Owls Kick Serious Ass

The great thing about not being a football fan when you go to a football game is you're freer to pay close attention to the human spectacle rather than the sporting aspect of the event. There's no better place to do this than going to a football game at an Ivy League University. The players are smart, the parents are rich - and most everyone is good looking.

Since we don't actually have an Ivy school here in Houston (well, not officially) I leapt at the chance to wrangle myself (and my camera) onto the sidelines for this Saturday's noon-time game at Rice University.  Like the Manhattanite who has never been out to the Statue of Liberty, unaccountably I have not seen the football Owls in action before.   My old friends Terry O'Rourke and Marc Hill (Harris County 1st Assistant Attorney and previous Harris County 1st Assistant Attorney, respectively) suggested I remedy that shortcoming. I have been in Houston two decades now.

from left: Marc Hill, Sammy, Terry O'Rourke

I also met a new friend Mr. Brett Wagner when I attended the tailgate party of the players' parents.

No ordinary drunken fan shindig this event, regularly hosted by Marc and his lovely wife, it features catered food (enormous quantity; very non-tailgate quality), a pep-talk from the head coach and former Owl standout - and current uber-booster -  Brett Wagner working the crowd like a politician. Brett's my new favorite lawyer: his specialty is. . . suing other lawyers. What's not to love?  Brett made a 10 second call on his cell phone and 5 minutes later someone appeared with a sideline pass for me.

Like I said: Brett's my new favorite lawyer.


I know a lot of lawyers.

After the party I got to walk down the tunnel with Brett and enter the football stadium in proper fashion: with a made guy, walking onto the field.  I didn't even have to pay - although I did have a ticket in my pocket supplied by Mr. Hill.  Apparently, when you enter through the player's tunnel with Brett Wagner, you don't get bothered with details like tickets.  After haunting the sidelines for about a quarter, attempting to behave like a professional photographer, I started feeling like an interloper and decided to exit through the tunnel (again... Brett's pass).














Brett Wagner being interviewed on the Owl's sideline

For those interested, here are a (few other shots).

My sincere thanks for the hospitality of the Rice players' parents club and Mr. O'Rourke and Hill and of course Brett Wagner.

By the way, the Owls sent a humiliated (62-38) East Carolina Pirate squad back to Greenville wishing they would have never made the trip.