Mark F. Barnes

The OLD Meyerland Plaza was really nice to go to in the 70's. I distinctly remember going to a restaurant with family all the time and there was a toystore a couple of doors down. I saw a few movies in that theater back then also. I also remember before they built ALL the new stuff there like Kmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond, that they had converted the old buildings into a huge antiques flea market of sorts, and it also was a fun place to go shop.

And we all know how much you secretly love Bed Bath and Beyond.....

This is Don Burton I believe

And this is MJ Burton

Here's a surley bunch of outlaws in the pre-race stuff

Can't forget the trophy queen

If you would like me to post them for you, you can email them to me, however it is fairly simple, you can either host them on a free site like photobucket, or if they are not extremely large you can just attach them to your post. I will be posting more as time goes by. I fly home tuesday and will get busy then.

More Playland action

Here's the roller coaster

And another

I bought one of these about two months ago, and I have been able to scan old slides and negatives with ease. I highly recommend it. I bought it from Tiger Direct. Best $200 bucks I ever spent.

Plustek OpticFilm 7200 Film Scanner

The OpticFilm 7200 is a 7200 dpi film scanner capable of scanning 35 mm slides and various negatives. High optical resolution, USB 2.0 connection and fast scan speed allow Plustek's OpticFilm 7200 to easily outperform other professional film scanners.

Hi Mark. I sent you an e-mail and I don't know if you got it or not. I then found out I could join and post. I believe that is Buddy, but I am looking a man that I knew as a much younger person. The photos are great. They brought back lots of memories. My brother and I used to go swimming in the pit pool where they rolled in cars to put them out. That was another thing my dad put a stop to. I was looking to see if Cotton Grable, the flag man was in the pictures, but I didn't see him. For a short rotound man, Cotton could really move fast once he flagged the race to start. Finding this site has been like a Christmas present to me. I am pulling out pictures for my son to post for me. Will post more later. Sparky

Here you go Sparky

Cotton Grable

I think that's Charlie Scheilds getting the flag from Cotton

AJ Foyt winning at Playland Park

Cotton working the starting grid in 1953

And this is yours truely in 1955 in the infield at Playland standing next to Uncle Bobby's Modified.

Yep, Doc Cossey was a local racing hero. He ran mostly Houston but would occasionally venture out to other cities. Doc won a lot of races and was one of the first to buy an Offy for his car. Red Hodges got an Offy powered car about the same time. That was some serious racing.

Doc drove a stocker also they nicknamed Big Bertha

This is Phil when he was in his early 20's, over at the old shop in Channelview

Any of yall that knew Tony Barcelona will appreciate this one

The one and only Tony "The Tiger" Barcelona

Here's an old shot I found of Phil Cronin, I'm thinking 1962

Sue Payne, Agnes McCandless (sp?), and Aurora and Virginia Bowen.

Everybodies Favorite Stormin' Norman Pierce

This is definitely Buddy from a Chronicle clipping

Here's one for you Sparky, I believe that to be Buddy Rackley in front, correct me if I am wrong.

T-Bird is this the wreck in question? I think this is the one that there were a couple of spectator fatalities.

What?! Reggie Bush hasn't had a 100 yard game yet in his career, and you think he will be Top 10 for leading rushers of all time. If you had said Adrian Peterson, then yeah, but Reggie "Overhyped" Bush? HELL NO!

At his current pace of 40 yds/game, Reggie should pass Marcus Allen for 10th place on the rushing list sometime during the 2024 season.

I hope I am alive to see it.

I hope you are too Red

Seriously though, Just how many complete games has he had as a starter, up until Duece Mc went down? He has started 8 games! He only started 0 games his rookie year, he was used on a limited basis while he learned the system. I think that was a coaching decision. Especially since New Orleans had Duece in his prime, they had the luxury of being able to do that. He's just getting started.

Let's do a little comparison:

Emmit Smith, the undisputed All Time leading rusher in the NFL:

Rookie Year

Year TM | GP | GS | Att | Yards | Y/A | TD | Rec | Yards | Y/R | TD

1991 DAL | 16 | 14 | 241 | 937 | 3.9 | 11 | 24 | 228 | 9.5 | 0

Emmit started 14 games and carried the ball and average of 17 times a game, that's fairly active for a rookie.

Now Reggie:

Rookie Year

Year TM | GP | GS | Att | Yards | Y/A | TD | Rec | Yards | Y/R | TD

2006 NO | 16 | 0 | 155 | 565 | 3.6 | 6 | 88 | 742 | 8.4 | 2

Reggie has only carries the ball 275 in his entire career for a total of 1,016 yds @ an average of 3.7 yds/carry and 10 TD's. He's started a total of eight games in his short career, I am thinking he's got some rrom to grow.

Just for laughs lets look at Mr. Dayne

Rookie Year

Year TM | GP | GS | Att | Yards | Y/A | TD | Rec | Yards | Y/R | TD

2000 NYG | 16 | 16 | 228 | 770 | 3.4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 0 |

Dayne started 16 games his rookie year, of course the Giants had Tiki Barber also, but I am thinking Reggie is holding his own with as little playing time as he's had. And we are not talking about the Cowboys or Giants, we are talking about a team that's only made six (6) playoff game appearances in 40 years. And a team who only had there best season ever last year, and has an over all win loss record of 251 - 363 - 5. I still think there's hope for the kid.

Yeah but in 10 years Reggie is going to be one of the top ten rushers of all time and Dayne doesn't have ten years left in him. Dayne's entire career has been riddled with issues. Benched for lack of commitment, injuries, inability to break tackles, one of the biggest disappointments to the Heisman, since Ricky Williams and Archie Griffin.

Resourceful...........that's a funny way of putting it. Phil Cronin was a sure enough hustler. Don't mean that in a negative way. He put his mind to it and could just about do anything. He was a real charactor, and could always make you laugh, no matter what the circumstances were. He believed in fast cars and fast living. Had his fair share of pit puppies I can tell you that for damn sure. He laid more pipe than Brown and Root. If it's the car I am thinking of it was a blue and white two tone '55 Chevy. I'd have to dig around but I may have a picture of that car after he sold it to David Rosas.

I think Phil Cronin was born about '40, so he would have been about 15-17 years old in '55/'56. Had a fast, new '55 Chevy hot rod? Maybe so Jakdad! Say, wasn't there also a Phillip in amongst some of them Tillotta boys that did a little racing?

Phil was born in Late '35 around Halloween or pretty close, because they use to throw a party in the pits at the track around that time, he was Class of '54 at Galena Park HS I am pretty sure, seems like that's what his class ring said anyway. Phillip Tillotta was also from Galena Park I think, and is still alive as far as I know still living in that house out in Sterling Green in Channel View.

Man talk about a heartbreaker, that was a heck of a game, Robinson just got beat on that last pass play. Great 4th qtr comeback. Jeez that was a tough one to watch.

Hey a win is a win, ugly or not. It still adds one to the "W" column

They played much of their comeback against the Colts w/o those guys. I think they can still handle the falcons.

My theory is, the WR's will get open most the time and Schaub is good enough to find them, just like he did last Sunday.

They are having to go DEEP into the Roster, but I feel confident that the Texans can handle the Falcons this week. Mario and the boys will have to put some pressure on the QB this week.

Win against Atlanta and we are 3-1. Then we get well and become really, really good. I love the Texans and think we are capable of a winning season, finally.

Next week, AJ is back and a week after that, Jacoby will be back. Ahman Green may play tomorrow. Owen Daniels is a good TE and Andre Davis stepped up big time agaisnt the Colts (70 yards on just four receptions). I think we will be fine.

Oops!

Guess the Falcons were more than just a one dimensional offense. This was the week of upsets, five of the top ten lost yesterday, and was very nearly seven of the top ten. The bookies took a beating worse than the St. Louis Rams did.

Sunday Night Football was pretty good. The other end of I-45 is looking pretty damn good......

1896 house of the Heights district

Freedman's Town

Lyons Ave and Jenson 1956

Lyons Ave and Jenson today

Main Street 1910

Heights Blvd 1910