JFK delivering Apollo speech at Rice Stadium.
One of the greatest accomplishments in human history took place 50 years ago as we celebrate the inception of the Apollo program and the first time anyone set foot on the moon. We pay tribute to the teams it took to get us there, the program that was started seven years before that planned it all, the men and women that were involved, and above all else the mentality that the accomplishment instilled in every single American. The famous speech made by the late John F. Kennedy, delivered in Rice Stadium on the 12th of September in 1962, made waves for the rebirth of the great American pioneer mentality of reaching a frontier and conquering audacious goals. "But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal?", JFK remarked, "Why does Rice play Texas?", he uttered.
The present track record between such a massive school and a smaller competitor would be one that you would expect; only reinforcing the head scratching question that JFK uttered decades ago in Rice's coliseum. The answer to these questions couldn't be simpler, yet so profound:
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
For tickets to Rice vs Texas on September 14th at 7PM inside NRG Stadium, visit RiceOwls.com/NRG
JFK's words were televised just shy of 57 years ago and they still have a physical presence in our day and age. We revisit this moment two days after the 57th anniversary of the deliverance of this landmark speech with Rice facing Texas, once again, on September 14th. Not only is the September 14 date significant in that it is two days after the anniversary of President Kennedy's historic 1962 Rice Stadium speech, but it is THE anniversary (to the day) of the 1961 memorandum from James Webb announcing, "Our decision is that this laboratory [Manned Spacecraft Center, now Johnson Space Center] should be located in Houston, Texas, in close association with Rice University and the other educational institutions there and in that region," thus it's actually the anniversary of the day that Houston became "Space City, USA."
The atmosphere will be nothing shy of what JFK produced when his booming voice echoed through Rice Stadium. NRG stadium will resurrect that very moment when the Owls and Longhorns take the field in memory of that day. The shaking rumble beneath Kennedy's feet during the testing of the Saturn C-1 booster rocket will be reestablished by the rolling roar within Space City's 70,000 seat coliseum.
As we look back at the tenure of this historic game and forward to the new hopeful frontiers of tomorrow, JFK's speech resonates with us, "We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them." With a glimmer of hope and a sparkle in eye, college football fans are reminded, anything is possible.
Speech excerpts retrieved from https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
