How ‘bout them Roos? Austin College shocked the #19 team in the
country yesterday. The Roos came away with a dramatic 20-13 win over
Centre College at home, thanks in part to a goal line stand in the
game’s final minute.
I wasn’t planning on writing about the game.
But then I read yesterday about the passing of hotel magnate Barron
Hilton and well, I really had no choice but to write. What the heck
does that have to do with anything? Hey, the Roo ties run deep.
You know, there’s a lot of good ways to spin a yarn. One of my favorite
ways is to tell a tale that comes full circle. With that in mind, it’s
time for another Roo Tale special.
I’m calling it: “Austin College Quarterback”
=================================
Austin College Quarterback
Austin College quarterback Colt Collins set the record for most
all-purpose yards in Roo football history yesterday in the upset win in
Sherman.
Sherman is in my future; I plan to be there for
Homecoming next month. Like most Roos who come back home, I’ll be
staying at the Hilton Garden Inn.
The Hilton Garden Inn franchise
was the brainchild of Barron Hilton, the son of Hilton Hotels founder
Conrad Hilton. Barron Hilton sadly passed away yesterday at the age of
91.
Barron Hilton’s parents Conrad & Mary Adelaide Barron
were married in 1925 just before the birth of Barron Hilton. Mother
Mary divorced Conrad in 1934.
Mary Adelaide Barron remarried Mack
Saxon, a football coach and Athletic Director at the University of
Texas at El Paso. Saxon is considered a founding father of UTEP
athletics.
Mack Saxon was posthumously inducted into the UTEP
Hall of Honor in 1960, the same year that Austin College quarterback Bo
Miller set the all-purpose yardage record broken yesterday by Collins.
Saxon’s widow Mary Adelaide Barron (by then Mary Saxon) accepted the
Hall of Honor induction on behalf of her late husband in 1960. The
ceremony took place, of course, at the El Paso Hilton.
Before
UTEP, Mack Saxon played his college football in Sherman. This future
father-in-law of Barron Hilton was a member of the 1923 conference
champion Austin College Kangaroos.
What was one of the positions Saxon played for the 1923 Roos?
Austin College Quarterback.
=================================
Congratulations to Austin College quarterback Colt Collins
for breaking Bo Miller’s record. Great win AC; and hats off to a
Redshirt defense that refused to yield in the final seconds. In the
comments you’ll find video of the throw that breaks the record. Kirk Hughes, the “Voice of the Roos,” has the call. He’s ably assisted by former Roo Redshirt and my former Boston, MA roommate Mr. Frank Tooley.
Hey David Norman,
that reminds me. I better double check my homecoming reservation at
the Hilton Garden Inn in Sherman. While I’m at it, maybe I’ll ask for a
room upgrade. I hear the Mack Saxon, Bo Miller, and Colt Collins
suites at the Hilton Garden Inn ARE LIT.
