This weekend marks the 90th meeting of Rice University and the University of Texas on the football field. mrflip casually mentioned at lunch that JFK made his famous "put a man on the moon by the end of this decade" speech at Rice on the eve of the 1962 game. Text and video of the speech is available here (youtube) but let me point out the most important part.

There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Rice and UT tied in that game 14-14 (Rice's overall record with UT is 21-67-1).  

posted by natedogg in Sports at 02:46PM CST on Sep 19 [trackback] (4 comments total)