GoCoogs is going through and looking at the best, worst, most memorable, and more from the last decade. Today, we look at the craziest moments for UH and UH fans.
College Gameday Comes To UH
Just before the 11th-ranked Cougars got on a plane to play Tulane on a Thursday night, word started to leak that College Gameday producers were in town. They were scouting sites on campus for the show and had booked a block of hotel rooms for the next weekend. After a scoreless first period against Tulane, the Cougars scored 35 of their 73 points in the 2nd quarter. UH headed home 10-0.
Saturday morning, the school was informed that Gameday was coming. That night, the show announced that Houston had been selected. Later, word filtered out that Carl Lewis would be the guest picker – the Houston icon was a great choice.
But once the show started Saturday morning, it was a kid stole the show. Maddux Malone, son of former Cougar linebacker Micah Malone, dressed as the Heisman and was featured prominently on ESPN.
Otherwise, the show was not particularly memorable until the picks started. Carl Lewis said this was UH’s moment and said we’d go undefeated. Co-host Lee Corso bantered with him and picked up an SMU megaphone. “How can you pick against SMU? Red, white, and blue. U-S-A,” Corso said.
Corso started to speak into the megaphone but instead delivered a Gameday moment that will live on for as long as the show does:
Several times a year when celebrating the history of the show, Gameday will feature great moments in their history and the Corso at UH clip is always there.
Hobos In The Suites
After UH won the 2010 C-USA Tournament, a New York Times writer came to profile UH basketball coach Tom Penders. Knowing that his job was in peril, Penders used the interview to explain how bad the situation was at UH. The horrible facilities, the showers that didn’t work, and how President Jay Gogue laughed at the thought of winning 15 games a year at Houston.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd0000″ class=”” size=”20″]“Penders says the “luxury suites” that line the top of the arena resemble World War II pill boxes.” – New York Times[/perfectpullquote]
But the line that stuck out to UH fans was that Penders “recalls having to kick out several homeless people who were living in the arena.”
Uhhh, ok Tom. Penders was let go after UH’s appearance in the NCAA Tournament and James Dickey was hired.
Long Bus Ride To Spokane
That same week, Channel 2 KPRC reported from campus as the Cougars got on the bus heading for Hobby Airport. But the KPRC reporter didn’t quite understand and lamented that the Cougars had a long bus ride ahead of them to Washington state.
Fans online had a lot of fun with the report. Even UH got in on the action, slightly jabbing at Channel 2:
After packing the bus and a round of interviews with local media, Houston players, coaches, administrators, and fans left the Athletics/Alumni Center at 7 a.m., Wednesday, for Hobby Airport. Following a four-hour flight, the team landed in Spokane and arrived at their hotel.
UH made sure to add it to the video that chronicled the first day. Kinda funny:
Opening Of TDECU
UH and Tony Levine were pretty smart: they decided to open UH’s new stadium with a cupcake: a UTSA team that the Coogs had beaten the previous year in San Antonio. Except …
In an embarrassing, gut-wrenching loss, UH went scoreless for almost 59 minutes in a 27-7 humiliation. After receiving a hush-hush contract extension in May, Tony Levine was responsible for what many believe to be the worst loss in school history.
Fans were stunned and many started leaving at halftime. By the time UH scored in the final minute, less than 2000 fans remained in the stadium. UH finished with -26 rushing yards and this indelible photo after the game.
Tom Herman’s Surreal Interview
The Cougars were in Memphis for the 2016 season finale against the Tigers. It was an 11:00 a.m. kickoff but the night before, during the LSU/Texas A&M game, Chip Brown broke the story that 3 sources had confirmed that Herman had been offered the LSU job.
After getting off the bus at the Liberty Bowl Friday morning, Herman agreed to a quick interview with ESPN sideline reporter Cole Cubelic. To his credit, Cubelic didn’t sugarcoat his questions and didn’t lead with the weak “I’m sorry but I have to ask…” line that so many reporters use. In rapid succession, Cubelic asked how Herman had addressed the rumors with his team, if Herman could confirm that the reports were false, and how had Herman instructed his agent to handle his situation.
It was a beautiful piece of interviewing: he went right at Tom and didn’t water-down his questioning. But even better was Herman’s facial expressions: the way he looked away from the camera, the eye twitch, and the obvious anger that was brewing inside him. The phrase “Twitchy Tom” was born out of that 67-second interview.
It was the first time that Herman didn’t control the narrative and he was pissed off about it. After the flight back from Memphis, Herman went home to meet UT brass to begin negotiations. They hammered out the deal that night.
. @CoachTomHerman on 790AM: ‘I sleep so easy knowing I never once lied to a player, a recruit or any coaches or administration.’ [cont.]
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) April 20, 2017
Maybe not. But he did lie to Cole Cubelic and UH fans.
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