Steelers had everything going with them. Wasn't BUM's famous "Knock the SOB speech" in 79?
"Last year we knocked on the door, this year we beat on it, next year, we are going to kick that Son of a BI..H in !" Crowd went crazy and still gives me goose bumps. DD
Renfro and his supposed "non-catch" are the reason I will always think instant replay is a good idea in the NFL.
I went to the pep rally. What a great memory. Certainly the loudest I have ever heard a stadium (and I went to undergrad in the SEC ) Renfro definitely planted the first foot and dragged the second in bounds. I know we ended up losing by more than the TD, but that call changed the momentum. I haven't lived in H-town for 12 years, but man I miss the Oilers. I really don't have a team anymore, and probably never will. Sigh
that's exactly how i was when the NFL left Houston...i didn't give a rip about it, frankly. watched very little of it. the Texans have me hooked...but for most of that period of time, i wouldn't have given you 2 cents for the NFL. lost all rooting interest.
I am slowly watching the Texans, but if something else is interesting I will do that instead. I can not imagine having the same passion again about football as I had rooting for the Oilers. It is the same for the Rockets and Astros. DD
part of that is your relative station in life. i find myself less passionate about sports as i get older..have a family..find career success...etc. that's what makes beltran so special for me personally...i'm rooting for this guy like i'm 6 years old again. baseball, in particular, has a connection with me that is very child-like. i would be pumped about a rockets championship...but they'd be hard-pressed to match the passion for me that the 95 squad did with that amazing run.
I was twelve years old and also living in Bellaire, on Spruce St. My little league football team was called the Oilers and I lived and died with success of my hometown team. Those two playoff losses left me with the deepest sports depressions of my life. I haven't rooted for a NFL team since the Oilers left Houston. By the way, can anyone tell me why the Houston franchise didn't start using the name Oilers after Tennesee changed their name?
The Texans could never have been called the Oilers because Bud Adams is soar loser, an SOB, full of sour grapes and a generally lousy person. When in college working for a local pharmacy in the River Oaks area, I got to deliver prescription drugs to his house a few days after the legendary debacle in Buffalo. He had a camera by the front door to see who was there after I rang the door bell. He got on the intercom and in a very rude and irrated voice goes, "What do you want?". I said, "I am here with the prescriptions you ordered." He then goes "Oh, I will send someone to the door". His housekeeper then showed up for the medicine. Bud was also on the board of the bank my grandmother worked at in the 1950's and 60's and they basically forced him out because he was so hard to deal with. It's too bad to get rid of the old SOB the city had to get rid of the Oilers.
AMEN. When was the next playoff loss to the Steelers? When I first read the intro by cmiller ( a very good one, cmiller, thanks ) , I thought he was talking about the one in either the early nineties or late eighties...
