The State of Texas: June 9, 2014

Photos of the Day

Maybe skateboarding ain’t your thing but the X Games, held in the Austin over the weekend, produced some pretty sick images:

Daily Roundup

Presidential Straw Man — The state’s GOP has spoken, and it would like Senator Ted Cruz to be the next President of the United States. By a long shot. “Cruz took 43.4 percent of the vote, according to results announced at the close of the [state Republican] convention,” held in Fort Worth over the weekend. “Ben Carson, a columnist and neurosurgeon from Michigan, came in second with 12.2 percent, edging Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who came in third place with 12.1 percent,” reports the Texas Tribune. In an unfortunate twist, the only person who is maybe-possibly-probably going to run for president IRL, Governor Rick Perry, came in fourth place at 11.7 percent. Oops. Apart from telling the rest of the country to move to Texas, Governor Perry is now considering wearing a different pair of glasses. Or not, but that cowboy definitely needs to find a better horse to ride in the next few months.

Farewell, My King — It doesn’t seem real, like the state running out of BBQ or Rick Perry winning the presidency, but George Strait did indeed play the final concert of his final over the weekend. And it was a heck of a show. The total number of people attending the event was 104,793, which “marked a new record for largest indoor concert in North America, easily zapping the earlier high mark of around 87,500, set in 1981 by the Rolling Stones at the Louisiana Superdome,” reports the Dallas Morning News. “Coincidentally, 1981 is when Strait launched his career with the single ‘Unwound’ and the album Strait Country.” King George played a whooping 41 songs, and had nine “superstar” guest appearances, including his son, Bubba. Since no one can get enough George, be sure to read Texas Monthly‘s June cover story on the man by senior editor John Spong, and check out these never-before-seen photos from a 1984 tour.

Dulled Spurs — With the A/C at just the right temperature for LeBron James, the Miami Heat somehow managed to beat the Spurs, 98-96 during Game 2 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio. “The Heat have now gone 47 straight playoff games without losing twice in a row, heading home for the next two at an arena where they’ve won 11 straight postseason games dating back to last year’s Finals,” reports Spurs Nation. The game proved one thing about the Heat: they can’t win without James, who had 35 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists. And now the consensus is that the Spurs airballed on the home stretch after first taking an early lead. A silver lining? Tim Duncan broke “Magic Johnson’s career playoff record with his 157th double-double,” with 18 points and 15 rebounds. The teams now travel to Miami for two games, “heading home for the next two at an arena where they’ve won 11 straight postseason games dating back to last year’s Finals.” So if you have a favorite saint, now’s the time to light that candle.

Everyday Is Vatican Day — Our state’s most popular pastor, Joel Osteen, took a trip to the holy land. Osteen met with Pope Francis in the latter’s city-state for a brief, “unofficial meeting.” As the Houston Chronicle notes (rather curiously), the religious speed date happened at “On the same day his wife took 300 schoolchildren to the Bronx Zoo” the meaning or coincidence of which is not immediately clear. At the Vatican, however, Osteen said it was a “great honor” and that “I like the fact that this pope is trying to make the church larger, not smaller … He’s not pushing people out but making the church more inclusive. That resonated with me.” It’s good to see Christians meeting up amongst themselves to “promote interfaith understanding.”