Texas Country Reporter

[pngfan93]

I recently had the idea to have Texas Country Reporter do a segment on Mr. Durham. I visited the following link http://www.texascountryreporter.com/ideas.htm and posted the following information.

Tip Durham has been the voice of PN-G football and halftime since he began announcing in the 50s. No other voice is as recognizable under the friday night lights as his.

His tenure with PNG goes bak to his playing days as a center in the late 40s and early 50s. His voice is clearly distinct-able. Recently, he came down with cancer and was sorely missed at the fall game and the scrimmage at the beginning of the season. He did not announce the first game of the 2009 football season, but surprised fans by announcing the band during halftime with his traditional introuction "Bonsoir, mes amis. Laissez les bon temps roulet!" (Good evening, my friends. Let the good times roll.)

Information on the history of Tip Durham can be found in the book "Down Trails of Victory: The Story of Port Neches - Groves High School Football", written by Jon Buck Ford. This book recalls the entire history of PNG football and has several instances from the 40s to the present in which Mr. Durham is interviewed.

Video of his 2009 announcement of the Indian band during the first game of 2009 can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bhRisnH0XI The fans were unsuspecting of his announcement as someone else had been calling the game in his place. Mr. Durham received a standing ovation.

I am not a historian, and cannot effectively describe what Mr. Durham has meant to this community as a teacher and as an announcer. I can say that he was sorely missed during the games that he has not announced, and that people were genuinely thrilled to hear him introduce the band during week 0 of this years' football season. We do not know how long Mr. Durham has left, nor do we know how long he will be able to continue to introdice the band. There is a hole apparent during the games when he is not announcing. One of his characteristics of announcing was that he announced both the home and visitor plays with the same enthusiasm. No one is as good at announcing as he was.

I would love to see Texas Country Reporter do a piece about him before it is too late. He is a historical figure around this area that happens to still be alive. Even the people from our rival school Nederland (one of Texas' largest and longest lived high school football rivalries) know his voice well.

I am asking people that read this board to do the same in an effort to have Texas Country Reporter run the story before it is too late. Please visit the site and submit your idea for Mr. Durham before it is too late. Please don't copy and paste what I have written because they will reconize that. Write your own essay regarding Mr. Durham. It isn't hard.

Thank you.

 

[bandkid]

This is a great idea. I'll get on an e-mail ASAP.

 

[Proud Band Mom]

:clap:

What a wonderful idea. I wrote:

Tip Durham.
The Voice of PNG High School.
Opening night of football. The purple pride Indian Band takes the field. We do not expect Tip to be there - he has been very ill. There is no way he could walk the many steps to the top of the new pressbox. It towers over the school.

He made it back for his band, his players, his Indians. The crowd rises to applaud our band as they take the field at halftime....and hears THAT voice. As one we turn to the press box and scream. It is surprising to see so many tears fall. One man's love for "his" kids leaves us humbled at his commitment. Please take a minute to portray a 50 year love affair with the voice of the Indian Reservation and the fans who love him!
___________________________________________________________________
PNG93 - this is such a great idea! Thanks for starting it and thanks for sharing. I was happy to be a part of it!

 

[Bob S.]

This is an outstanding idea ! Kudos!! :thumbsup:

 

[tribesman]

Maybe Coop can help us get word to Bob through Kelli at KFDM. Mr. Durham deserves this recognition. We need to get this done.

 

[png9mon]

Excellent idea. My post is already at Texas Country Reporter. :clap:

 

[NDN4Life]

Just send my E-Mail

 

[pngfan93]

Thank you to those of you that sent in requests to TCR. I received the following reply today. The first part is clearly a form letter. However, the question that is pose gives me hope!

Dear Cary,

Thanks for sending an e-mail to Texas Country Reporter. Many of the
stories you see on the television program come to us by our viewers. We
receive dozens of story ideas every day and we read each and every one,
but fewer than 100 stories a year are produced for the show, so please
understand if your story idea is not picked. You should also know that
some story ideas are filed for possible later use and we often pull
ideas from our files from several years ago, so don't be discouraged if
you don't hear from us right away.

Is Tip continuing to introduce the band at home games at this time?

Again, thanks for writing and for watching Texas Country Reporter

Dan Stricklin

 

[PNG Proud]

Same form reply that I got when I requested a segment on MCM. That was as far as it got.

 

[Former NDNette]

I think someone needs to get Coop to put in a word to Bob Phillips.

 

[tribesman]

I got a PM from Coop yesterday. He is working on this and he will see what he can do. I will keep you posted.

 

[kfdmcoop]

Looks good. Spoke with Kelli yesterday and she ask me to post this e-mail for you guys to send it to as well... dan@phillipsproductions.com I'll keep you posted.

 

[Former NDNette]

Thanks, Coop. Knew we could count on you.

 

[pngfan93]

Looks good. Spoke with Kelli yesterday and she ask me to post this e-mail for you guys to send it to as well... dan@phillipsproductions.com I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Coop!

Dan is who replied to my request, and who I sent my reply to. Those of you who have not heard back from Dan, please send your e-mails to him.

 

[pngfan93]

I got the following email today:

Thank you for giving Texas Country Reporter the opportunity to produce a
story about Tip Durham, Port Neches and the Groves most beloved sports
commentators. We certainly hope Mr. Durham is able to overcome his
cancer and lives a long time.

Unfortunately we recently aired a couple of stories that had a similar
theme. The first one was about the retirement of Texas Tech's basketball
announcer who called games at the staduim for 50 years and second was
with Dallas Houston, the radio announcer for the Brownwood High School
football games for 53 years. There are hundereds of stories across Texas
that we are trying to produce and we have to be careful to keep each one
as unique as possible. We have long standing tradition of not repeating
similar stories for at least a five year peroid.

Again, thank you for the story idea.

Dan Stricklin

 

[IndianFan]

Do any of the local stations ever do that type of show?

 

[bandkid]

What if we changed the subject and asked them to do a report on the atmosphere of your typical PN-G football game? Or better yet, the whole of the Indian Nation (including known spirit leaders and fans like Tip Durham, the Indian Spirit, and Indian Ken)? I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Texas Country Reporter that covered a high school that has achieved a level of spirit and notoriety that can match that of many colleges, so they wouldn't be repeating a theme.

From the athletics to the performing arts to the academics, PN-G has a lot to be proud of and has definitely defined the phrase "Tradition of Excellence." Schools like PN-G are rare, and I would think that a show like this one would jump at the chance to cover a school with as much honor, pride, and tradition as ours.