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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEXAS -- FROM BUM PHILLIPS
e-mail | February, 2004 (I think) | Bum Phillips

Posted on 04/25/2004 7:53:24 PM PDT by Nita Nupress

Okay, okay... I know this is late for The Birthday, but I just received it.  I checked snopes and they don't seem to have it yet.  The e-mail came from a woman whose brother went to high school with Bum at French High School (Beaumont, Tx), so I'm thinking he really wrote it.  It sure sounds like him, anyway.  Does anyone know him personally so we can verify?


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEXAS -- FROM BUM PHILLIPS
 
Being Texan by Bum Phillips

Dear Friends,
 
Last year, I wrote a small piece about what it means to me to be a Texan. My friends know it means about damned near everything. Anyway, this fella asked me to reprint what I'd wrote and I didn't have it. So I set out to think about rewriting something. I considered writing about all the great things I love about Texas. There are way too many things to list. I can't even begin to do it justice. Lemme let you in on my short list.
 
It starts with The Window at Big Bend, which in and of itself is proof of God. It goes to Lake Sam Rayburn where my Granddad taught me more about life than fishin, and enough about fishin to last a lifetime. I can talk about Tyler, and Longview, and Odessa and Cisco, and Abilene and Poteet and every place in between. Every little part of Texas feels special. Every person who ever flew over the Lone Star thinks of Bandera or Victoria or Manor or wherever they call "home" as the best little part of the best state.
 
So I got to thinkin about it, and here's what I really want to say. Last year, I talked about all the great places and great heroes who make Texas what it is. I talked about Willie and Waylon and Michael Dell and Michael DeBakey and my Dad and LBJ and Denton Cooley. I talked about everybody that came to mind. It took me sitting here tonight reading this stack of emails and thinkin' about where I've been and what I've done since the last time I wrote on this occasion to remind me what it is about Texas that is really great.
 
You see, this last month or so I finally went to Europe for the first time. I hadn't ever been, and didn't too much want to. But you know all my damned friends are always talking about "the time they went to Europe." So, I finally went. It was a hell of a trip to be sure. All they did when they saw me was say the same thing, before they'd ever met me. "Hey cowboy, we love Texas." I guess the hat tipped em off. But let me tell you what, they all came up with a smile on their faces. You know why? They knew for damned sure that I was gonna be nice to em. They knew it cause they knew I was from Texas. They knew something that hadn't even hit me. They knew Texans, even though they'd never met one.
 
That's when it occurred to me. Do you know what is great about Texas? Do you know why when my friend Beverly and I were trekking across country to see 15 baseball games we got sick and had to come home after 8? Do you know why every time I cross the border I say, "Lord, please don't let me die in _____"?
 
Do you know why children in Japan can look at a picture of the great State and know exactly what it is about the same time they can tell a rhombus from a trapezoid? I can tell you that right quick. You. The same spirit that made 186 men cross that line in the sand in San Antonio damned near 165 years ago is still in you today. Why else would my friend send me William Barrett Travis' plea for help in an email just a week ago, or why would Charles Stenciled ask me to reprint a Texas Independence column from a year ago?

What would make my friend Elizabeth say, "I don't know if I can marry a man who doesn't love Texas like I do?" Why in the hell are 1,000 people coming to my house this weekend to celebrate a holiday for what used to be a nation that is now a state? Because the spirit that made that nation is the spirit that burned in every person who founded this great place we call Texas, and they passed it on through blood or sweat to every one of us.
 
You see, that spirit that made Texas what it is, is alive in all of us, even if we can't stand next to a cannon to prove it, and it's our responsibility to keep that fire burning. Every person who ever put a "Native Texan" or an "I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as fast a could" sticker on his car understands. Anyone who ever hung a map of Texas on their wall or flew a Lone Star flag on their porch knows what I mean.
 
My Dad's buddy Bill has an old saying. He says that some people were forged of a hotter fire. Well, that's what it is to be Texan. To be forged of a hotter fire.

To know that part of Colorado was Texas. That part of New Mexico was Texas. That part of Oklahoma was Texas. Yep. Talk all you want. Part of what you got was what we gave you. To look at a picture of Idaho or Istanbul and say, "what the Hell is that?" when you know that anyone in Idaho or Istanbul who sees a picture of Texas knows damned good and well what it is. It isn't the shape, it isn't the state, it's the state of mind. You're what makes Texas.
 
The fact that you would take 15 minutes out of your day to read this, because that's what Texas means to you, that's what makes Texas what it is. The fact that when you see the guy in front of you litter you honk and think, "Sonofabitch. Littering on MY highway."
 
When was the last time you went to a person's house in New York and you saw a big map of New York on their wall? That was never. When did you ever drive through Oklahoma and see their flag waving on four businesses in a row? Can you even tell me what the flag in Louisiana looks like? I damned sure can't.
 
But I bet my ass you can't drive 20 minutes from your house and not see a business that has a big Texas flag as part of its logo. If you haven't done business with someone called All Tex something or Lone Star somebody or other, or Texas such and such, you hadn't lived here for too long.
 
When you ask a man from New York what he is, he'll say a stockbroker, or an accountant, or an ad exec. When you ask a woman from California what she is, she'll tell you her last name or her major. Hell either of em might say "I'm a republican," or they might be a democrat. When you ask a Texan what they are, before they say, "I'm a Methodist," or "I'm a lawyer," or "I'm a Smith," they tell you they're a Texan. I got nothin' against all those other places, and Lord knows they've probably got some fine folks, but in your gut you know it just like I do, Texas is just a little different.
 
So tomorrow when you drive down the road and you see a person broken down on the side of the road, stop and help. When you are in a bar in California, buy a Californian a drink and tell him it's for Texas Independence Day. Remind the person in the cube next to you that he wouldn't be here enjoying this if it weren't for Sam Houston, and if he or she doesn't know the story, tell them.
 
When William Barrett Travis wrote in 1836 that he would never surrender and he would have Victory or Death, what he was really saying was that he and his men were forged of a hotter fire. They weren't your average every day men.
 
Well, that is what it means to be a Texan. It meant it then, and that's why it means it today. It means just what all those people North of the Red River accuse us of thinking it means. It means there's no mountain that we can't climb. It means that we can swim the Gulf in the winter. It means that Earl Campbell ran harder and Houston is bigger and Dallas is richer and Alpine is hotter and Stevie Ray was smoother and God vacations in Texas.
 
It means that come Hell or high water, when the chips are down and the Good Lord is watching, we're Texans by damned, and just like in 1836, that counts for something. So for today at least, when your chance comes around, go out and prove it. It's true because we believe it's true. If you are sitting wondering what the Hell I'm talking about, this ain't for you.
 
But if the first thing you are going to do when the Good Lord calls your number is find the men who sat in that tiny mission in San Antonio and shake their hands, then you're the reason I wrote this tonight, and this is for you. So until next time you hear from me, God Bless and Happy Texas Independence Day.
 
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies and quick to make friends. But, rich or poor, quick or slow, may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.

Regards From Texas

 


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Another e-mail I just received from a fellow 5th-generation family member:

 

This may seem slightly like bragging, but you can talk the talk if you can walk the walk!

Time to Secede!
Republic of Texas



#1: Let John Kerry become President of the United States (all 49 states).
#2: George W. Bush becomes the President of the Republic of Texas.

So what does Texas have to do to survive as a Republic?

This just names a few of the items that will keep the Republic of Texas in good shape. There isn't a thing out there that we need and don't have.

Now to the rest of the United States under President Kerry:

Signed,

The People of Texas

 

1 posted on 04/25/2004 7:53:25 PM PDT by Nita Nupress
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To: Nita Nupress
Nice Bum there.
2 posted on 04/25/2004 7:58:57 PM PDT by Dales
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To: Nita Nupress
Bump for my home town of Cisco, TX! Thanks Bum...we don't get much attention since ol' Conrad Hilton closed his hotel.
3 posted on 04/25/2004 8:04:44 PM PDT by Deek
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To: Dales; Senator Pardek; Dog Gone
Hey, Dales! Nice to see you around. I wonder what Bum's real name is?

I have to run for the evening. If someone comes along who has a Texas ping list, I would appreciate it if you would do so. We're probably the only ones who are interested. (I'm pinging you ANYWAY, Pardek.) :-)
4 posted on 04/25/2004 8:06:34 PM PDT by Nita Nupress
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To: Nita Nupress
I was at the San Jacinto Monument last week on a field trip where children were taught the history and I felt the Texas Independence spirit alive and well in that sacred field.

I've been all over the country and Bum was right about the state flag - you don't see others fly like the Texas flag.

5 posted on 04/25/2004 8:12:36 PM PDT by daybreakcoming
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To: Nita Nupress
Nah, ther's more of us who are interested. Even got a spalsh for my old home town of Victoria... Good to see Bum is still kickin'.
6 posted on 04/25/2004 8:13:30 PM PDT by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)
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To: Nita Nupress
Nolan Ryan, Bum Phillips and Earl Campbell. My top three Texans anyway.
7 posted on 04/25/2004 8:15:24 PM PDT by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)
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To: Nita Nupress
His initials are O.A., but I don't think I've ever heard the names.

He's right about people north of the Red...
8 posted on 04/25/2004 8:23:30 PM PDT by WestTexasWend
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To: Nita Nupress
It's Owell A. Phillips. Don't know what the A stands for.

Æ
9 posted on 04/25/2004 8:27:21 PM PDT by AgentEcho (If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers)
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To: Nita Nupress
Thank you for posting this. We try not to brag about Texas but as time goes on it gets harder not to. The history of this state and the great people in it make me proud and ever so grateful to live here. I do miss seeing Bum on the sidelines with his flat-top and a line around his head where his cowboy hat has left a permanent impression.

Best regards from Kerrville Texas,
Liberty
10 posted on 04/25/2004 8:31:59 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: Nita Nupress
And when y'all do this can I immigrate to Texas?
11 posted on 04/25/2004 8:51:59 PM PDT by Pippin (Each day is a gift from God. ---That's why it's called the PRESENT!)
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To: cspackler
Is Kamin Furniture Store still there ?
12 posted on 04/26/2004 5:36:30 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Nita Nupress
The U.S. flag was the only one I saw in Desert Storm more often than the Texas flag. I flew one on the radio antenna of my GMC and it might have kept me from getting lit up a time or two by friendly fire. Just lucky there's not too many Sooner or Coonass A10 jockeys :->
13 posted on 04/26/2004 5:45:54 AM PDT by Feckless
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To: Liberty Valance
A Texan comes into a bar and starts bragging about the Great State Of Texas and goes on about it's great heritage. "Take the Alamo for example. Less than 200 Texans took on over 5,000 Mexicans and fought down to the last man." A guy from Boston, MA was at other end of the bar and shouted, "You guys from Texas aren't the ONLY ones with a proud heritage. Have you ever heard of a guy named Paul Revere? The Texan is thinking ... and thinking ... hmmmmmmmm ... "Oh yeah! Ain't he the guy who ran for HELP?"
14 posted on 04/26/2004 5:53:14 AM PDT by moonman
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To: cspackler
<< Nolan Ryan, Bum Phillips and Earl Campbell. My top three Texans anyway. >>

And I'll add in Roger Staubach and Tom Landry.
15 posted on 04/26/2004 5:58:56 AM PDT by Nita Nupress
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To: 1riot1ranger; Action-America; Aggie Mama; Alkhin; Allegra; American72; antivenom; Antoninus II; ...
(Houston) Texas PING.
16 posted on 04/26/2004 6:01:10 AM PDT by weegee (Maybe Urban Outfitters should sell t-shirts that say "Voting Democrat is for Old Dead People.")
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To: Pippin
<< And when y'all do this can I immigrate to Texas? >>

Absolutely!
17 posted on 04/26/2004 6:02:41 AM PDT by Nita Nupress
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To: Nita Nupress
BUMP
18 posted on 04/26/2004 6:03:11 AM PDT by GeronL (John F Kerry; Repeat to thyself often: The Mississippi is not the Mekong Delta)
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To: Nita Nupress
<< Another e-mail I just received from a fellow 5th-generation family member: >>

Oops. Make that a "fellow 5th-generation Texan family member." But you probably knew that already.

19 posted on 04/26/2004 6:05:05 AM PDT by Nita Nupress
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To: AgentEcho
It's Owell A. Phillips. Don't know what the A stands for.

I think I'd rather go by the name of "Bum" too. ;-)

20 posted on 04/26/2004 6:06:44 AM PDT by Nita Nupress
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