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The Legend of the Rice Truck - Printable Version

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The Legend of the Rice Truck - william146 - 12-13-2006 06:50 PM

Saw this on a Miami board that I lurk on ...



So there I was, about to pull on to Rt 78 East heading to NJ for another (late arriving) Friday at the office. As I'm accelerating on the on ramp, an 18 wheeler with some kind of mural painted on the side goes flying by me so fast that I can't really make out what is painted on it.

After merging into traffic, I catch up to this truck a few miles up the road and pull in behind it. On the back in big silver and blue letters it says "Rice Owls Football". Now I'm confused. I really don't know where Rice University is but I know it isn't anywhere near the PA/NJ border. I start to think about who Rice could possibily be playing in this area of the country and then I remember, Army is/was affiliated with Conference USA and I'm pretty sure so is Rice so maybe they're headed up to West Point for a game Saturday. I could verify this if I had a copy of either team's schedule, which in my car I did not.

But look what's also painted on the back of the truck. Rice's 2006 football schedule. And what do you know they are playing Army tomorrow. After mentally patting myself on the back for figuring out why this truck was all the way out here I pull out around it and begin to pass.

At this point I start to wonder to myself if this is some kind of sign sent from above to in fact wager on Rice in tomorrow's game. As I'm contemplating this, I look out my passenger side window and in big silver letters the following words are spelled out "WE WILL WIN". Well, that's all the encouragement I need and I make a mental note to make at least a minimum wager on Rice over Army the next day.

So Saturday morning rolls around and I'm scanning the lines for the day's college football card and I come across the Rice@Army game. Army is a 10 pt favorite. Well, I know enough about Army to know that they shouldn't be a 10 point favorite to anyone so I decide instead of a minimum wager I'm going to make it a medium sized bet. Then remembering what was written on the side of the truck I decide to make a minimum play on Rice on the ML too. I put the plays in and then go to do some research on Rice to see how they can possibly be a 10 pt dog to Army. Here's what I found:

Sat, Sep 2 Houston L 30-31
Sat, Sep 9 at UCLA L 16-26
Sat, Sep 16 ( 8 ) Texas L 7-52
Sat, Sep 23 at ( 18 ) Florida State L 7-55

YIKES!!! Talk about pissing money away. Oh well, I mentally mark it as a loss and move on to watching games that are actually worthy of being televised.

Later that night I'm looking thru the scoreboard and I see Rice 48 Army 14 F WHAT??? I check the recap and the first line reads the following:

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) -- The day before a teammates' funeral, Rice beat Army 48-14 for its first victory of the season on Saturday.

So not only do I have a chance encounter with the Rice equipment truck, but they're playing for a fallen teammate. If this all doesn't scream Team of Destiny (even at 1-4) I don't know what does.

The next week rolls around and Rice is @ Tulane as a 1 pt favorite. Well it worked once so why not again this week. Well the results weren't so good as SMU won 38-24, but when I went to the recap this is what I saw:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Lester Ricard threw for 344 yards and four touchdowns as Tulane beat Rice 38-24 on Saturday, winning its first game in the refurbished Louisiana Superdome since Hurricane Katrina.

Well what do you know. One week after the Saints completely dismantled the Falcons in their first game back at the Superdome, the same thing happened here. Even the Rice Truck is apparently no match for the outpouring of emotion involved with a team's return to the Superdome. I was disheartened but I was determined to give Rice one more chance. And boy am I glad I did.

I decided to repeat the pattern of taking Rice plus the points and on the ML as well (if they were underdogs) the rest of the way until they lost. Well, they have been underdogs in every game since the Tulane game and here how it has turned out.

Sat, Oct 14 (+5) vs UAB W 34-33*
Sat, Oct 21 (+6.5) at UCF W 40-29
Sat, Nov 4 (+10) at UTEP W 37-31
Sat, Nov 11 (+14) at Tulsa W 41-38**
Sat, Nov 18 (+3) vs East Carolina W 18-17***
Sat, Nov 25 (+2.5) vs Southern Methodist W 31-27

* Chase Clement threw a 9-yard touchdown pass with 3.5 seconds left to Jarett Dillard, his third touchdown catch of the game, to rally Rice to a 34-33 win over UAB
** Chase Clement threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jarett Dillard to lift Rice to a 41-38 double-overtime victory over Tulsa
*** Clark Fangmeier kicked a career-best 40-yard field goal with 3.1 seconds left to give Rice an 18-17 win over East Carolina

Each week the story was retold, each week the legend grew. Even when it appeared that Rice would lose but still cover, they did something miraculous to win the game outright. With me spewing the same mantra into the faces of the non-believers.

[Image: 2h82xap.jpg]

"It doesn't say "We Will Lose". It doesn't even say "We Will Cover". It clearly states "WE WILL WIN".

The Rice Truck is NEVER Wrong!!!"

- GrayBeard - 12-13-2006 07:06 PM

I hate the Rice Truck!

- Orange County Owl - 12-13-2006 07:28 PM

That may be the greatest post in the history of message boards.

- Gravy Owl - 12-13-2006 07:40 PM

Thanks for posting that.

- OUGwave - 12-13-2006 07:41 PM

Our first game back in the Dome was the SMU game, Rice was just the first game that we won in the Dome since Katrina.

Still, good post. And cool truck!

- Jacknife - 12-13-2006 09:49 PM

GB- Do you happen to have a link to the post on the Miami message board?

- GrayBeard - 12-13-2006 10:16 PM

Jacknife Wrote:GB- Do you happen to have a link to the post on the Miami message board?

Bill7856 posted it. It wasn't me.

- prettyricky - 12-13-2006 10:28 PM

Quote:"It doesn't say "We Will Lose". It doesn't even say "We Will Cover". It clearly states "WE WILL WIN".

The Rice Truck is NEVER Wrong!!!"
That truck must be new

- william146 - 12-13-2006 10:29 PM

Jacknife Wrote:GB- Do you happen to have a link to the post on the Miami message board?

http://mb28.scout.com/fmiami20779frm14.showMessage?topicID=79628.topic

- Jacknife - 12-14-2006 04:51 AM

GrayBeard Wrote:
Jacknife Wrote:GB- Do you happen to have a link to the post on the Miami message board?

Bill7856 posted it. It wasn't me.


I'm an idiot....


Thanks for the link Bill.

- Former Owl Dad - 12-14-2006 07:53 AM

Thank you for posting that piece. As a long suffering Rice fan, I am going to print it, frame it, and put it in my game room. It will be a discussion piece for some time. That was classic.

- SurpriseN - 12-20-2006 05:04 PM

OUGwave Wrote:Our first game back in the Dome was the SMU game, Rice was just the first game that we won in the Dome since Katrina.

I came to realize this later, but from the AP recap you can see why I originally thought it was Tulane's first game back in the Superdome.

And also a big thank you to all who read and enjoyed the story.

- SurpriseN - 12-20-2006 06:52 PM

Don't be fooled by cheap imitations
[Image: 4e0wtv7.jpg]
The Real Rice Truck is NEVER Wrong!!!

T minus 2 days and counting.

- MondoMiner - 12-20-2006 07:34 PM

It's funny, but I remember seeing that truck on I-10 in El Paso (I think it might have been before they played UCLA). If only I'd known then that truck was going to be the downfall of my Miners' bowl eligibility, I'd have slashed the tires. ;-)

- SurpriseN - 12-21-2006 01:47 AM

T minus 2 days and counting

[Image: 30l1amx.jpg]

- william146 - 12-21-2006 09:50 AM

SurpriseN Wrote:T minus 2 days and counting

[Image: 30l1amx.jpg]

lmfao lmfao

'THE TRUCK' is at the Dome -- and ready to roll... - SurpriseN - 12-22-2006 03:49 PM

http://www.ricefootball.net

[Image: 2vkjlvn.jpg]
Now legendary Rice football equipment truck lies parked at the New Orleans Superdome loading docks while Owls work out inside Thursday evening (PTH photo)

- SurpriseN - 12-23-2006 04:11 PM

Troy 41 Rice 17
[Image: 2z8t01j.jpg]

- SurpriseN - 12-23-2006 04:18 PM

I just want to say that even after last night's performance, I believe this season has been a tremendous success for the Rice Football program.

To make the one year turn around that Coach Graham has accomplished is nothing short of miraculous.

The key is to use this season as a stepping stone towards future successes.

Congrats to all of the Rice players and coaches on a tremendous season.

While the bitter taste of defeat may remain with you for a short period of time, the overwhelming good that has been done for this program cannot be overlooked.

- TomorrowHerd - 12-23-2006 09:17 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao lmfao

Good one Surprise.