I came across this note yesterday while looking for something truly obscure in Dr. Lovett’s files concerning the French Department. Very unexpected and the sort of thing that you just have to go look up whether you have the time or not:
So what was all the fuss about? We trailed Tulane the entire game, mounted a furious last minute drive, scored, and missed the extra point with time running out.
This guy was on the front page of the next issue of the Thresher. We might want to think about reviving him:
We did win the next game but it turned out to be a mediocre 4-4-1 season with only one SWC victory.
Bonus: From the dictionary of philosophy terms.
Ataraxia
Ataraxia (pronounced AT-uh-RAX-ee-yuh) is Greek for “undisturbed” or “untroubled.” It’s a kind of inner peace – the ability to remain calm despite fear, anger, sadness, or stress. A person who with strong ataraxia has mastered the emotions and can rise above the ordinary difficulties that we all encounter in life. Ataraxia is the ultimate form of “keeping an even keel.”
Ataraxia is sometimes translated as “happiness,” but that’s a bit misleading. When we talk about happiness, we usually mean a temporary state of joy or pleasure. Ataraxia isn’t necessarily pleasurable – it’s calm.
Well, did we miss the extra point to lose or to tie?
We lost, 7-6.
Bob — The Owls lost, 7-6. Here’s a link to the Thresher issue: https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/65016/thr19211021.pdf?sequence=1
Some highlights of the game story:
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Repulsed by the goddess of fortune until the last minute of Saturday's play, Rice hopes reached the zenith when McGee sprinted across the Tulane goat after a 30-yard pass from Kennedy, only to fail again when the weary Owl fullback was unable to boot the oval through the posts for the lone point which would have tied the score.
Tulane's touchdown, made in the second quarter when Talbot recovered a Rice punt, blocked by LeGendre, and rolled across the Owl goal line with it, was sufficient to win the game, 7-6. Maloney kicked goal.
It was evident that the Greenbacks were outclassed by the Rice eleven throughout the game. … Rice made eleven first downs, including McGee's final gain, for a total of 270 yards. The Greenbacks made only one first down, in their own territory.
On the other hand Tulane kicked thirteen times for a total distance of 560 yards, an average of 45 yards. Rice punted ten times for 325 yards.
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Thirteen punts between them. A game that called for Olympian levels of fan ataraxia.
Also in this game, Captain Eddie Dyer, who would later make his name in major league baseball, suffered a serious knee injury early in the first quarter: “Several muscles were torn and ligaments strained in his knee,” which “was unable to support him.”
Who is the “Romance Languages” person who sent the note? I can’t read the signature.
Looks to me like “A Guérard”. Does that make any sense?
Yep. https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/81677
“Dr. Albert Leon Guérard taught French at Rice Institute 1913-1924.”
Thank you.