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