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Today in Texas History – October 27

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From the Annals of the Plains – In 1873, Joseph Glidden of DeKalb, IL submitted an application to the U.S. Patent Office for barbed wire.  Glidden’s was not the first barbed wire.  His design was inspired by seeing an exhibit of Henry Rose’s single-stranded barbed wire at the De Kalb county fair. Glidden’s design significantly improved on Rose’s by using two strands of wire twisted together to hold the barbed spur wires firmly in place.  The design was also easily mass-produced. By 1880 more than 80 million pounds of inexpensive Glidden-style barbed wire was sold, making it the most popular wire in the nation. Ranchers and farmers quickly discovered that Glidden’s wire was the cheapest, strongest, and most durable way to fence their property.

Astros Win World Series Game

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It only took 56 seasons and 11 post-season appearances, but the Houston Astros finally won a World Series game.  Things were looking grim with the Astros trailing 3-1 and All-World Dodger closer Kenley Jansen taking the mound in the 8th inning.  But Jansen allowed a RBI single to Carlos Correa in the 8th and then a dramatic game-tying solo shot by Marwin Gonzales in the 9th for his first blown save of the season.

The Hated Dodgers were unblemished in 98 games this season when leading after the 8th inning.  But on Wednesday night, the Astros high-powered offense finally got to the LA bullpen scoring six runs in the last 4 innings of the game.

“Kenley’s the best in the game. He’s kind of got us spoiled and we expect him to be automatic. But he’s human, and he made a mistake,” outfielder Enrique Hernandez said.

Today in Texas History – October 26

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From the Annals of the Military-Industrial Complex –  In 2001, Lockheed Martin won a $200 billion contract for the production of the “Joint Strike Fighter” jet.  The 40 year deal was the largest defense contract in history.   After a competition between the Boeing X-32 and the LM X-35, a final design was chosen based on the X-35. This is the F-35 Lightning II which intended to replace numerous tactical aircraft in the U.S., Canadian and British armed forces. The most persuasive demonstration of the X-35’s capability was the final qualifying JSF flight trials, in which the LM X-35B prototype aircraft took off in less than 500 feet, went supersonic, and landed vertically – a feat that Boeing’s entry was unable to match.

Today in Texas History – October 25

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From the Annals of World Series – In 2005, the first World Series game ever to be played in Texas started.  The Houston Astros played the Chicago White Sox at Minute Maid Field losing 7-5 in 14 innings.  The game was also the longest in World Series history lasting 5 hours and 41 minutes and actually ended on October 26.   The long game produced many all-time World Series records.  The teams combined to use 17 pitchers (9 White Sox and 8 Astros), throwing a total of 482 pitches, and walking 21 batters (12 by the WS, 9 by the Stros); 43 players were used (the White Sox used 22 and the Astros used 21), and 30 men were left on base (15 for each team). Scott Podsednik set an all-time record with eight at-bats in the game.

The Series itself was remarkable as the teams had combined for 132 years of championship frustration.  The Astros had not won in their 44 year history and the Pale Hose last championship had been in 1917.  The White Sox would go on to sweep the Astros in 4 games and break their long drought.

Beto O’Rourke for Senate

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Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) is the Democratic frontrunner to take on “Lying” Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) in 2018.  The Texas Observer has an long article on O’Rourke unorthodox campaign and background.  O’Rourke stands in stark contrast to the narcissistic, unlikeable and prickly Cruz who seems afraid to be in Texas right now as he has refused to hold a town hall meeting anywhere in the state for months.  O’Rourke on the other hand is rolling through Texas shaking hands and making friends.  Beto is still unlikely to unseat “Lying Ted”, but he just might make the smug and self-righteous Cruz sweat.  That would be worth the price of admission.

If you’re a Democrat and you find yourself running for statewide office in Texas, somewhere along the way you’ve made a wrong decision. A campaign is a two-year hell, and you have a very low chance of winning. If you lose badly, like Wendy Davis, your political life is probably over. Stay on the sidelines, like the Castro brothers, and your time may never come. Either way, you and your party lose. To run, and to commit to it seriously, requires either a sort of blindness to reality or a willingness to sacrifice for the greater good.O’Rourke has a bit of both. On the one hand, he has very little experience with state politics, having skipped from a seat on the El Paso City Council to Congress. He’s unfamiliar with the bitterness and cynicism that pervades party politics in the rest of the state.

But he also feels a certain urgency. Many people believe the whole system of American politics is breaking down, he says. “I know so many people who voted for Trump, and I say, ‘How could you do that? You live in El Paso. You don’t want a wall.’ They’re like, ‘No, I could give a shit about the wall. I just want somebody to blow that place up. That place is so fucked up and corrupted, and it is a swamp, and that’s the first guy who I know could care less about the system.’” In his own way, O’Rourke is trying to blow up the system, too. When he describes his reasons for doing so, it becomes clear that the campaign is a sort of personal crusade.

“I think that your successor 500 years from now is going to be writing about us the way that we write about the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages,” he tells me. “It’s just so corrupt, in the same way that they were selling bishoprics and indulgences to shorten your time in purgatory. We’re selling votes. We’re selling amendments. We’re selling democracy, and it’s absolutely disgusting. But what makes it even more fucked up is that everybody knows that it’s happening, but it’s just what has always happened for so long now that it’s all-encompassing in the system. No one seems really willing to do anything that will compromise their ability to be successful in that system by stepping out of it.”

Today in Texas History – October 24

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From the Annals of the Builders –  In 1971,Texas Stadium officially opened in Irving with the Cowboys beating the New England Patriots 44-21.

The Cowboys’ original home was the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park in Dallas.  However, by the late 1960’s, owner Clint Murchison, Jr. was concerned about that area of Dallas and believed that Cowboys’ fans should not have to experience any less than pleasant experience on their way to games. CMJ attempted to persuade Dallas to build a new downtown stadium as part of a municipal bond package, but failed to get any traction for the idea.

Murchison was a visionary and planned for a new stadium with sky boxes for elite patrons that would provide a new revenue source that would not have to be shared with other owners.  He also came up with the idea of selling bonds (now called personal seat licenses) as a prerequisite to purchasing season tickets and as a way to finance construction of a new stadium to be located in nearby Irving.

The somewhat pretentiously named Texas Stadium was the first football only stadium built for an NFL team.  NFL teams had long-played in baseball parks or stadiums such as the Cotton Bowl original intended for college football games.  Then came a wave of multi-purpose stadiums such as the Astrodome.  But Texas Stadium with its iconic hole in the roof (really an accident as the stadium was supposed to have a retractable roof) set the mark for NFL teams who now aspired to controlling their own venue.  In the future, local taxpayers would bear the brunt of paying for the billionaires playgrounds.

 

Red’s NFL Picks – Week 8

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Last week Red was 3-3 which drags down the average but Red is still well ahead of last season with a 26-16 record for the season.  Against the money line, Red was a bit shaky last week but is still making it for his readers:

Raiders to cover – Paid $

Raiders/Chief over – Paid $

49ers to cover – Bust

49ers/Cowboys under – Bust

Rams to cover – Paid $

Rams/Cards over – Bust

Falcons to cover – Bust

Jags to cover – Paid $

Jags/Colts  over – Bust

Answer to Last Week’s Trivia:  Matt Prater kicked a 64 yard field goal for the Denver Broncos in 2013 in their game against the Titans.

This Week’s Trivia:  When was the last time that no NFL games appeared on TV during a week of the regular season?

Your TV Game of the Week:  Chiefs over Broncos.  Well at the beginning of the season if you had told Ol’ Red that this would be the NFL Game of the Week, he would have not wanted some of what you were smoking.  But here it is.  This is probably the best game of the week in a week of rather sad sack matchups.  The Broncos looked sad losing 21-0 to the Chargers last week (one of an incredible shutouts last week).  The Chiefs at least managed to eke out a loss to the Raiders.  But here you have a 3-3 team up against a team on a two game losing streak and it’s your best game of the week.  This is a good week to catch up on your reading, clean out the garage, polish your shoes or maybe spend some time with the family.  KC 21 Denver 13

Your Please Don’t Televise this Game of the Week: Bengals over Colts.  It’s also hard to pick a Shit Bowl this week.  Among the many choices, however, this one stands out.  Red just cannot figure out how the Colts have managed to actually win two games until he remembers that they have beaten the Browns and the 49ers.  The Colts chances of beating a less than awful team are less than likely this year.  The Bengals are a bad team with an offense so horrible that a mediocre rookie running back is mouthing off about lack of carries.  Fortunately for the Bengals, the Colts are even worse.  Red can’t wait to see the fireworks when the 28th and 29th ranked offenses take the field.  If you are lucky, you will be temporarily blinded in an industrial accident on Friday and miss out on seeing this Beastly Bowel Battle.  Ten bucks says the World Series games has a higher combined score on Sunday. Cincinnati 5 Indianapolis 2.

Your Red will Watch Anything Game of the Week:  Patriots over Chargers.  The homeless waifs that are the Chargers seemed to find themselves last week in dismantling the Broncos.  Unfortunately, they must travel far to the east and north this week to face the soulless machine that are the Patriots.  The few loyal Chargers fans have hearts ripped out by the third quarter.  Red invokes the triple time zone, latitudinal inverse weather shift hex this week.   New England 42 Los Angeles 24

Your Regular Season Game of the Week: Buccaneers over Panthers.  Bucs season is over if they lose this one.  Bucs have an offense that can beat anyone but seems to struggle in the clutch.  Panthers are a total mystery.  They score 33 and beat the Pats.  They score 9 and beat the Bills.  They score 3 and lose to Bears.  This is your classic regular season game pitting two teams going nowhere in a gladiatorial struggle for the entertainment of a the bored public.  Tampa Bay 35 Carolina 25

Your Presidential Game of the Week: OTNAs over Cowboys. Red will keep picking the Cowboys to lose until they do.  Landover, MD 17 Arlington 13.

Your Accidental Texas Game of the Week: Texans over Seahawks.  Texans have been able to put up some impressive numbers against some unimpressive defenses since Deshaun Watson took over the helm.  The Seahawks are not the Seahawks of Old anymore, but they are still a better than average unit.  The key will be the Texans’ 3rd ranked running attack.  A credible running game will force the S’hawks into more man coverage and then look for Will Fuller to break loose.  Texans have field day with this one.  Houston 36 Seattle 13.  

 

Red Goes to the Movies – Lucky

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The great Harry Dean Stanton’s last major role is in Lucky which came out shortly after his death in September.  The eponymous Lucky is 90 something a WWII veteran living in a small tidy house somewhere in Arizona.  His well ordered life consists of morning Yoga exercises, a walk to the diner for coffee and crossword puzzle, watching game shows, tending his garden and have a couple of Bloody Marias at the local bar that he hasn’t been tossed from for smoking – and lots of smoking and the occasional phone call to a mysterious unknown person.  He has no family, but his friends about town seem to like him.  When he falls down one day, the local doctor (Ed Begley. Jr.) can find nothing wrong with him except that he is old which does get Lucky considering his own immortality.  That is complicated when his tortoise loving friend Hank (David Lynch) is planning for his demise with the help of an estate planning attorney (Ron Livingston).  From there, the movie descends into a conversation on death, the after-life or lack thereof and the contemplation of nothingness and run-away tortoises.  There are a few enchanting moments such as where Lucky spontaneously breaks into singing “Volver” backed up by the Mariachi band and a local birthday party.  That scene is out of character with Lucky and the rest of the movie.  When Mrs. Red asked why that scene was included, Red’s only response was, “so you would be less likely to kill yourself when you left the theater.”  It’s not a sad or happy movie and it ends on a Buddhist theme.  Red gives it two stars and sideways thumb.

Today in Texas History – October 20

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Louisiana Purchase Map

From the Annals of Manifest Destiny –     In 1803, the United States Senate approved the Louisiana Purchase almost doubling the size of the country.  The enormous acquisition allowed continuation of the western migration that characterized the first 100 years of our nation’s history.