Some of my earliest memories of my grandfather involve him teaching me how to climb a tree or sitting in a hard, plastic chair amongst peanut shells cheering on Texas Tech. A rotund, red-faced and bearded man, he could always be found in the stands clapping his large hands when Tech scored, and hurling epithets such as "SQUIRREL" (an insult I still do not fully grasp) at the clearly half-blind referees.
He grew up in Lubbock, TX, graduated from Lubbock High School, opened some small grocery stores and started what would become a very large and loud (read: slightly insane) family. The quintessential Patriarch, my grandfather would sit among all of our raucous conversation at family gatherings with his bourbon and enjoy being surrounded by those he loved. Among the many important life lessons that he ingrained in all of us (such as how to play blackjack and make popcorn without a microwave) he instilled a passion for his favorite team, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, as well as a deep hatred for the Longhorns and Aggies.
I lost my grandfather in September of 2007. Last week Texas Tech defeated a top-ranked team for the first time in school history, and it was the Texas Longhorns: a school that has barely deigned to acknowledge a rivalry between the two schools, much less grant that the Red Raiders could be any kind of threat.
He would have loved every second of it, and after the game last Saturday, after I managed to get my pulse back to a reasonable rate, I raised a glass and joined Texas Tech's tribute to one of their most devout fans.
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