Mods, Mr. Patrick Moran, may he rest in peace was a world of UH knowledge. In his honor could you please open a section with all of his posts.
I believe he was the longest standing ticket holder. I have a few emails/communication that we had over the tears about different subjects that I would gladly post. Thank you for considering my request.
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What was his account on here? May he rest in peace
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Give me some time to research it. It might have been “old time coog”
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Shows Oldtime Coog logged on 45 minutes ago, never the less, RIP
YRAGHA will know his handle. He reported the sad news when Mr. Patrick Moran past away.
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Here you go. THANK YOU.
Yes.
Season ticket holder since our program began. Was still driving to basketball night games till around 96yrs of age.
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Nah, I’m still here.
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“Eatemup”
yes, @eatemup.
I did a search and it only goes back to 2016 when we broke away from the original site. It would be great if Mr. Sellers could share Mr. Moran posts.
Mr. Moran was UH.
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Met him once at a Spring game years ago.
Super nice fellow!
May his memory be a blessing.
Here’s an oldie from Pat that I saved —
The University of Houston and The SWC
April 9, 2006
by Pat Moran, UH ‘49
The Cougars had ambitions of getting into the SWC very early in our sports history – certainly long before we were ready to compete in that famous league.
As soon as we started indicating that interest, we immediately encountered fierce opposition from Rice University, led by their famous coach, Jess Neely. They wanted no competition here in Houston. And the other SWC schools, who opposed us quite as fiercely as Rice, hid their opposition by saying they could not support another school for membership unless another member in the same city had no objections. A cowardly approach, if ever there was one.
In the early days, Rice was quite good, even winning the SWC championship in 1949. Right after that, Rice Stadium was built – holding 72,000 people! It was built largely from public donations, and Brown & Root built it in less than a year – at cost. It was to be a stadium for both Rice and the University of Houston – it was even named “Houston Stadium” to indicate it was a stadium for the entire city; however, it was built on the Rice campus. The name “Houston Stadium” did not last long; Rice soon changed it to “Rice Stadium.” And Rice had complete control of the new facility.
We were allowed to play in Rice Stadium for a number of years, but Rice placed all kinds of restrictions on our use. For example, we could not play any opponent in any year that Rice was playing that same opponent here in Houston; we could not play anyone in Rice Stadium on the same week-end that Rice was playing a game there – even if we played on a different day, or if we played at a different time on the same day; there were other restrictions. These restrictions made it very difficult for us to complete our football schedule – every year. We could not schedule until we knew Rice’s schedule.
Those infamous restrictions even extended to forcing us one year to change the venue for our biggest game of the year. We had scheduled a game with A&M at Rice Stadium on a day and week-end when Rice was scheduled to play away – all in accordance with the restrictions. And then, Rice changed their schedule to play a game in Houston that day; and they forced us to play elsewhere. We had to move the game to the old Jeppesen Stadium (now Robertson Stadium), which seated only 22,000 at the time. Suddenly we were trying to squeeze our largest crowd of the year into a stadium that would seat about one-third of the expected crowd! Not only that, on game day, the ushers, who were normally supplied by Rice at Rice Stadium, showed up at Jeppesen Stadium wearing their Rice University uniforms which they usually wore at Rice Stadium – interpreted by many of our fans as a needless affront!
Well, we drifted along, playing in Rice Stadium at Rice’s convenience, and playing the strongest teams we could schedule - even a SWC opponent occasionally. And we applied for membership in the SWC every year. We were turned away every year.
And finally the conference tired of our incessant applications. So they passed a new rule that forbad applications altogether; from then on prospective members had to be “sponsored” by an existing member, and “seconded” by another. Neither seemed likely in our case.
So for several years, we pursued sponsorship and seconding from any SWC member who would listen to our pleas. In effect, we were reduced to begging, hat in hand. The SWC schools rather enjoyed that, I have no doubt.
And then there is the matter of the infamous betrayal by Rice. One year we had acquired a sponsor and a second. Somehow Rice became aware of this, and their representatives came to Harry Fouke, our legendary athletic director, to discuss the matter. They asked Harry to get our sponsor to back off and let Rice be our sponsor. They said they had changed their minds and now wished to support our bid. They further said they thought we would have a better chance of approval if we were sponsored by Rice since we were both in the same city. We agreed and asked our sponsor to desist, after securing the promise of a second from another SWC member (that may have been Baylor, but I am not sure of that); then came the annual meeting of the SWC. Harry Fouke confidently went to the meeting site in Dallas and waited in the hall while the members went in for their session. Harry waited – and waited – and waited, thinking the door would open and he would be invited in for further discussion. The door never opened until the meeting ended. Rice had not sponsored us for membership, and the meeting was over; no chance for an invitation now until the next year!
So, again we went on our merry way, disappointed yet again. Nevertheless, we kept fielding stronger teams, and we began to beat some pretty big-name schools. And the public began to ask – ever more loudly – just why the SWC continued to deny admission into their storied league of an obviously deserving Texas school.
And finally Texas, whose influence always dominated the SWC, became sufficiently concerned with our improvement that they decided the only way to slow us down was to admit us to the conference, where they could monitor our recruiting more closely. They sure did not intend to be doing us any favors, you can be sure of that.
And so, with Texas backing, suddenly the doors of the SWC swung open to us. They invited us in – with certain restrictions, of course, just to demonstrate our inferior status. We could not compete for the championship for five years, during which time they would bring our recruiting under control, don’t you know? By this time we were playing in the Astrodome, but that was not good enough for Texas and A&M; so they reserved the right for five years (if I remember the time right) to dictate where they would play us in Houston; they preferred Rice Stadium (we had moved to the Astrodome to get away from all those restrictions imposed on us by Rice) because it was larger, they said. Actually, they cared more about dominating us than the size of the stadium!
After waiting 5 years to compete for the championship, we promptly won it all in that sixth year of membership, and went on to beat Maryland in the Cotton Bowl. Cougars began sporting bumper stickers which read “Houston Cougars, First-Year Owners of the SWC.”
Now, that was a very interesting year. Not only did we win the championship, we beat Texas in Austin by 30-0 in front of the largest home crowd ever seen in Austin to that time, ending a 43-game home winning streak by the horns, which led to the retirement of their legendary coach, Daryl Royal. I think Texas gained a total of 24 yards rushing!
But we had to share that first championship with Texas Tech. Now, Tech had waited some 30 years to gain membership in the conference, as had we. But they had been a member for several years before we were admitted. And now, finally, after waiting all those years, Tech had won the SWC championship, but they had to share it with the upstart Cougars. Not only that, they had lost to us that year – and we were going to the Cotton Bowl instead of Tech. Well, that sure did not help to endear us to a lot of folks out in West Texas, did it?
So, Texas then filed some complaints about our recruiting with the NCAA – the other half of their plans to control our recruiting, don’t you know? And we were investigated and put on probation for a year. One of the penalties was that we were ineligible for the championship or any bowl game for a year. How convenient!
After serving our year in the dock, we won the championship again, and were bound for the Cotton Bowl again, this time to play Notre Dame. We changed our bumper stickers to read “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.”
We lost the Cotton Bowl that year to Notre Dame. Well, we really won the game, but the refs gave the game to the Irish by refusing to make the call properly when the winning touchdown was clearly caught out of bounds on the very last play of the game; no way were they going to call that play against Notre Dame – on national television. If there were any regrets among our friends in the conference, it was never obvious!
The next year we won the championship again, and beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl on a pass with only about 12 seconds left on the clock. Just the reverse of the previous year’s game – only this time the pass was legitimate! And now our bumper stickers read “Now It’s Three out of Four.”
They never forgave us for those four years of domination. Their dismay was assuaged somewhat during the next four years while others won the championships. But in 1984 we won it again – in such a manner as to leave the other members of the conference virtually speechless!
On the last day of the season, there were about four teams which could possibly end up as champion; everything depended on the outcome of the games on that last day. Our game was played early, and we won. And then, as the day wore on, game after game fell our way. Every team that had to lose in order for us to be the champion lost, one after the other. At the end of the day, the Cougars were the last ones standing – and we were champions of the SWC once again! We lost the Cotton Bowl that year to a better team, Boston College, quarterbacked by the legendary Doug Flutie, and helped once again by some very questionable calls by the referees, to the delight of our SWC brethren! And then Texas and A&M pulled their infamous double cross. While telling all the other members of the SWC that they were negotiating with the Big 8 for a merger of that league with the SWC, they were actually trying to negotiate their transfer into the Big 8, leaving all the rest behind. They were forced to include Texas Tech in the deal by Bob Bullock, then the Lt. Governor of Texas; and they were forced to include Baylor by Ann Richards, then the Governor of the state.
So, four members of the SWC were “invited” by the Big 8 to join their league to form the new Big 12, leaving the remaining members of the legendary old SWC out in the cold. And as the proud conference died, it came to pass that the last conference game was played in Rice Stadium between Rice University and the University of Houston – a night game. The Cougars won the game – the very last football game ever played in the SWC (I might add that we also won the very last basketball game ever played in the SWC too - against Texas), and we literally turned out the lights on one of the most legendary conferences in American history. Sad indeed – to see a great conference destroyed by internal hatreds that endure to this day!
(Footnote by Steve O — Houston at Rice, the final football game of the Southwest Conference, was played on December 2, 1995. Houston won 18-17. Kickoff was at 4 PM and, with the sun setting at ~5:21 PM, it finished as a night game. IIRC, the Owls had a chance to win with a field goal as time expired but missed the kick.)
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And another by Pat —
University of Houston Early History
(Answering Questions of a Young Student)
August 15, 2006
by Pat Moran, UH ‘49
Where to begin? You asked if there was ever a time when most of the students were not apathetic about athletics. You may find this hard to believe today, but our athletics program was started right after WWII precisely because the students demanded that we have sports! They petitioned, held meetings, etc., and the administration responded. And when we started, we had nothing – I mean nothing: no coaches, no players, no uniforms, nowhere to practice, nowhere to play, no balls (that’s as in footballs, basketballs, etc., so don’t go making any goofy comments!), and no money to buy any of those things.
We managed to get some hand-me-down equipment from the old Ellington Air Force Base; we practiced anywhere we could, which usually meant in some borrowed high school gym. Most of the players on our first teams were simply students who volunteered, but many of them were WWII veterans; and those guys were very mature (most already in their early 20’s), and tough as nails!
We played anyone who would agree to a game, and soon we were playing some of the minor junior colleges and smaller colleges. And we began to win pretty quickly and promptly set our sights on bigger and grander things. Soon we were trying to get into the SWC – long before we were really ready. Well, you already know that saga, so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice it to say that we have one of the most outstanding sports histories of any college in the USA. We have always accomplished more with less than anyone else!
Yes, we have been down the last few years, but the great Cougar tradition is about to return. You are very lucky to be able to participate!
You then suggest that things around the campus need to improve, and you ask if anyone thinks that is possible. Well, that simply demonstrates that no one has bothered to tell you about how things used to be – and not so terribly long ago, in the great scheme of things.
Bauerboy, you have absolutely no idea how bad things used to be! UH was a very small school all during WWII, but when the war ended the enrollment absolutely exploded. Imagine – thousands of GI’s returning home, already late in getting into college; and all of them now able to afford college because of the new G.I. Bill. They enrolled everywhere; all the colleges were completely overrun. And UH was no exception. We went from an enrollment of just a few hundred to several thousand almost overnight. Soon we were the second largest university in Texas – atm was third!
Classes were being taught in all kinds of “temporary” buildings (I think one or two of them are still on campus, alas!), and students were housed in an enormous trailer park immediately to the east of Calhoun, between that street and the railroad tracks which are still there. And there was no such thing as a paved street in the park; only a few had a little shell on top of the ground – most streets were just dirt. You can imagine the quagmire when it rained – and doesn’t it always rain in Houston?
Now, in addition to all the “temporary” buildings, the university started to frantically build more permanent buildings. But, even by the summer of 1949, when I graduated, there were only about 5 or 6 permanent buildings on campus, and they were just finishing the Ezekiel Cullen Building. We were not a state school in those days, so all construction had to be financed from contributions (thank God for the Cullen family!). Our commencement was held outdoors on the grass, out in front of the new Ezekiel Cullen Building, near where the large fountain stands today.
Oh, and there was one other thing you definitely need to know about while we are discussing the “environment” of those times. Across the railroad tracks from the current campus was a very large stockyard. And if you were a student in those days, you prayed constantly for the wind to be blowing east! If not, the smell would knock you off your feet.
I tell you all this so that you can fully appreciate the improvements that have been made in the last few decades. Today we have many beautiful permanent buildings, all sitting in a park-like setting, and slowly we are removing all vestiges of those terrible old days.
And there is much more to come. If you have not already seen it, I suggest that you search the Coogfans website for postings about the new Master Plan for the campus, which was recently released. Oh, some of it may never be realized, but much of it will – and soon. The new rail line will help, and redevelopment is coming ever closer to our campus. These things take time, but improvements are coming all the time.
You comment that many of the top-notch students prefer uta and atm. Well, now, are they really the super top-notch, well rounded students? I would suggest to you that at least some of them flee to uta and atm because of their perception that those schools are “less diverse” than UH. And those unfortunate souls are dodging the realities of life in America today.
Don’t sell our students short. Most of them are very sharp, indeed, and they are fully participating in an environment that closely mirrors our society. I suspect that most of them will be better equipped to tackle the business world than most others. But, don’t take my word for it. Ask around to various business leaders. You will find many who prefer our graduates because they are perceived to be better adjusted, with a better work ethic, and fully prepared academically to perform.
Oh – another thing. Have you ever run into some of those so-called superior students from uta or atm who sneak into UH in the summer to take a class or two? Some will openly state that they are doing so in order to easily get credit for a class or two which they found too difficult at the other schools. And then they flunk the course here! I will bet it is still happening, and I remember seeing that same phenomenon as far back as 1948-1949. So, no, sorry, their students are not superior to ours!
And then you wonder if we will ever achieve Tier One funding. Well, that will be tough – you can be sure that there will always be severe opposition from uta and atm. On the other hand, there is more than one way to skin a cat, as the saying goes.
We will get as much state funding as possible, but there are other major possibilities. Our university sits in the fourth largest city in the United States, and Houston is one of the most dynamic cities in the world. So, what funding we cannot get from the state, we will seek elsewhere.
You may have already heard that we are planning a major fund-raising drive, to begin very soon now. You will be shocked at the amount of money we will get from that drive. It will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars! We conducted a similar drive about ten years ago, and I think they raised something near five hundred million dollars.
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Pat was a great Coog and a friend. One time we drove together to El Paso for a game against UTEP and he gave me an in depth history of everything UH on the ride there and back.
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Wonderful; posts by Pat. Thanks for sharing-they brought back so many memories. I’m a late comer by Pat’s standards. I entered U of H in the fall of 1957. Like so many I was poor and worked my way through undergrad and law school by working nights at the old Federated Metals smelter on Market Street. I am grateful there was a University of Houston otherwise I would have ended up climbing ladders at some ship channel refinery. When I returned from active duty the first thing I did was get my season tickets for football and basketball. I had them for decades until I lost my mobility, Even though I am home bound I never miss a game on my flat screen. I lived all the history, the impatient waiting to join the SWC and then enjoying our recognition and fame. During those years we were the talk of the courthouse after every win and bowl appearance. I contributed what I could. Flew with the team to many away games and made so many memories and friends.Sadly most like Pat have now passed on where I hope they are enjoying seasons with Bill Yeoman in a lounge chair and a 60" flat screen.
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When we got into the BIG12 my first thought was for Mr. Moran, you Jim, Mike and many others “experienced” Coogs and the ones that passed away.
Mr. Moran posted once that the only way that we would be invited into the BIG12 is if uta or the Great Satan as he liked to call them would leave the BIG12. How prophetic!!!
Mr. Moran and I exchanged many emails. Mt schedule did not allow me to come see him from the West Coast. The little time I could he was traveling.
We miss you Mr. Moran.
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A great read.
On the 1984 SWC championship, Coogs lost back-to-backs at home midseason and no team had won the conference with 2 losses.
When there were 10 league games remaining counting all the league games, a certain scenario would have to happen for the Coogs to win the conference.
Amazingly all 10 games went the way UH needed and the Coogs’ big road wins against Texas and SMU were the difference.
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Yep. I have (had) that saved somewhere as I did a podcast years ago and Sellers was my guest.
Pat was a gem, one of a kind. When I said I was going on vacation in the Rockies what does the man do? Type up a 10 page itinerary. 
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