Lest I am being unfair to my parents, I should add:
1. They enrolled me in all kinds of sports, even though they could barely afford it. Soccer, basketball, track, little league. They supported me. I don't take this lightly. My father delivered newspapers and my mom worked as a custodian, and they had every reason not to spend their money on sports for their kids. But they did.
2. Took me to two of three Houston Astros games when I got some free tickets.
3. Let me attend some of the A&M football games (when tickets were $3).
4. Took me to a number of A&M baseball games. They had their relief pitcher for A&M, he must have been Hawaiian, and when he would come out on the field, the PA system would blast the "Hawaii Five-O" theme. I thought that was awesome. So one evening I was with my family in a movie theatre on the A&M campus, and before the movie starts, I see this pitcher sitting with a bunch of guys. I tell my brother and my parent's "It's so-and-so." I got a piece of paper and a pen and walked over and asked for his autograph. He seemed to be tickled pink that a kid would want his autograph. A couple of the guys sitting with him, joked, "What, you don't want ours too?" I think he was actually there at the movies with his teammates. No sirs, I do not want your autographs. I want the autograph of Mr. Hawaii Five-O.
This was before A&M baseball became popular. A few years later, it became the in-thing for students and people to watch the A&M games, and the stands were often full. Attendance was very sparse when I went.
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