H.R. No. 990

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Family, friends, and fans from across Central Texas are mourning the loss of longtime Austin American-Statesman sportswriter George Quentin Breazeale, who passed away on September 25, 2010, at the age of 80; and

WHEREAS, Born in Burnet County to George P. and Winnie Breazeale on July 20, 1930, George Breazeale experienced a life-changing event when he saw his first football game in Marble Falls in 1944; immediately infatuated with the game but personally ill-equipped to battle linemen with his six-foot-two-inch, 135-pound frame, he soon put his enthusiasm to good use reporting Burnet High School's game results to the Austin paper; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale moved to the Alamo City after high school and worked for the San Antonio Express, and he relocated to Austin in 1950 to take a job as a sportswriter for the American-Statesman; he served two years in the United States Army from 1951 to 1953, returning afterward to Austin, where he worked for the paper and majored in English and history at The University of Texas; his notable tenure with the American-Statesman would ultimately span four and a half decades as a full-time reporter; and

WHEREAS, Originally covering the high school sports beat, Mr. Breazeale switched to college sports, particularly UT football, basketball, and baseball, in 1960; he attended the Cotton Bowl for many consecutive years, including the UT national championship seasons of 1969 and 1970, and memorably documented several trips to the College World Series as well as the UT men's basketball team's successful journey to New York to win the National Invitation Tournament in 1978; in the early 1970s, he served as the public address announcer for UT baseball games, and in 1976 he broke the news that legendary coach Darrell Royal was retiring; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale returned to covering high school sports in the late 1970s; every year at the end of the summer he drove to schools throughout Central Texas to visit in person with coaches and players, and he maintained an extensive list of contacts representing every community in the region to call on for the most recent scores and reports from the field; following his official retirement in 1995, he continued his association with the American-Statesman for more than 14 years with occasional columns about high school sports history and predictions for upcoming games and seasons; even in his seventies, he kept working the phones three nights a week during the school year to ensure local teams got their due in the next day's edition; and

WHEREAS, A contributor to Texas Football magazine for many years, Mr. Breazeale drew on his expertise in the writing of Tops in Texas, an account of University Interscholastic League football championships since 1920 that he published in 1993; his skill as a reporter, his encyclopedic knowledge of the games he covered, and his strong rapport with athletes, coaches, other writers, and fans were recognized with his election as president of the Texas Sports Writers Association in 1978, his selection as Sportswriter of the Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches in 1982 and the Texas High School Coaches Association in 1990, and his induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale also shared his time and talents as a West Lake Hills City Council member from 1973 to 1975, and he enjoyed the fellowship of many at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, serving the congregation as an elder, deacon, greeter, and usher; and

WHEREAS, While working at the American-Statesman in 1960, Mr. Breazeale met the love of his life, Carolyn Cole; they were married on June 30, 1961, and together experienced nearly 50 years of fulfilling partnership and the joys of raising a son, Paul; and

WHEREAS, The members of a team and their shared efforts and sacrifices help weave the social fabric of the communities in which they live; George Breazeale understood that truth, and his passion for getting the story and his conscientious, fair, and accurate reporting have ensured that his professional achievements will continue to resonate in the Lone Star State for years to come; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of George Quentin Breazeale and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: to his wife, Carolyn C. Breazeale; to his son, Paul Q. Breazeale; to his sister, Beryl Oltman; and to his other relatives and many friends; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of George Breazeale.

Howard of Travis

______________________________ Speaker of the House

I certify that H.R. No. 990 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the House on April 7, 2011.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House