Geographist

Elvin Bethea Born: March 1, 1946 Sport: Football (3-time All American, 8-time Pro Bowl, 2-time All Pro, Hall of Fame) Although the Houston Texans are currently the team that local football fans cheer for in our area, we all remember the original NFL team to call the Bayou City home.  And while Bud Adams may have taken the team and all the franchise history with him when he left town, we still have a relationship with the former players that lit up the Astrodome that Tennessee will never be able to claim.  One of the all-time greats who played every one of his 16 seasons for the Oilers was Elvin Bethea, and even though he set records for the franchise that still stand he was nevertheless surprised when he finally got the call to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  As football season continues to move forward, let's take this week to focus on one of the early stars who helped Houston "Luv Ya Blue". Elvin Bethea called the Astrodome home for 16 seasons The story ...

Leroy Burrell Born: February 21, 1967 Sport: Track and Field (12 world records, 3-time individual NCAA Champion, 9-time All-American, Olympic medalist: 1 Gold, coached 19 NCAA Champions, Hall of Fame) It hasn't been a fun sports weekend for me with the Astros dropping all three games against the top team in the AL, the Texans losing their season opener in a heartbreaker, and my alma mater Texas State dropping their second game to a rival from just down the road.  With all of this misery, I didn't feel much like rewarding the local teams with much recognition, so we're going to go a bit of a different route this week.  Although it isn't track season, one decorated athlete and coach recently announced that he's heading back to the Lone Star State this coming year.  Leroy Burrell has a long history representing Houston on the largest stages that his sport has to offer, and has a trophy case to back up his claims of success.  He certainly merits inclusion in our list of...

Jack Pardee Born: April 19, 1936 Sport: Football (All-American, Pro Bowl, All Pro, 87-77 NFL coaching record, 22-11-1 NCAA coaching record, 23-13 USFL coaching record, 10-8 CFL coaching record, 14-6 WFL coaching record, Hall of Fame) Happy Labor Day!  We're right in between the kickoff to college football and professional football, with the first real NCAA games last week and tonight representing the end of the first full slate of action, and the first NFL game taking place on Wednesday before an otherwise normal schedule next weekend.  I thought this might be a good time to turn the spotlight on a man who played and coached at both levels, and actually turned the trick of having a winning record in every league where he coached.  After a collegiate playing career that landed him in the hall of fame and a successful pro career that spanned 16 seasons, Jack Pardee became the first and only man to coach NCAA, NFL, CFL, WFL, and USFL teams, including three separate squads he...

Milo Hamilton Born: September 2, 1927 Sport: Baseball - Announcer (60 MLB seasons, National Radio Hall of Fame, Ford C. Frick Award) As the baseball season approaches its home stretch and football prepares to take its place as the focal point of the fall calendar, I wanted to take one week to remember a man who shaped my own early impressions of sports.  Living for several years on the outskirts of Houston, I would frequently listen to games on the AM station when they either weren't televised or I couldn't quite get a good picture to see.  To be honest, baseball has been a sport I enjoy watching on TV but have much more regularly listened to on the radio, and the skilled announcers who paint a mental image of what is happening have always been enjoyed and appreciated by yours truly.  Milo Hamilton was one of the preeminent voices of baseball broadcasting for decades before I was even born, and he worked for numerous teams along his long and winding path before concluding...

Jimmy Wynn Born: March 12, 1942 Sport: Baseball (3-time All Star) Each week I try to determine who it makes sense to spotlight, and now that we've been looking at significant sports figures from the Houston area for well over a year we're pretty deep into the initial list I created (with a few new individuals added along the way).  But although I try to be relevant by generally having athletes represented during the time of year when their sport is usually played, it is also fun to mix things up from time to time so we don't get buried in a single sport or era for too long.  I'll be honest, however, it seems like we had better get as many baseball players as possible done while this season is going on - if you're not the kind of fan who follows the off-field drama of various leagues then suffice it to say there's some labor strife that may result in a work stoppage soon.  That could mean a very long offseason if the various parties don't come to an agreement...

Doug Drabek Born: July 25, 1962 Sport: Baseball (155-134 pitching record, All-Star, Cy Young) I probably started getting serious about sports when I was 8 or 9 years old, at which point I was playing basketball and watching the rise of my hometown Rockets which would result in them winning our city's first major championships a few years later.  One could argue that the Oilers winning a pair of AFL titles in the 1960s should count, but while a bit of recognition is certainly warranted I obviously wasn't around for those and the NFL was the bigger league with a longer history at that point.  My focus on baseball was based primarily on whatever games I could attend, and my parents decided to get my brother and I involved in the Astros Buddies.  Started in the 1960s, it is the longest-running fan program in franchise history, and it got us tickets to a handful of games to see our team play at the Astrodome, which my grandfather had a hand in building long before I was born....

Abner Doubleday Born: June 26, 1819 Sport: Baseball (Mythically credited with inventing baseball) For the better part of the past week, I had the enjoyable experience of having a one-on-one vacation with my youngest daughter.  I have had the opportunity to take a trip alone with each of my three girls over the past two years, but this one was unique.  While the older two are big fans of beaches and cruise ships, my youngest decided to go a different direction when I offered her the chance to get away.  Declining the option to climb aboard a boat, she instead leaned into her love of history and asked to go see the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  And so we took off and saw the National Civil War Museum, the Civil War sites of Gettysburg and Antietam, and the Revolutionary War locations of Brandywine and Independence Hall in downtown Philadelphia.  During that time, a particular name came up on several occasions which actually has a connection to Houston ...

Hello everyone!  I'm currently enjoying some vacation time with my youngest kiddo, and maybe even getting some ideas for future topics.  Rest assured, I'll be back with more Houston sports figures soon.  Until then, I hope you all enjoy a terrific week and make the best use of your summer!  The Geographist

Jeff Kent Born: March 7, 1968 Sport: Baseball (5-time All-Star, 4-time Silver Slugger, MVP, Hall of Fame) Before getting started, my website stats say this is my 400th blog post.  Pretty cool!  Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to click and read!  It is Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, New York.  Three men have been inducted into baseball's primary museum, and although debate goes on about what athletes, coaches, and contributors have been included or excluded, it certainly remains high praise to have a plaque with your name on it placed alongside so many legendary names.  One of this year's honorees had a brief, but impactful, time in Houston and has left a bit of himself in the Astros record book.  Throughout his 17 year career with six different teams, he set new standards for his position and never had a negative WAR (a stat measuring your level of play against the rest of the league's players at your position).  Today, as fans of ...

Zina Garrison Born: November 16, 1963 Sport: Tennis (World #1 junior women's player, World #4 singles player, Wimbledon singles finalist, 2-time Australian Open doubles finalist, 2-time Olympic medalist - 1 Gold, 1 Bronze) It's always amazing to me what variety of sports figures have come from Houston.  Obviously the city has long been a hotbed (figuratively as well as literally, given our typical weather patterns) of talent for the major sports.  But what about the events that don't always attract as big a spotlight?  Space City has had its share of stars there as well, and because of the makeup of our region we have produced some trailblazers and trendsetters.  Although tennis has never been a true "fringe" sport, it doesn't generally get in the zeitgeist unless someone truly special comes along.  During the time leading up to last week's Wimbledon final, much of the conversation centered on the return of Serena Williams to a major tournament at the age ...