In the spring of 1994 I was I living in The German House, a large student co-op west of campus on Nueces St. One of the other residents was a guy named Hector. Hector was a brilliant dude who was a graduate Teacher's Assistant in a class that Stonie Clark was taking. It was either astronomy or physics for football players or whatever they had for non-science majors at the time. All during the semester Hector was telling me how great Stonie was, what a super nice young man, what funny thing Stonie had said, how everybody loved Stonie etc...
Anyway, Stonie was in his class and there were three blue book exams that made up the final class grade. Stonie made a 70 on the first one and a 68 on the second one, so everything needed to get a "C" average and stay eligible to play football at UT was riding on his final exam. Stonie took the exam and Hector scored it and it came out to a 69. This put his average at (barely) less than what Stonie needed to stay eligible to play football. Bad news for Stonie. So Hector came to me and laid out the problem, which was that Stonie needed the class and Stonie was two points away on that final exam. What should he do? What would I do?
Besides being a physicist Hector was a devout Catholic and a super moral guy. He didn't want to give Stonie the two points if he hadn't earned them. And there were certain elements that the professor required be in each answer and if they were not then he had to subtract "X" amount. Being a UT football fan, I kept saying "Hector, are you SURE he doesn't have an extra point or two in one of those answers?" Hector said that he looked 15 times and just couldn't find what he needed. I said, "Hector, this is not just you. This is something larger than you. This is the University of Texas football team..." etc... My words, plus the fact that Hector was a big fan of the team and of Stonie, personally, had the intended effect. He said he would think about it. A couple of days later he came to me and said "I took your advice. Stonie made a 71 on the final." I said "you're a good man, Hector."
Flash forward six months to the Red River Shootout in Dallas between Texas and Oklahoma. Stonie makes THE PLAY at the end of the game, stopping Oklahoma's James Allen just short of the goal line on 4th and 1. A touchdown would have tied the game but Stonie kept James Allen from scoring, giving Texas the win.
I was watching the game with Hector and the rest of the folks in the Co-op. When Stonie made that play, Hector and I looked across the room at each other. Of course everybody was celebrating but Hector and I were freaking out because we both had the same thought: had he not passed Stonie in the spring, Stonie would not have been there in October to make that play. Hector and I went out in the hallway and he was screaming "HOLY FREAKIN' SHIT! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?" And I was looking at him and yelling "see? I TOLD YOU!" etc...
Neither one of us could believe it. We talked about it many times over the years every year when the Texas-OU game rolled around.
Sadly, Hector Cordova Mireles, a brilliant physicist and my friend for 32 years, passed away in 2022.
He is greatly missed.
Anyway, Stonie was in his class and there were three blue book exams that made up the final class grade. Stonie made a 70 on the first one and a 68 on the second one, so everything needed to get a "C" average and stay eligible to play football at UT was riding on his final exam. Stonie took the exam and Hector scored it and it came out to a 69. This put his average at (barely) less than what Stonie needed to stay eligible to play football. Bad news for Stonie. So Hector came to me and laid out the problem, which was that Stonie needed the class and Stonie was two points away on that final exam. What should he do? What would I do?
Besides being a physicist Hector was a devout Catholic and a super moral guy. He didn't want to give Stonie the two points if he hadn't earned them. And there were certain elements that the professor required be in each answer and if they were not then he had to subtract "X" amount. Being a UT football fan, I kept saying "Hector, are you SURE he doesn't have an extra point or two in one of those answers?" Hector said that he looked 15 times and just couldn't find what he needed. I said, "Hector, this is not just you. This is something larger than you. This is the University of Texas football team..." etc... My words, plus the fact that Hector was a big fan of the team and of Stonie, personally, had the intended effect. He said he would think about it. A couple of days later he came to me and said "I took your advice. Stonie made a 71 on the final." I said "you're a good man, Hector."
Flash forward six months to the Red River Shootout in Dallas between Texas and Oklahoma. Stonie makes THE PLAY at the end of the game, stopping Oklahoma's James Allen just short of the goal line on 4th and 1. A touchdown would have tied the game but Stonie kept James Allen from scoring, giving Texas the win.
I was watching the game with Hector and the rest of the folks in the Co-op. When Stonie made that play, Hector and I looked across the room at each other. Of course everybody was celebrating but Hector and I were freaking out because we both had the same thought: had he not passed Stonie in the spring, Stonie would not have been there in October to make that play. Hector and I went out in the hallway and he was screaming "HOLY FREAKIN' SHIT! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?" And I was looking at him and yelling "see? I TOLD YOU!" etc...
Neither one of us could believe it. We talked about it many times over the years every year when the Texas-OU game rolled around.
Sadly, Hector Cordova Mireles, a brilliant physicist and my friend for 32 years, passed away in 2022.
He is greatly missed.
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