Tailgate For The Labor Day Classic
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Rice-UH, Prairie View-TSU matchups generate early-season intensity
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
There isn't much that could make Alois Blackwell miss reuniting with his 1976 Houston teammates.
He was the team's star running back during the Cougars' amazing run to the Cotton Bowl, where they upset fifth-ranked and undefeated Maryland. Blackwell rushed for 149 yards and was named the bowl's most valuable offensive player.
But Blackwell won't be at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night when the '76 Cougars gather to be honored and welcome their former teammate Art Briles as Houston's new coach.
Blackwell has other plans. Nine miles away, he will be at Reliant Stadium awaiting the showdown between Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M.
Kickoff is 7 p.m., the same time Blackwell's alma mater faces crosstown rival Rice. Blackwell used to attend the Houston-Rice game annually.
But priorities change. Blackwell, now the athletic director at Texas Southern, has a new allegiance he cannot break -- especially Saturday night.
On college football's opening weekend when most fans are watching less than competitive matchups, Houston offers up two intriguing regional rivalries at the same time. For fans of the four schools, it doesn't get any better than Saturday.
"Both rivalries have a lot of tradition involved," Blackwell said. "I think the excitement is there for both of them. You have both schools wanting to win because they are both here in Houston, and that alone is bragging rights. You want to be able to go around after the game talking about how your school did."
The similarities between the two games this year are uncanny. Each stadium will attract more than 30,000 fans. There will be tailgating outside each venue. And inside, there will be an intensity that's hard to match in many other stadiums this early in the season.
On the field, there are just as many parallels. Houston and Prairie View boast new coaching staffs and highly anticipated new offenses. Meanwhile, Rice and Texas Southern have found it challenging to prepare for opponents with new schemes.
It's all UH players can do to not spill the secrets about their game plan. The team is brimming with so much enthusiasm heading into their opener the players guarantee fans will feel their emotions in the stands.
Their newfound attitude stems from Briles' arrival, along with his multidimensional offense supposedly loaded with "trick plays." The system has only been used in practice, but players are confident it will translate successfully into an actual game.
"(Receiver) Brandon Middleton calls us the `Greatest Game on Grass,' " Houston center Rex Hadnot said. "Fans can expect something like the old Showtime Lakers -- up and down the field at a real fast pace."
Even before Briles' offense added to the excitement, the rivalry was revived in 1999 after a three-year absence following the breakup of the Southwest Conference.
Each team has won two games since then. UH leads the overall series, which began in 1971, 21-8.
Moving the game to the start of the season has drummed up interest.
When the teams were in the SWC, the game was usually played at the end of the year. One or both teams often were just trying to finish the season, and interest from fans had waned weeks earlier.
"It's been proven the enthusiasm is higher earlier than late," Rice athletic director Bobby May said. "Of course, if you're in the same league and playing for the championship at the end of the year, it would attract a lot of interest too. But with having it at the beginning and being in separate leagues, we know there will be interest every year. And that's a good thing."
Fans have never been lacking at the TSU and Prairie View games, regardless of how competitive the games have been. Prairie View hasn't defeated TSU since 1988, but the Labor Day Classic is the most anticipated game of the year. Approximately 35,000 fans are usually in attendance, and the halftime performance by the bands is as intense as the game.
"There's a great deal of interest," TSU coach Bill Thomas said. "It's a happening. People from all over the country come to see it. They hold informal class reunions there. They love the pageantry and all the events that go along with it. You get to see a fine football game and two of the finest bands in this country. The game has a lot of glitter that goes along with it."
In recent years, the battle between the school bands has been the most highly contested game on the field. But Prairie View athletic director Charles McClelland believes that is about to change.
After 13 years of watching the Panthers struggle to compete while lacking scholarships, Prairie View is no longer stepping on the field at a disadvantage. This year, McClelland hired former alum C.L. Whittington as head coach and boosted the program's scholarship allotment to 63, the maximum allowed in Division I-AA.
The new staff and players have yet to take the field, but the anticipation is soaring at Prairie View. Fans have been lining up long before the ticket windows have opened each day to buy tickets, and the sales on campus have surpassed those of a year ago. The last time McClelland remembers such excitement was in 1989, the last time the program had 63 scholarships.
"The game (against TSU) has definitely been hampered somewhat because people knew when they came to the game ultimately what the outcome was going to be," McClelland said. "With us not having the scholarships and really the coaches in years prior, we've been wishing we'd show up and compete. Now it's a different kind of feeling heading into the ballgame knowing at least you're competing on equal playing ground and your chances are better to win."
Such expectations hardly worry Whittington, who said he has been waiting years for this opportunity. He is more than familiar with the rivalry and cannot wait to kick off his coaching career at Prairie View against TSU. He's even wrangled up a little family support, though it wasn't easy.
"My brother (Alvin) went to Texas Southern, so he's split with his loyalty," Whittington said. "But he said blood is thicker than water, so I have him for one week."
Whittington's brother will be one of many with split allegiances Saturday night. Some fans will be split between certain teams and others will be split between stadiums.
Blackwell plans to check out the score of the Houston-Rice game, and so does Whittington, who likes to keep up with Houston, where Jason Phillips, his former player at Sterling, is an assistant coach.
With so much interest wrapped up in two games over Labor Day weekend, football fans without ties to any of the schools have to try to decide which is the bigger contest. Choosing is easier said than done -- especially this year.
All four schools are confident their rivalries are only going to continue to strengthen after this season, leading McClelland to believe that maybe someday down the road the two games will stop competing against each other.
"I think it would be difficult if you were choosing between the Prairie View-Texas Southern game or the Rice-Houston game," McClelland said. "We look for both games to be fun-filled games, and it's a shame that both of us have to compete (Saturday). And maybe sometime down in the future, we'll look at that and maybe put the games on different days since it's a long weekend. Then maybe we can all come together and see how we can each have the same market for both of the football games."
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
There isn't much that could make Alois Blackwell miss reuniting with his 1976 Houston teammates.
He was the team's star running back during the Cougars' amazing run to the Cotton Bowl, where they upset fifth-ranked and undefeated Maryland. Blackwell rushed for 149 yards and was named the bowl's most valuable offensive player.
But Blackwell won't be at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night when the '76 Cougars gather to be honored and welcome their former teammate Art Briles as Houston's new coach.
Blackwell has other plans. Nine miles away, he will be at Reliant Stadium awaiting the showdown between Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M.
Kickoff is 7 p.m., the same time Blackwell's alma mater faces crosstown rival Rice. Blackwell used to attend the Houston-Rice game annually.
But priorities change. Blackwell, now the athletic director at Texas Southern, has a new allegiance he cannot break -- especially Saturday night.
On college football's opening weekend when most fans are watching less than competitive matchups, Houston offers up two intriguing regional rivalries at the same time. For fans of the four schools, it doesn't get any better than Saturday.
"Both rivalries have a lot of tradition involved," Blackwell said. "I think the excitement is there for both of them. You have both schools wanting to win because they are both here in Houston, and that alone is bragging rights. You want to be able to go around after the game talking about how your school did."
The similarities between the two games this year are uncanny. Each stadium will attract more than 30,000 fans. There will be tailgating outside each venue. And inside, there will be an intensity that's hard to match in many other stadiums this early in the season.
On the field, there are just as many parallels. Houston and Prairie View boast new coaching staffs and highly anticipated new offenses. Meanwhile, Rice and Texas Southern have found it challenging to prepare for opponents with new schemes.
It's all UH players can do to not spill the secrets about their game plan. The team is brimming with so much enthusiasm heading into their opener the players guarantee fans will feel their emotions in the stands.
Their newfound attitude stems from Briles' arrival, along with his multidimensional offense supposedly loaded with "trick plays." The system has only been used in practice, but players are confident it will translate successfully into an actual game.
"(Receiver) Brandon Middleton calls us the `Greatest Game on Grass,' " Houston center Rex Hadnot said. "Fans can expect something like the old Showtime Lakers -- up and down the field at a real fast pace."
Even before Briles' offense added to the excitement, the rivalry was revived in 1999 after a three-year absence following the breakup of the Southwest Conference.
Each team has won two games since then. UH leads the overall series, which began in 1971, 21-8.
Moving the game to the start of the season has drummed up interest.
When the teams were in the SWC, the game was usually played at the end of the year. One or both teams often were just trying to finish the season, and interest from fans had waned weeks earlier.
"It's been proven the enthusiasm is higher earlier than late," Rice athletic director Bobby May said. "Of course, if you're in the same league and playing for the championship at the end of the year, it would attract a lot of interest too. But with having it at the beginning and being in separate leagues, we know there will be interest every year. And that's a good thing."
Fans have never been lacking at the TSU and Prairie View games, regardless of how competitive the games have been. Prairie View hasn't defeated TSU since 1988, but the Labor Day Classic is the most anticipated game of the year. Approximately 35,000 fans are usually in attendance, and the halftime performance by the bands is as intense as the game.
"There's a great deal of interest," TSU coach Bill Thomas said. "It's a happening. People from all over the country come to see it. They hold informal class reunions there. They love the pageantry and all the events that go along with it. You get to see a fine football game and two of the finest bands in this country. The game has a lot of glitter that goes along with it."
In recent years, the battle between the school bands has been the most highly contested game on the field. But Prairie View athletic director Charles McClelland believes that is about to change.
After 13 years of watching the Panthers struggle to compete while lacking scholarships, Prairie View is no longer stepping on the field at a disadvantage. This year, McClelland hired former alum C.L. Whittington as head coach and boosted the program's scholarship allotment to 63, the maximum allowed in Division I-AA.
The new staff and players have yet to take the field, but the anticipation is soaring at Prairie View. Fans have been lining up long before the ticket windows have opened each day to buy tickets, and the sales on campus have surpassed those of a year ago. The last time McClelland remembers such excitement was in 1989, the last time the program had 63 scholarships.
"The game (against TSU) has definitely been hampered somewhat because people knew when they came to the game ultimately what the outcome was going to be," McClelland said. "With us not having the scholarships and really the coaches in years prior, we've been wishing we'd show up and compete. Now it's a different kind of feeling heading into the ballgame knowing at least you're competing on equal playing ground and your chances are better to win."
Such expectations hardly worry Whittington, who said he has been waiting years for this opportunity. He is more than familiar with the rivalry and cannot wait to kick off his coaching career at Prairie View against TSU. He's even wrangled up a little family support, though it wasn't easy.
"My brother (Alvin) went to Texas Southern, so he's split with his loyalty," Whittington said. "But he said blood is thicker than water, so I have him for one week."
Whittington's brother will be one of many with split allegiances Saturday night. Some fans will be split between certain teams and others will be split between stadiums.
Blackwell plans to check out the score of the Houston-Rice game, and so does Whittington, who likes to keep up with Houston, where Jason Phillips, his former player at Sterling, is an assistant coach.
With so much interest wrapped up in two games over Labor Day weekend, football fans without ties to any of the schools have to try to decide which is the bigger contest. Choosing is easier said than done -- especially this year.
All four schools are confident their rivalries are only going to continue to strengthen after this season, leading McClelland to believe that maybe someday down the road the two games will stop competing against each other.
"I think it would be difficult if you were choosing between the Prairie View-Texas Southern game or the Rice-Houston game," McClelland said. "We look for both games to be fun-filled games, and it's a shame that both of us have to compete (Saturday). And maybe sometime down in the future, we'll look at that and maybe put the games on different days since it's a long weekend. Then maybe we can all come together and see how we can each have the same market for both of the football games."
Quietstorm
memba2change4thabetta
I contiue to think that Labor Day Classic will draw it's potential crowd if the game is played on Sunday, and not the same not as the Rice vs UH game !!