As an independent geologist, I was once on retainer to the son of the owner’s of the Dallas Cowboys.  J.D. Murchison, Jr., son of J.D. Murchison and nephew of Clint Murchison, had started an oil company during the eighties oil boom called Murchison Oil and Gas.  To inaugurate the marriage, my partner John and I were invited to Dallas to attend a playoff game with the Washington Redskins.  Anne, my fiancée and Debbie, John’s fiancée accompanied us.

We were put up in a wonderful hotel and had dinner one night at the Murchison’s restaurant in the Dallas Tower.  I had taken only a light jacket.  By the time the big game started, the weather had turned cold.

We had fifty yard line seats, right behind the Governor of Texas.  Dallas was losing badly, even though Roger Staubach, perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time, was running the show, Dallas was losing badly.  I can’t even remember the exact score, but it was something like 38 to 7.  Finally, seeing me shivering, Anne talked everyone into leaving early.

Before we reached the lower level we heard an imposing roar.  Near the exit, we heard another eruption.  By the time we reached the car, we heard yet another roar.  We soon learned that the Cowboys had not only made a showing, they had come back and won the game, the most improbable come-back in playoff history.

Yes, we missed the ending.  Sometimes that’s the way it happens in life.  John and I went on to drill lots of wells with J.D.  Later, I even drank beer from a boot with Jerry Jones, the present owner of the Cowboys – but that is another story.

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