 On South Main Boulevard nearby the old Rice Field it stood, not much more
than a shack but a place of refuge after a tough loss for the Institute, and of
welcome for the celebration after a Rice victory. Ye Old College Inn has been gone for 30
years, but in its heyday it had the kind of atmosphere that 90s-era sports bars
often strive to mimic, but never really achieve. The College Inn saw the passage of many a
Rice Institute season, and from its vantage point many a tradition, celebration, and
foible of the place was observed. What follows are some of them....
 Across from the Inn stood Rice Field,
home of the Rice Owls from 1912 through 1949.
The old stadium wound up seating 40,000--thus making it larger than the
1998 stadiums of six of the fifteen other, current WAC schools. And it was torn down
in 1951. The Rice track stadium now stands where Rice Field once lay.
 The most famous play in college football history--a Rice touchdown.
Alabama's Tommy Lewis came off the bench to tackle Owls' Dickie Maegle en route to awarded
95-yard TD run in 1954 Cotton Bowl.
 The Rice coach they named the trophy after.
John W. Heisman coached the Owls from 1924 to 1927. It was his last
coaching job before taking over management of the the New York Downtown Athletic Club.
Later, they had a little trophy they named after him.
 "Why go to the moon? Why does Rice
play Texas?"
In October, 1962, John F. Kennedy made one of the major policy addresses
of his administration before 35,000 in Rice Stadium. "Not because they are
easy," JFK said, "but because they are hard."
 Jess Neely showed the college football
world how to win like a gentleman.
Neely coached the Owls from 1940 through 1966, leading them to four SWC
championships and victories in the Orange and Cotton Bowls. Coach Neely finished
eighth on the list of all-time winningest college coaches.
 Aggies, like elephants, apparently never
forget.
Rice band mischief in '73 was a day to live in A&M infamy--but
only one of a number of fowl deeds visited on cadets by Institute over the years.
 Nebraska, Florida State and Notre Dame all
rolled into one.
The Rice '66 NBC College Bowl team blew away the competition, and set
all-time records for the brain game.
 Freshman "Guidance" took place on a broad range of subjects.
Rice students traditionally have been second-to-none in finding creative
ways to maintain rites of initiation and let off steam.
 Rice Stadium is one of two university
stadiums to have hosted a Super Bowl.
On January 12, 1974, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Minnesota Vikings
24-7 in Super Bowl VIII in Rice Stadium.
President Bush staged his
administration's crowning event at Rice.
The 1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations held its plenary
sessions and ceremonial events on the Rice campus, as President Bush hosted Margaret
Thatcher, Helmut Kohl and other international dignitaries.
 The New York Yankees once were tenants of Rice.
Rice has become the owner of an interesting collection of real estate holdings, over the
years--a result of donations from alumni. None of them was more distinctive, or
unusual, than The House that Ruth Built. Rice once owned it.
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