Sports
 

Houston legends call UH alma mater

By Barrett Goldsmith
The Daily Cougar

Seven members of the Houston Oilers. Six Houston Astros. Six Houston Rockets.

In all, 41 sports personalities were chosen to represent the finest in Houston sports. The Houston sports legends represent every category and every sport. Players and coaches, male and female, black and white, old and young.

But no group is as well-represented as UH athletes. Including the three extra selections added later, nine UH athletes and coaches earned a place on the list.

The project was the brainchild of Jim Nantz, a former Cougar and now the head sports anchor for CBS, who has gained an increasingly firm hold on the TV sports market in recent years.

Nantz, who played on the UH men's golf team and worked the public address microphone at Cougar sporting events, decided to use his prominence to reflect positively on the city that gave him his first shot at the sports world.

Nantz commissioned 20 members of the Houston sports media to select the elite group of Houston greats. The selections were released as part of a continuing series in The Houston Chronicle.

This special sports edition highlights the nine Cougars that made the list. Each man -- there are regrettably no Cougar women on the list  -- has a story, and we do our best to tell each one. We have also selected four Cougars that are worthy of at least an honorable mention. They won't be on display for the world this week, but Cougar fans can appreciate their excellence.

Most of all, this issue is meant to show that the Houston sports landscape owes a great deal of its beauty to its most prominent color scheme -- scarlet and albino white.

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