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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Family, friends, and fans from across Central Texas |
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are mourning the loss of longtime Austin American-Statesman |
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sportswriter George Quentin Breazeale, who passed away on September |
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25, 2010, at the age of 80; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Burnet County to George P. and Winnie |
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Breazeale on July 20, 1930, George Breazeale experienced a |
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life-changing event when he saw his first football game in Marble |
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Falls in 1944; immediately infatuated with the game but personally |
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ill-equipped to battle linemen with his six-foot-two-inch, |
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135-pound frame, he soon put his enthusiasm to good use reporting |
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Burnet High School's game results to the Austin paper; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale moved to the Alamo City after high |
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school and worked for the San Antonio Express, and he relocated to |
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Austin in 1950 to take a job as a sportswriter for the |
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American-Statesman; he served two years in the United States Army |
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from 1951 to 1953, returning afterward to Austin, where he worked |
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for the paper and majored in English and history at The University |
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of Texas; his notable tenure with the American-Statesman would |
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ultimately span four and a half decades as a full-time reporter; and |
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WHEREAS, Originally covering the high school sports beat, Mr. |
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Breazeale switched to college sports, particularly UT football, |
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basketball, and baseball, in 1960; he attended the Cotton Bowl for |
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many consecutive years, including the UT national championship |
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seasons of 1969 and 1970, and memorably documented several trips to |
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the College World Series as well as the UT men's basketball team's |
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successful journey to New York to win the National Invitation |
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Tournament in 1978; in the early 1970s, he served as the public |
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address announcer for UT baseball games, and in 1976 he broke the |
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news that legendary coach Darrell Royal was retiring; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale returned to covering high school |
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sports in the late 1970s; every year at the end of the summer he |
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drove to schools throughout Central Texas to visit in person with |
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coaches and players, and he maintained an extensive list of |
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contacts representing every community in the region to call on for |
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the most recent scores and reports from the field; following his |
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official retirement in 1995, he continued his association with the |
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American-Statesman for more than 14 years with occasional columns |
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about high school sports history and predictions for upcoming games |
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and seasons; even in his seventies, he kept working the phones three |
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nights a week during the school year to ensure local teams got their |
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due in the next day's edition; and |
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WHEREAS, A contributor to Texas Football magazine for many |
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years, Mr. Breazeale drew on his expertise in the writing of Tops in |
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Texas, an account of University Interscholastic League football |
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championships since 1920 that he published in 1993; his skill as a |
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reporter, his encyclopedic knowledge of the games he covered, and |
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his strong rapport with athletes, coaches, other writers, and fans |
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were recognized with his election as president of the Texas Sports |
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Writers Association in 1978, his selection as Sportswriter of the |
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Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches in 1982 and the |
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Texas High School Coaches Association in 1990, and his induction |
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into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Breazeale also shared his time and talents as a |
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West Lake Hills City Council member from 1973 to 1975, and he |
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enjoyed the fellowship of many at Central Presbyterian Church in |
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Austin, serving the congregation as an elder, deacon, greeter, and |
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usher; and |
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WHEREAS, While working at the American-Statesman in 1960, Mr. |
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Breazeale met the love of his life, Carolyn Cole; they were married |
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on June 30, 1961, and together experienced nearly 50 years of |
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fulfilling partnership and the joys of raising a son, Paul; and |
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WHEREAS, The members of a team and their shared efforts and |
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sacrifices help weave the social fabric of the communities in which |
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they live; George Breazeale understood that truth, and his passion |
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for getting the story and his conscientious, fair, and accurate |
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reporting have ensured that his professional achievements will |
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continue to resonate in the Lone Star State for years to come; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of George Quentin |
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Breazeale and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: |
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to his wife, Carolyn C. Breazeale; to his son, Paul Q. Breazeale; to |
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his sister, Beryl Oltman; and to his other relatives and many |
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friends; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of George |
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Breazeale. |