For the first time since 1961 (that’s before I was born), Rice football is headed to a bowl game! With a six-game winning streak to finish regular season play, the Owls have earned a spot in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Friday, December 22. Cajun Rice, anyone?

[cynical aside: The Superdome sounds impressive (if you forget the Katrina aftermath), but R+L Carriers Bowl? Granted, I barely follow college football, but that sounds a bit like scraping bottom. {ouch, more bad puns!}]

If I were really ambitious, I’d search YouTube for the clip of JFK making his “Why does Rice play Texas? … And so we choose to go to the moon!” speech at Rice Stadium. Or else I’d search our meager video archive for C-boy as a 2 year old singing “Fight for Rice”. For now, a transcription must suffice:

Fight for Wice, Wice fight on, woyal sons awise,
when the blue and gway, of Wice today
comes cwashing through the skies
Stand and jeer, victory’s near,
Sammy weads the way!
On we go to CWUSH the foe
and fight foh Wice today!”

Somehow, I don’t think “stand and jeer” is what the original lyricist intended, but it always gets the biggest laugh from those of us who actually attended games and knew what it was like, especially in the 80s…