The Optimist Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played in 1946. It was held at Public School Stadium (later known as Robertson Stadium ), in Houston .
7-798: The game was sponsored by the Houston Optimist Club , through agreement reached with the Lone Star Conference in April 1946; the game was to be contested annually for five years, matching the conference champion against a nationally-rated team. Proceeds from the game would be used to benefit homeless boys in Texas. The 1946 conference champion was North Texas State (now the University of North Texas ) coached by Odus Mitchell , and organizers extended an invitation to coach Amos Alonzo Stagg and his College of
14-554: Is also the sponsor of Junior Optimist International, designed for elementary school through high school aged youth. Optimist International is an organization comprising self-governing Optimist Clubs that engage in community service work. Every club raises its funds and independently selects service initiatives aimed at enhancing the well-being of children. Examples of typical projects include sponsoring youth athletic leagues , holding essay and oratorical contests for scholarships, and supporting local schools. The international organization
21-625: The Grape Bowl and the Glass Bowl , results are listed in NCAA records, but the games were not considered NCAA-sanctioned bowls. Optimist International Optimist International is an international service club organization with almost 3,000 clubs and over 80,000 members in more than 20 countries. The international headquarters is located in St. Louis, Missouri , United States. Optimist International
28-534: The Lions Clubs International held in Chicago , Illinois . However, the delegates sent by the clubs opted not to join the new organization and withdrew from the meeting. Optimist International delineates its mission, vision, and purpose to encapsulate its objective of promoting and fostering the development of youth. These statements serve as a concise representation of the organization's goals. In 1922,
35-504: The Pacific team (now the University of the Pacific ), who accepted. It was the last game of Stagg's incredible 57-year college football coaching career. The game itself went right down to the wire. With 2:40 to go in the fourth quarter, Pacific quarterback Bud Klein broke a 7-7 tie with a 22-yard strike to Bob Heck. But the extra point failed, which turned out to be the difference in the game: North Texas QB Billy Dinkle then drove his team down
42-510: The field, and with just nine seconds left, fired a nine-yard touchdown pass to Louis Rienzi. Dinkle himself booted the extra point, and the Eagles won their first-ever bowl game. Although the Optimist Bowl was originally planned to be played annually through at least 1950, a poor crowd of about 5,000 ensured the game would not be played again. Like some other postseason match-ups of the era, such as
49-641: Was founded at a convention in Louisville, Kentucky , in 1919. It united various local and regional clubs, the first of which had been founded in Buffalo, New York , in 1911. At the convention, the first official charter of the international organization was awarded to the club in Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana which had been founded in 1916. Several Optimist clubs participated in the June 1917 organization meeting of
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