who did matt ryan play college football for

Matthew Thomas Ryan (born May 17, 1985), nicknamed "Matty Ice", is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Boston College, Ryan was drafted by the Falcons with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Matt Ryan (American football)

Ryan was Boston College's starting quarterback from 2005 to 2007, leading them to three bowl victories and a 25â€“7 record in 32 starts. He threw for 200 or more yards 15 times and is third all time in school history in passing yards and in pass completions. He earned MVP of the game honors at the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.[1]

In 2007, Ryan led his team to an ACC Atlantic Division championship and was named ACC Player of the Year.[2] During his rookie year, Ryan started all 16 games for the Falcons and led them to the playoffs with an 11â€“5 season record. He earned honors as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. In 2016, Ryan was the NFL's Most Valuable Player and led the Falcons to Super Bowl LI, where they were defeated by the New England Patriots.

After signing a $150 million five-year extension with the Falcons in 2018, Ryan became the first $30 million per year quarterback and the highest paid player in NFL history until being surpassed months later by Aaron Rodgers.

Ryan attended the William Penn Charter School,[3] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a three-year starter and earned All-East honors from Larunt Lemming Prep Football Report. He captured All-Southeastern Pennsylvania accolades as a senior quarterback in addition to receiving All-City first-team honors in 2002 and second-team recognition in 2001. A three-time All-League selection, he threw for more than 1,300 yards with 9 touchdowns as a senior, finishing his career by completing more than 52 percent of his pass attempts during all three seasons at the helm. Ryan played football, basketball and baseball while in high school and was named captain of all three teams his senior year. He was quarterback of the football team in 2002, played small forward on the basketball team, and was a pitcher and a shortstop on the baseball team.[4]

Ryan says he was "mildly" recruited and began receiving scholarship offers as a sophomore. Some of the schools that offered him an athletic scholarship were Purdue, Georgia Tech, Temple, and Connecticut. After attending his recruiting visit with Boston College during his junior year, it was announced he gave them his verbal commitment on August 14, 2002. His choices had come down to Iowa or Boston College. Ryan was looking for a university close to home and had a strong and competitive football program with a major emphasis on academics.[5]

Ryan began attending Boston College in 2003 and redshirted his first year with the team. Before the 2004 season, he was named the starting quarterback for Boston College due to an injury to Quinton Porter. He made his collegiate debut on October 2, 2004 against the UMass Minutemen and completed two of three passes for 16 yards.[6] He would not complete his first touchdown until November 20, 2004 against Temple, after throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Larry Lester. Replacing the injured Paul Peterson, he completed 9-of-15 passes for 121 yards.[7] He made his first collegiate start on November 27, 2004 in the final game of that season, completing 24 of 51 passes for 200 yards against Syracuse.[8] He also played against North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl. He completed one of his two passes for 13 yards.[9] Ryan was also quite proficient in the classroom, and was awarded the 2004 Freshman Male Scholar-Athlete award that same year.[10]
Ryan launched a website during his senior year at Boston College called Mattyice.com, where fans and media have 24-hour access to video highlights, updated biographical information, statistics and other information about him.[11]
In 2016, Boston College retired his jersey.[12]

At the beginning of the 2005 season, Ryan was named the second-string quarterback behind Quinton Porter. Porter had some success at the beginning of the year, including winning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week for his performance in Boston College's 28–17 win over Virginia. After a 30–10 loss to third-ranked Virginia Tech, coach Tom O'Brien finally went to Ryan for good in the fourth quarter of the next game against North Carolina State. In ten games (five starts), he completed 121 of 195 passes for 1,514 yards. He had eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for five touchdowns and 94 yards.[13] He started his first bowl game in the MPC Computers Bowl versus Boise State. He completed 19 of 36 passes for 256 yards and a career-best three touchdowns.[4]

Ryan started 11 of the 12 games. He completed 263-of-427 passes for a conference-leading 2,942 yards, 15 touchdowns, and ten interceptions.[14] In addition, he rushed for four touchdowns.[15] He was All-ACC first-team and led the ACC in total offense (242.2 yards per game) and in passing yards (245.5 yards per game). He was named ACC Offensive Back of the week three times. He set career highs in completions (32 against Central Michigan) and passing yards (356 against Brigham Young).[16][17] He led the team to a 9–3 record including double overtime wins versus Clemson and Brigham Young.[18] He led the Eagles to a close 25–24 victory on December 26, 2006 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy in Charlotte, North Carolina.[19] In the season opener against Central Michigan, Ryan sprained his ankle. Against Virginia Tech, Ryan broke his foot on the same leg. Despite these injuries, Ryan only missed one game (against Buffalo).[20] His 57 pass attempts in the 2006 Wake Forest game tied Shawn Halloran's performance against Syracuse Orange in 1985 and Frank Harris's performance against Army in 1968 for the school record his 40 pass completions in the 2006 Wake Forest game broke the old school record of 37 by Frank Harris in the 1968 Army clash.

Before the season started, Ryan was named to the preseason All-ACC team. Against Wake Forest, he completed 32 of 52 passes for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns.[21] Boston College also hired a new coach: Jeff Jagodzinski, a longtime NFL assistant.[22] He continued his hot streak versus Georgia Tech, going 30–44 with one touchdown and passing for a career-high 435 yards against the staunch Tech defense en route to a convincing 24–10 road victory.[23] After this game, Ryan was suggested as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. Battling Virginia Tech through bad weather in Blacksburg, Virginia, Ryan led an amazing comeback for the Boston College Eagles, passing for two touchdowns with less than 3 minutes to play on October 25, 2007, including the game-winner with 11 seconds left to Andre Callender.[24][25][26] However, Ryan's chances to win the Heisman fell sharply after he threw three interceptions in a 27–17 loss to Florida State, an unranked team that had six wins and three losses.[27] However, with a strong performance against Clemson[28] his chances were raised substantially. Despite 2 consecutive ACC losses, Ryan and the Eagles found themselves with a trip to the conference championship on the line. Down 10–3 in the third quarter, he led the offense on a game-tying drive, hitting on key passes to Rich Gunnell, Andre Callender and Ryan Purvis, landing the Eagles at the Clemson 2 early in the fourth. James McCluskey finished the job from there, running it in to even the score at 10-apiece. Shortly thereafter, a Clemson turnover resulted in a Boston College field goal and a 13–10 lead for the maroon and gold.[29] On November 24, against ACC rival Miami,[30] Ryan surpassed Doug Flutie for the most passing touchdowns in a single season by an Eagle quarterback with 28 touchdowns, ultimately ending the season with 31. Despite these records, he struggled with throwing interceptions throughout the year, and finished with 19 (2nd most among college quarterbacks). His five touchdown passes in the 2007 Wake Forest game are one shy of the school record of six, held by Doug Flutie in 1984 against North Carolina. For the maroon and gold, it was their first 10-win regular season since 1940 and the first time they had achieved back-to-back 10-overall-win seasons in program history. He led the Eagles to extend the nation's longest bowl winning streak to eight with a 24–21 victory over Michigan State Spartans in the Champs Sports Bowl on December 28, Ryan threw three touchdown passes, two to Rich Gunnell and one to Jon Loyte.[31][32] He finished the season with a conference-leading 4,507 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions.[33][34]

Ryan earned various accolades for the 2007 season. He was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and the ACC Player of the Year.[35][36] He was awarded the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually in the United States to the nation's most outstanding college football senior quarterback, the other finalists for the 2007 award were Hawaii's Colt Brennan, Louisville's Brian Brohm, Oregon's Dennis Dixon, and Kentucky's Andre Woodson (all of whom were drafted at the 2008 NFL Draft).[37] He was selected to play in the 2008 Senior Bowl. He also won the 2007 Manning Award[38] awarded to the nation's top quarterback, beating out eventual Heisman winner Tim Tebow and eight other finalists for this year's award: Erik Ainge (Tennessee), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Colt Brennan (Hawai'i), Chase Daniel (Missouri), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech), Pat White (West Virginia), and Andre' Woodson (Kentucky). He was named "Eagle of the Year" alongside Boston College's first ever individual champion Kasey Hill.[39] He finished in seventh place in the Heisman Trophy voting that year.[40]

In November, he was asked to speak at the Boston College Multi-Cultural Thanksgiving celebration, where he spoke of family, integrity and devotion.[41]

He was featured as the cover athlete for the PS3 version of NCAA Football 09.[42]

Ryan[45] scored a 32 on the Wonderlic exam, tying Louisville's Brian Brohm for the highest score by a quarterback in the 2008 Draft class.[46][47]

He was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2008 NFL Draft[48][49][50] He was the second first-round pick of the draft to sign when he agreed to a six-year, $72 million contract on May 20, 2008; the contract contained $34.75 million in guaranteed money.[51] The contract made Ryan the fourth highest paid quarterback in the NFL behind Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Carson Palmer, despite never having played a professional game.[52] This helped fuel the discussion regarding whether salaries for first-round draftees in the NFL were too high.[53] In addition, Ryan had signed endorsement deals with Nike[54] and AirTran.[55]

On August 24, 2008, Ryan was named the starting quarterback for the September 7 regular season opener against the Detroit Lions.[56][57] Ryan became the first rookie quarterback to start a season for the Falcons since Michael Vick in 2001. In the game, Ryan completed his first NFL pass for a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins,[58] becoming the first quarterback to throw a touchdown on his first career NFL pass since Michael Bishop of the New England Patriots in 2000. Ryan was sacked for the first time by Lions defensive player Dewayne White in his first win. The second game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marked Ryan's first interception by rookie cornerback Aqib Talib and also by Sabby Piscitelli.[59]

In Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs, he completed the then-longest touchdown pass in his career for 70 yards to Roddy White. The 70-yard touchdown pass to White was the longest pass completion for the Falcons since December 23, 2007, when Chris Redman threw a 74-yard touchdown pass. In the same game, Ryan completed passes to 6 different players.[60] The following week, he threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers. His touchdown passes went to Roddy White and tight end Justin Peelle.[61] The following week against the Chicago Bears Ryan led the Falcons to a comeback win. With 6 seconds left he completed a 26-yard strike to Michael Jenkins that set Jason Elam up for the game-winning field goal as time expired. Ryan finished the game 22-of-30 for a then career-high 301 passing yards.[62] He also had a key fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Roddy White. On Atlanta's first offensive drive, Ryan completed all five of his pass attempts for 57 yards en route to a Falcons field goal and a 3â€“0 lead. Ryan was named Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week for his performance.[63]

Ryan created an activity named "Folleyball" for NFL Play 60 at NFL Rush.com, published in October of that year.[64]

On October 30, Ryan was honored as the NFC Rookie of the Month for October following an impressive string of games in which he led the Falcons to a 2–1 record. Ryan became the first player in Falcons franchise history to be awarded this honor[65][66] In Week 8 against the Oakland Raiders, Ryan finished with the highest completion percentage of his career (77.3). He threw for 220 yards, two touchdowns, and posted a quarterback rating of 138.4. He also completed passes to eight different receivers and the game was his third multiple touchdown game (Green Bay, Philadelphia).[67][68] His first half passing yardage, completion percentage (81.3) and passer rating (154.2) are all career highs for a half and his two touchdowns tie a first half high, Ryan’s final completion percentage of 77.3 is a career-high along with his passer rating of 138.4. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week following his performance against the Raiders.[69][70][71][72] He scored his first rushing career touchdown against the New Orleans Saints on December 7 with a 12-yard touchdown scramble, Ryan also achieved 3,000+ passing yards in the 2008 season being only the 2nd rookie to do so. Peyton Manning was the first.[73][74]

Ryan became the first Falcons rookie quarterback in franchise history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season after finishing with 206 yards against Tampa Bay. Ryanâ€™s passing total also makes him only the 10th quarterback in club annals to hit the 3,000-yard mark and the first since 1998 when Chris Chandler threw 3,154.[75] It was also his first overtime win as a starter. He was named the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week for games played after his performance by the second time in his career.[76][77] Ryan finished second amongst rookies in fan Pro Bowl voting (416,468 votes), behind only Titans running back Chris Johnson.[78] Ryan threw for a season-low 134 yards in Week 16 against the Minnesota Vikings, ending a streak of nine straight games with at least 200 yards passing, he finished 13-of-24 passing, throwing an 8-yard touchdown passes to Jerious Norwood in the second quarter; however, with this win Ryan led the Falcons to their first playoff berth since 2004.[79]

He finished the season with 3,440 passing yards, 17 touchdowns (one rushing), and 11 interceptions.[80] He and fellow rookie Joe Flacco were the first rookie quarterbacks to lead their teams to the playoffs after starting all 16 games of the season. He is one of twelve rookie quarterbacks to throw for over 3,000 yards (2,743Â m) in their rookie season. On December 31, Ryan was named the AP NFL Rookie of the Year.[81][82][83] In addition, he was named to the All-Rookie Team for the 2008 season.[84]

Ryan made his first playoff start against the Arizona Cardinals on January 3, 2009. He was 15 years younger than opposing quarterback Kurt Warner, the third-largest age discrepancy between playoff quarterbacks. His first attempted playoff pass was an interception. Ryan completed 26 of 40 passing attempts for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns but was intercepted twice. He threw his first TD in a playoff contest to Justin Peelle.[85] Atlanta lost, 30â€“24.[86][85] Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith and Ryan became the first rookie head coach and rookie quarterback to coach and compete in a playoff game since the Cleveland Rams accomplished the feat in 1945 (the feat was repeated the next day when Ravens Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh did so.)[85] During the game, Ryan set an NFL playoff rookie record with 26 completions in a single postseason game.[85]

Ryan was voted by his teammates as Offensive Captain alongside Todd McClure at the end of the 2008 Season. He was first on the depth chart and was the Falcons starting quarterback for the second consecutive season.[citation needed]

In 2009, Ryan started off the season fast as he threw for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions as he led the Falcons to a 19–7 win against the Miami Dolphins in the 2009 NFL season opener.[87] In Week 2, Ryan led the Falcons past the Carolina Panthers. Ryan had a career-high in touchdown passes (3), completion percentage (78%) and touchdown passes in a half (3). He finished the game 21–28 with 220 yards, 3 touchdowns and a pick.[88] In Week 3, Ryan and the Falcons lost to the New England Patriots. Ryan completed 17-28 for 199 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.[89]

In the Week 5 game against the San Francisco 49ers, he completed 15 of 21 passes for 258 yards in the first half, setting a new career-high for the first half of play.[90][91] Ryan finished the game having completed 22 of 32 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns for a 110.0 passer rating. Ryan tossed a 31-yard strike to Roddy White, and he connected to White again in the second quarter with a 90-yard touchdown.[92] The pass and reception for Ryan and White set new career highs. The pass and reception also mark the third longest in franchise history and the longest pass play since 2001.[91] The game was his third-career 300-yard passing outing as the second-year quarterback set a new career-high in total passing yards in a single game.[91]

In Weeks 6 through 9, Ryan generally struggled, throwing more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (6), was sacked 10 times, and had an average passing rating of 65.5.  Still, he led the Falcons to two victories in the four games, in part thanks to Michael Turner returning to the form of 2008.[93][94][95][96]

In Week 12, Ryan suffered a turf toe injury during the game against Tampa Bay. Chris Redman stepped in and managed to win the game by connecting to Roddy White for a touchdown in the 4th quarter.[97] Following this victory, however, the effect of Ryan's absence was compounded by injury to starting running back Michael Turner, and the Falcons suffered losses to both Philadelphia and New Orleans in Weeks 13 and 14. In Week 15, Ryan returned, despite not yet having fully recovered from his injury, and led Atlanta to a 10â€“7 upset win against the New York Jets.[98]

In Week 16, the Falcons defeated the Buffalo Bills in a 31–3 win. Ryan threw for 250 yards with three touchdowns, two of them to Roddy White.[99] In the last game of the season, the Falcons defeated the Buccaneers by a score of 20–10. In the win, Ryan had 223 passing yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.[100]

With a record of 9â€“7, the Falcons attained back to back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history.[101]

Ryan finished the season throwing for 2,916 yards with 22 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 80.9.  Ryan also rushed for 49 yards and one touchdown.[102]

In the 2010 season, Ryan led the Falcons to an NFC best 13–3 record, second in the NFL behind the 14–2 New England Patriots.[103]

Ryan's 2010 season started off slow in a 15–9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was 27-of-44 for 252 yards and an interception.[104] He bounced back in the next game against the Arizona Cardinals. In the 41–7 victory, he was 21-of-32 for 225 yards and three touchdowns.[105] In Week 7, he had his most efficient game of the season in the 39–32 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He was 24-of-33 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception for a season-high 118.1 passer rating.[106] The victory over the Bengals was the start of an eight-game winning streak for Ryan and the Falcons. In Week 10, against the Baltimore Ravens, he passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns in the 26–21 win.[107] After falling to the New Orleans Saints in Week 16, Ryan closed out the regular season with a 31–10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.[108][109]

On the season, Ryan set career highs in touchdowns (28), completion percentage (62.5), and yards (3,705) while tossing 9 interceptions. Ryan set the single season franchise records, as well as career highs, in attempts (571), completions (357), and wins in a season (13).[110] Ryan led the NFL in fourth quarter comebacks for a quarterback in the 2010 season, with six.

In the Divisional round of the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, the Falcons were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl XLV champions, Green Bay Packers, with the score 48–21.[111]

Ryan was invited to the 2011 Pro Bowl, for the first time of his career.[112] He threw two touchdowns in the Pro Bowl, one to Tony Gonzalez and the other to Larry Fitzgerald.[113] He was named as the 52nd best player in the league on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011.[114]

In the 2011 season, Ryan led the Falcons to a 10â€“6 record, passing for 4,177 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.[115]

In the season opener against the Chicago Bears, the Falcons started off slow with a 30–12 loss. Ryan was 31-of-47 for 319 yards and an interception.[116] However, in the next game, the Falcons bounced back with a 35–31 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Ryan was 17-of-28 for 195 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.[117] In Weeks 10 and 11, he recorded consecutive games with at least 300 passing yards in games against the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans.[118][119] In Week 14, against the Carolina Panthers, he was 22-of-38 for 320 yards and four touchdowns in the 31–23 victory to his second career NFC Offensive Player of the Week honor.[120][121]

The Falcons' regular season qualified them for the playoffs. However, they were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants in the Wild Card Round by a score of 24â€“2.[122]

In 2012, Ryan led the Falcons to their franchise best start of the season, starting 8â€“0. Ryan set personal records in completions (422), completion percentage (68.6), yards (4,719), and touchdowns (32).[123]

In the 8–0 start, Ryan posted four games with three touchdown passes and three games going over the 300-yard passing mark. The first blemish of the season for the Falcons came in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints. Ryan was 34-of-52 for a then career-high 411 yards and three touchdowns and one interception as the Falcons fell by a score of 31–27.[124] In the next game against the Arizona Cardinals, Ryan threw for 301 yards but had five interceptions. Despite the turnovers, the Falcons were able to win by a score of 23–19.[125] In the penultimate game of the regular season, he was 25-of-32 for 279 yards and four touchdowns in a 31–18 victory over the Detroit Lions to his third career NFC Offensive Player of the Week nod.[126][127]

The Falcons finished the regular season 13–3, with the first seed in the NFC. Ryan, who was 0–3 in the postseason coming into the playoffs, won his first postseason game in the NFC Divisional Round against the Seattle Seahawks, with Ryan orchestrating the final scoring drive that led to Matt Bryant's game-winning field goal. Ryan finished with 250 passing yards, 68.6% completion percentage, 3 touchdowns, and two interceptions.[128] In the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers, Ryan threw for 396 yards and three touchdowns, but also committed two turnovers in crucial portions of the game, and later sprained the AC joint to his non-throwing shoulder as the Falcons lost 28–24.[129] He did not require surgical procedure to repair his shoulder and would have been able to play in the Super Bowl if the Falcons had advanced. He was named to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career.[130] He was ranked #17 by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2013.[131]

On July 25, 2013, Ryan agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $103.75 million with the Falcons.[132] On December 30, Ryan surpassed Steve Bartkowski for the all-time franchise leader in passing yards.[133]

The Falcons had a down year, where they limped to a 4–12 record, due to multiple injuries and losing key players on both sides of the ball.[134] Some of Ryan's highlights in the down season were games against the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Against the Patriots in Week 4, he was 34-of-54 for a then career-high 421 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the 30–23 loss.[135] Against the Buccaneers in Week 7, he was 20-of-26 for 273 yards and three touchdowns for a 148.4 passer rating in the 31–23 victory to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week.[136][137] After the victory, the Falcons were 2–4 with all the losses being by a combined 19 points. However, the rest of the season collapsed starting with five consecutive losses, which the team never recovered from.[138]

Overall, on the season, Ryan passed for 4,515 yards with 26 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.[139]

Ryan led the Falcons to a 6â€“10 record in 2014. He threw for 4,694 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions, and had a quarterback rating of 93.9; the second highest of his career.[140]

The season did start off promising. In a 37–34 overtime victory over the New Orleans Saints, Ryan was 31-of-43 for a then career-high 448 yards and three touchdowns to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week.[141][142] After a 24–10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 56–14 on Thursday Night Football.[143] In the victory, Ryan was 21-of-24 (a career-high single-game completion percentage of 87.50%) for 286 yards and three touchdowns for a career-high 155.9 passer rating. He earned another NFC Offensive Player of the Week honor for his effort against the Buccaneers.[144][145] The Falcons went on to lose six of their next eight games. After a much-needed 29–18 win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Falcons had to play the Green Bay Packers.[146] The Falcons lost 43–37 as Ryan had 375 passing yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.[147] After a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and a victory over the New Orleans Saints, the Falcons had a 6–9 record. Despite the struggles of the 2014 season, the Falcons still had a chance to make the playoffs with a Week 17 victory due to the weakness of the entire NFC South division. However, the Falcons missed the playoffs a second year in a row after losing 34–3 to their divisional rivals, Carolina Panthers, in Week 17.[148] For the third time in his career, he was named to the Pro Bowl.[149] He was ranked as the 77th best player in the league among his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.[150]

Ryan led the Falcons to a 8â€“8 record in 2015, good for second in the NFC South, but not enough for the playoffs.[151]

The 2015 season was a roller-coaster one for Ryan and the Falcons. In the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, he was 23-of-34 for 298 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the 26–24 victory.[152] In the next game against the New York Giants, he was 30-of-46 for 363 yards and a touchdown in the 24–20 victory.[153] The Falcons won the next three games for a 5–0 start. Their first loss came in the sixth game against the New Orleans Saints, where Ryan was 30-of-44 for 295 yards and two touchdowns.[154] After a victory over the Tennessee Titans, the Falcons dropped their next six games to send their season plummeting. In the losing streak, Ryan had a season-high 397 passing yards for two touchdowns and an interception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 1.[155]

Ryan finished the 2015 season with 21 touchdown passes, the second lowest of his career, as well as 16 interceptions, the second highest of his career. Additionally Ryan fumbled a career-high 12 times, losing five of them, which was also a career-high.[156]

In Week 4 of the 2016 season, Ryan threw for a team-record 503 yards and four touchdowns while teammate Julio Jones caught 12 passes for a team-record 300 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Carolina Panthers.[157] Ryan and Jones were the first quarterback-receiver duo in NFL history to combine for at least 500 passing yards and 300 receiving yards in the same game.[158] In October 2016, he set an NFL record for most consecutive games with at least 200 passing yards with 46 straight games.[159] In Week 9, in the 43–28 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had 344 passing yards and four touchdowns to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week.[160] In Week 17, in a 38–32 victory over the New Orleans Saints, he had 331 passing yards and four touchdowns to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week.[161][162]
Ryan improved greatly from the previous season. He threw for a career-high 4,944 yards on just 373 completions and 534 attempts, second in the league, and a career-high 38 touchdowns and a career-low seven interceptions, also second in the league. Ryan's 9.3 yards per attempt and 5.0 air yards per attempt ranked No. 1 among NFL quarterbacks in 2016.[163] He threw touchdown passes to 13 different receivers, an NFL record. He threw a touchdown pass in all 16 games for the first time in his career and was the only quarterback to do so for the 2016 season. Ryan was selected to his fourth Pro Bowl and was named First-team All Pro.[164] Following the regular season, he was recognized as the NFL Most Valuable Player by the Pro Football Writers Association.[165] Ryan was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year and the NFL Most Valuable Player for the 2016 season.[166][167] He earned the Bert Bell Award for the 2016 season.[168] He was ranked tenth by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.[169]

As the number 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs, Ryan led the 11–5 Falcons to a 36–20 victory over the number 3 seeded Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round.[170] Ryan passed for over 300 yards and had three touchdowns.[171] In the NFC Championship game, Ryan led the Falcons to a 44–21 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Ryan threw for 392 yards for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for a fifth touchdown, just the fourth player to do so in a post-season game,[172] as the Falcons earned a trip to Super Bowl LI.[173] During the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, Ryan finished with 284 passing yards, two touchdowns, and a lost fumble. Although the Falcons led 28–3, it became the subject of one of the most historic downfalls in sports history as the Falcons lost the Super Bowl 28–34 in overtime.[174][175]

On September 10, 2017, in the season opening 23â€“17 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, Ryan connected with tight end Austin Hooper for an 88-yard touchdown, which was the second-longest touchdown pass of Ryan's career. In the game, Ryan was 21-of-30 for 321 yards and the one touchdown.[176][177]

In Week 2, Ryan and the Falcons had their first home game at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Against the Green Bay Packers on NBC Sunday Night Football, Ryan was 19-of-28 for 252 yards and a touchdown, which was to running back Tevin Coleman and the first touchdown ever thrown in the new stadium.[178]

In Week 10, during a 27-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Ryan became the fastest quarterback to throw for over 40,000 passing yards. This was done in 151 games breaking Drew Brees' record which was done in 152 games.[179]

In Week 17, after clinching a spot in the playoffs after beating the Carolina Panthers 22-10, Ryan set the record for most passing yards through 10 seasons with 41,796, breaking the record held by Peyton Manning, who had 41,626.[180] Ryan led the Falcons to a victory against the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card 26-13.[181] A week later the Falcons were beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles 15-10 in the NFC Divisional Round.[182]

Ryan was ranked 29th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.[183]

On May 3, 2018, Ryan signed a five-year, $150 million contract with the Falcons with $100 million guaranteed, making him the first player to average at least $30 million per year.[184] In Week 2, a 31–24 victory over the Carolina Panthers, Ryan recorded two rushing touchdowns for the first time in his professional career. In addition, he had 272 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and an interception in the win.[185] In Week 3, in a 43–37 loss to the New Orleans Saints, Ryan passed for 374 yards and a career-high five touchdowns.[186] In Week 4, against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had 419 passing yards and three touchdowns in the 37–36 loss.[187]

Ryan, the third of four siblings, was born to Bernice (nÃ©e Loughery) and Michael Ryan, both Roman Catholics of Irish descent.[209] One of Ryan's uncles, John Loughery, played quarterback at Boston College from 1979-82.[210] Ryan is an avid golfer and has participated in such tournaments as the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic.[211] His cousin, Mike McGlinchey, played college football at Notre Dame and later was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers.[212]

He is part of the Falcons' online reading program, "Read with a Falcon" and grew up a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.[213]

On November 21, 2017, Ryan announced on social media that he and his wife Sarah are expecting twins.[214] On April 8, 2018, Sarah announced the birth of twins Marshall and John (Johnny) on her Instagram page.


what is finite element analysis in structural engineering

The finite element method (FEM) is a powerful technique originally developed for numerical solution of complex problems in structural mechanics, and it remains the method of choice for complex systems. In the FEM, the structural system is modeled by a set of appropriate finite elements interconnected at discrete points called nodes. Elements may have physical properties such as thickness, coefficient of thermal expansion, density, Young's modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio.

Finite element method in structural mechanics

The origin of finite method can be traced to the matrix analysis of structures [1][2] where the concept of a displacement or stiffness matrix approach was introduced. Finite element concepts were developed based on engineering methods in 1950s. The finite element method obtained its real impetus in the 1960s and 1970s by John Argyris, and co-workers; at the University of Stuttgart, by Ray W. Clough; at the University of California, Berkeley, by Olgierd Zienkiewicz, and co-workers Ernest Hinton, Bruce Irons;[3] at the University of Swansea, by Philippe G. Ciarlet; at the University of Paris; at Cornell University, by Richard Gallagher and co-workers. The original works such as those by Argyris [4] and Clough [5] became the foundation for todayâ€™s finite element structural analysis methods. Earlier books such as by Zienkiewicz [6] and more recent books such as by Yang [7] give comprehensive summary of developments in finite-element structural analysis. Implementing the method in software is described in the classic text by Smith, Griffiths and Margetts.[8]

The elements are interconnected only at the exterior nodes, and altogether they should cover the entire domain as accurately as possible. Nodes will have nodal (vector) displacements or degrees of freedom which may include translations, rotations, and for special applications, higher order derivatives of displacements. When the nodes displace, they will drag the elements along in a certain manner dictated by the element formulation. In other words, displacements of any points in the element will be interpolated from the nodal displacements, and this is the main reason for the approximate nature of the solution.

From the application point of view, it is important to model the system such that:

Large scale commercial software packages often provide facilities for generating the mesh, and the graphical display of input and output, which greatly facilitate the verification of both input data and interpretation of the results.

While the theory of FEM can be presented in different perspectives or emphases, its development for structural analysis follows the more traditional approach via the virtual work principle or the minimum total potential energy principle. The virtual work principle approach is more general as it is applicable to both linear and non-linear material behaviours. The virtual work method is an expression of conservation of energy: for conservative systems, the work added to the system by a set of applied forces is equal to the energy stored in the system in the form of strain energy of the structure's components.

The principle of virtual displacements for the structural system expresses the mathematical identity of external and internal virtual work:

In other words, the summation of the work done on the system by the set of external forces is equal to the work stored as strain energy in the elements that make up the system.

The virtual internal work in the right-hand-side of the above equation may be found by summing the virtual work done on the individual elements. The latter requires that force-displacement functions be used that describe the response for each individual element. Hence, the displacment of the structure is described by the response of individual (discrete) elements collectively. The equations are written only for the small domain of individual elements of the structure rather than a single equation that describes the response of the system as a whole (a continuum). The latter would result in an intractable problem, hence the utility of the finite element method. As shown in the subsequent sections, Eq.(1) leads to the following governing equilibrium equation for the system:

Once the supports' constraints are accounted for, the nodal displacements are found by solving the system of linear equations (2), symbolically:

Subsequently, the strains and stresses in individual elements may be found as follows:

By applying the virtual work equation (1) to the system, we can establish the element matrices

B

{\displaystyle \mathbf {B} }

,

k

e

{\displaystyle \mathbf {k} ^{e}}

 as well as the technique of assembling the system matrices

R

o

{\displaystyle \mathbf {R} ^{o}}

 and

K

{\displaystyle \mathbf {K} }

. Other matrices such as

ϵ

o

{\displaystyle \mathbf {\epsilon } ^{o}}

,

σ

o

{\displaystyle \mathbf {\sigma } ^{o}}

,

R

{\displaystyle \mathbf {R} }

 and

E

{\displaystyle \mathbf {E} }

 are known values and can be directly set up from data input.

Let

q

{\displaystyle \mathbf {q} }

 be the vector of nodal displacements of a typical element. The displacements at any other point of the element may be found by the use of interpolation functions as, symbolically:

Equation (6) gives rise to other quantities of great interest:

For a typical element of volume

V

e

{\displaystyle V^{e}}

, the internal virtual work due to virtual displacements is obtained by substitution of (5) and (9) into (1):

Primarily for the convenience of reference, the following matrices pertaining to a typical elements may now be defined:

These matrices are usually evaluated numerically using Gaussian quadrature for numerical integration. Their use simplifies (10) to the following:

Since the nodal displacement vector q is a subset of the system nodal displacements r (for compatibility with adjacent elements), we can replace q with r by expanding the size of the element matrices with new columns and rows of zeros:

where, for simplicity, we use the same symbols for the element matrices, which now have expanded size as well as suitably rearranged rows and columns.

Summing the internal virtual work (14) for all elements gives the right-hand-side of (1):

Considering now the left-hand-side of (1), the system external virtual work consists of:

Adding (16), (17b) and equating the sum to (15) gives:

δ

r

T

R

−
δ

r

T

∑

e

(

Q

t
e

+

Q

f
e

)
=
δ

r

T

(

∑

e

k

e

)

r

+
δ

r

T

∑

e

Q

o
e

{\displaystyle \delta \ \mathbf {r} ^{T}\mathbf {R} -\delta \ \mathbf {r} ^{T}\sum _{e}(\mathbf {Q} ^{te}+\mathbf {Q} ^{fe})=\delta \ \mathbf {r} ^{T}{\big (}\sum _{e}\mathbf {k} ^{e}{\big )}\mathbf {r} +\delta \ \mathbf {r} ^{T}\sum _{e}\mathbf {Q} ^{oe}}

Since the virtual displacements

δ

r

{\displaystyle \delta \ \mathbf {r} }

 are arbitrary, the preceding equality reduces to:

R

=

(

∑

e

k

e

)

r

+

∑

e

(

Q

o
e

+

Q

t
e

+

Q

f
e

)

{\displaystyle \mathbf {R} ={\big (}\sum _{e}\mathbf {k} ^{e}{\big )}\mathbf {r} +\sum _{e}{\big (}\mathbf {Q} ^{oe}+\mathbf {Q} ^{te}+\mathbf {Q} ^{fe}{\big )}}

Comparison with (2) shows that:

In practice, the element matrices are neither expanded nor rearranged. Instead, the system stiffness matrix

K

{\displaystyle \mathbf {K} }

 is assembled by adding individual coefficients

k

i
j

e

{\displaystyle {k}_{ij}^{e}}

 to

K

k
l

{\displaystyle {K}_{kl}}

 where the subscripts ij, kl mean that the element's nodal displacements

q

i

e

,

q

j

e

{\displaystyle {q}_{i}^{e},{q}_{j}^{e}}

 match respectively with the system's nodal displacements

r

k

,

r

l

{\displaystyle {r}_{k},{r}_{l}}

. Similarly,

R

o

{\displaystyle \mathbf {R} ^{o}}

 is assembled by adding individual coefficients

Q

i

e

{\displaystyle {Q}_{i}^{e}}

 to

R

k

o

{\displaystyle {R}_{k}^{o}}

 where

q

i

e

{\displaystyle {q}_{i}^{e}}

 matches

r

k

{\displaystyle {r}_{k}}

. This direct addition of

k

i
j

e

{\displaystyle {k}_{ij}^{e}}

 into

K

k
l

{\displaystyle {K}_{kl}}

 gives the procedure the name Direct Stiffness Method.


who sings brothers gonna work it out

Hutch later co-wrote songs that were recorded by the Jackson 5 and their front man Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye.[2] In 1973, Hutch started recording albums for Motown, releasing the Fully Exposed album that year. That same year, Hutch recorded and produced the soundtrack to the Blaxploitation film, The Mack. Hutch had several R&B hits during this period, including "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" and "Slick". He also recorded the soundtrack for the 1974 film Foxy Brown.[2] He recorded at least six albums for Motown, peaking with 1975's single "Love Power", which reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. He left Motown in 1977 for Norman Whitfield's Whitfield Records.

Willie Hutch

William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 â€“ September 19, 2005),[1] better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s.[2]

Born in 1944 in Los Angeles, Hutch was raised in Dallas, Texas. He joined a doo-wop group, The Ambassadors, as a teenager. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, he shortened his surname when he started his music career in 1964 on the Soul City label[3] with the song "Love Has Put Me Down".

After his move to Los Angeles, his music caught the eye of the mentor for pop/soul quintet The 5th Dimension, and Hutch was soon writing, producing, and arranging songs for the group. In 1969, he signed with RCA Records and put out two albums before he was spotted by Motown producer Hal Davis, who wanted lyrics to his musical composition "I'll Be There", a song he penned for The Jackson 5. The song was recorded by the group the morning after Hutch received the call.[3] Motown CEO Berry Gordy signed Hutch to be a staff writer, arranger, producer, and musician shortly thereafter.

Hutch returned to Motown in 1982, where he scored the disco hit, "In and Out", that same year and also recorded a couple of songs – "The Glow" and "Inside You" – for the 1985 film The Last Dragon. He had a club hit with the song "Keep on Jammin'" as well. Hutch left Motown again by the end of the decade and by 1994 had moved back to Dallas.

He died in 2005, aged 60.[1] He is survived by six children, and was the uncle of Cold 187um of the rap group Above the Law.[1] His manager, Anthony Voyce, said of Hutch: "I've never met a more generous and caring person."[1]


who plays whitney houston in the lifetime movie

The movie stars Yaya DaCosta as Houston, Arlen Escarpeta as Brown and Yolonda Ross as Houston's longtime friend and road manager Robyn Crawford. Whitney is set in a period of five years (1989â€“1994) when Houston was catapulted in the worldwide success of her film debut The Bodyguard and its subsequent soundtrack. Filming took 20 days to shoot and was primarily filmed in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California.

Whitney (film)

Whitney is a 2015 American made for television biographical film directed by Angela Bassett based on the late American recording artist Whitney Houston and her turbulent marriage to R&B artist Bobby Brown that premiered on Lifetime in North America on January 17, 2015.[1] Whitney received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise going to DaCosta's performance as Houston and Bassett's direction of the film but criticism of Escarpeta's casting and the film's accuracy.

Canadian R&B singer Deborah Cox performs all of Houston's vocals in the film, including "I Will Always Love You", "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "I'm Every Woman", "Jesus Loves Me" and "The Greatest Love of All". In addition, songwriting/production team The Jackie Boyz performed Brown's vocals for "Every Little Step" in the Soul Train Awards scene.

In 1989, Whitney Houston (Yaya DaCosta) is a worldwide phenomenon and household name with two highly successful self-titled albums under her belt. She attends the 3rd Annual Soul Train Awards with her high school friend and road manager Robyn, (Yolonda Ross) who is a lesbian. It is here that she meets R&B star Bobby Brown (Arlen Escarpeta) and they begin a courtship shortly after, due to her being impressed with Brown's performance of "Every Little Step".

As Houston begins recording her third album I'm Your Baby Tonight the relationship between her and Brown continues to blossom consistently, leading to a sexual relationship between the two. Unbeknownst to her, Brown is in a relationship with his girlfriend Kim, (Nafessa Williams) who had just given birth to his daughter. Just as Houston discovers this, she is left heartbroken and infuriated. Bobby later severs ties with Kim, and Whitney later manages to pull through and persevere in the already hectic relationship.

By the start of the 1990s, Brown starts to deal with pressures after the release of his second album Don't Be Cruel while Houston deals by coping with cocaine use (which is hinted at earlier in the film, by two instances: at her twenty-sixth birthday where Brown first discovers her using it, and in another during a meeting with Clive Davis (Mark Rolston) regarding her third album), however both are overshadowed by the love affair that continues to grow.

In 1991, the courtship later becomes public knowledge, and Houston and Brown are engaged, much to the chagrin of her mother Cissy Houston (Suzzanne Douglas), and they are soon married by July 1992. In the meantime, Houston makes her film debut in the lead role of Rachel in The Bodyguard. She is reluctant at first, but Brown coerces her into doing so. She ultimately accepts. During filming, Houston has a miscarriage with her first child, leading her to become very sickly. As Cissy pressures her to give up on the relationship, Houston rejects her mother's plea and continues to stay with Brown. Brown, by this time, is hit with a dry spell in his career, in which his record label pressures him to put out a greatest hits disc.

Whitney struggles to keep up with fame and placate Bobby, whose career has taken a back seat to hers, as she continues to dabble with drug use after the birth of their daughter Bobbi Kristina. Soon after, The Bodyguard and its subsequent soundtrack becomes a massive success, leading Whitney to go on an international tour for nearly two years.

Whitney has received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and holds a 62% approval (certified "fresh") rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 54, which indicates "mixed or average" reviews, based on 17 reviews.[3]


a city in texas known for its yellow soil and wildflowers

The settlement originally was called Oneida; it later changed its name to Amarillo, which probably derives from yellow wildflowers that were plentiful during the spring and summer or the nearby Amarillo Lake and Amarillo Creek, named in turn for the yellow soil along their banks and shores (Amarillo is the Spanish word for the color yellow). Early residents originally pronounced the city's name more similar to the Spanish pronunciation /ˌɑːməˈriːjoʊ/ ah-mə-REE-yoh, which later gave way to the current pronunciation.[13]

Amarillo, Texas

Dr. Eddie Sauer

Amarillo (/ˌæməˈrɪloʊ/[4] AM-ə-RIL-oh) is the 14th-most populous city in the state of Texas, in the United States. It is also the largest city in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County.[5] A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The estimated population was 199,582 as of 2016.[6] The Amarillo metropolitan area has an estimated population of 276,020 in four counties as of 2017.[7]

Amarillo, originally named Oneida, is situated in the Llano Estacado region.[8] The availability of the railroad and freight service provided by the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad contributed to the city's growth as a cattle-marketing center in the late 19th century.[9]

The city was once the self-proclaimed "Helium Capital of the World" for having one of the country's most productive helium fields.[10] The city is also known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (as the city takes its name from the Spanish word for yellow),[11] and most recently "Rotor City, USA" for its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant.[12] Amarillo operates one of the largest meat-packing areas in the United States. Pantex, the only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer. The location of this facility also gave rise to the nickname Bomb City. The attractions Cadillac Ranch and Big Texan Steak Ranch are located adjacent to Interstate 40. U.S. Highway 66 also passed through the city.

Large ranches exist in the Amarillo area: among others, the defunct XIT Ranch and the still functioning JA Ranch founded in 1877 by Charles Goodnight and John George Adair. Goodnight continued the partnership for a time after Adair's death with Adair's widow, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair, who was then the sole owner from 1887 until her death in 1921.

During April 1887, J.I. Berry established a site for a town after he chose a well-watered section along the way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, which had begun building across the Texas Panhandle. Berry and Colorado City, Texas, merchants wanted to make their new town site the region's main trading center. On August 30, 1887, Berry's town site won the county seat election and was established in Potter County. Availability of the railroad and freight service after the county seat election made the town a fast-growing cattle-marketing center.[9]

On June 19, 1888, Henry B. Sanborn, who is given credit as the "Father of Amarillo",[14] and his business partner Joseph F. Glidden began buying land to the east to move Amarillo after arguing that Berry's site was on low ground and would flood during rainstorms. Sanborn also offered to trade lots in the new location to businesses in the original city's site and help with the expense of moving to new buildings. His incentives gradually won over people, who moved their businesses to Polk Street in the new commercial district.[15] Heavy rains almost flooded Berry's part of the town in 1889, prompting more people to move to Sanborn's location. This eventually led to another county seat election making Sanborn's town the new county seat in 1893.[9]

By the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the world's busiest cattle-shipping points, and its population grew significantly. The city became a grain elevator, milling, and feed-manufacturing center after an increase in production of wheat and small grains during the early 1900s. Discovery of natural gas in 1918 and oil three years later brought oil and gas companies to the Amarillo area.[9]

The United States government bought the Cliffside Gas Field with high helium content in 1927 and the Federal Bureau of Mines began operating the Amarillo Helium plant two years later.[16] The plant was the sole producer of commercial helium in the world for a number of years.[17] The U.S. National Helium Reserve is stored in the Bush Dome Reservoir at the Cliffside facility.[18]

Following the lead of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad established services to and from Amarillo. Each of these three carriers maintained substantial freight and passenger depots and repair facilities in the city through most of the 20th century and were major employers within the community.[19]

In 1929, Ernest O. Thompson, a decorated World War I general and a major businessman in Amarillo, was elected mayor to succeed Lee Bivins. Thompson instituted a major capital-improvements project and worked to reduce utility rates. He joined the Texas Railroad Commission by appointment in 1933 and was elected to full terms in 1934, 1940, 1946, 1952, and 1958. He became an international expert on national petroleum and natural gas production and conservation. The first Mrs. Thompson, May Peterson Thompson, a former Metropolitan Opera singer, was involved in the arts while in Amarillo and later when the couple lived in Austin.

Amarillo was hit by the Dust Bowl and entered an economic depression. U.S. Routes 60, 87, 287, and 66 merged at Amarillo, making it a major tourist stop with numerous motels, restaurants, and curio shops. World War II led the establishment of Amarillo Army Air Field in east Amarillo and the nearby Pantex Army Ordnance Plant, which produced bombs and ammunition. After the end of the war, both of the facilities were closed. The Pantex Plant was reopened in 1950 and produced nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War.[9]

In 1949, A deadly EF-4 tornado devastated much of Amarillo, shortly after night fall on May 15th, tearing through the south and east sides of the city, killing 7 people, and injuring more than 80 others. The tornado touched down southwest of Amarillo, near the town of Hereford, then tracked it's way Northward, on a collision course with Amarillo. The tornado tore through the south and east sides of the city shortly after 8 pm. It ripped through Amarillo's most densely populated areas, demolishing almost half of the city, causing catastrophic damage, and loss of life.

In 1951, the army air base was reactivated as Amarillo Air Force Base and expanded to accommodate a Strategic Air Command B-52 Stratofortress wing.[20] The arrival of servicemen and their families ended the city's depression. Between 1950 and 1960, Amarillo's population grew from 74,443 to 137,969. However, the closure of Amarillo Air Force Base on December 31, 1968, contributed to a decrease in population to 127,010 by 1970.

In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Amarillo's population as 6.1% Hispanic and 88.5% non-Hispanic white.[21] In the 1980s, ASARCO, Iowa Beef Processors (present day Tyson Foods), Owens-Corning, and Weyerhaeuser built plants at Amarillo. The Eastridge neighborhood houses many immigrants from countries such as Vietnam, Laos, and Burma. Many of them found employment at the nearby Iowa Beef Processors plant.[22] The following decade, Amarillo's city limits encompassed 60 square miles (155Â km2) in Potter and Randall Counties. Interstate 27 highway connecting Lubbock to Amarillo was built mostly during the 1980s.[9]

In May of 1982, a strong EF-3 tornado struck Amarillo's western suburbs, devastating parts of Dawn, and Bushland. There were no fatalities miraculously

In 2006, the historian Paul H. Carlson, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, published Amarillo: The Story of a Western Town.

Amarillo is located near the middle of the Texas Panhandle. It does not share similar weather characteristics with south and east Texas. Amarillo is situated in the grasslands of Northern Texas, and is surrounded by dense prairie. Though urbanization, agricultural farming, and construction have occurred over the last century in and around Amarillo, the native grasslands that dominate this region have remained largely untouched. Amarillo sits closer in proximity to the Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado state capitals than it does to Austin. The region's surface is relatively flat and has little soil drainage. Due to the lack of developed drainage, much of the rainfall either evaporates, infiltrates into the ground, or accumulates in playa lakes.[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 90.3 square miles (234 km2), with 89.9 sq mi (233 km2) of it land and 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2) of it (0.50%) covered by water. The Amarillo metropolitan area is the 182nd-largest in the United States with a population of 236,113 in four counties: Armstrong, Carson, Potter, and Randall.

About 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Amarillo is the Canadian River, a central corridor of the Southwestern Tablelands ecological region, which divides the Western High Plains ecological region. The southern divide of the Western High Plains is the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains geographical region. The river is dammed to form Lake Meredith, a major source of drinking water in the Texas Panhandle region.[23] The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and oil area, covering 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) in Hartley, Potter, Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth Counties. The Potter County portion had the nation's largest natural gas reserve.[24] Approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Amarillo is the canyon system, Palo Duro Canyon.

The underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of Arkansas and Oklahoma. They are some thousands of feet underground. The range was discovered by pioneer oilmen. Some of the peaks are believed to be 10,000 feet (3,000Â m) high.[25] The tallest peak is reported to be 2,500 feet underground in northeast Potter County under the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.[26]

Horned toads (Phrynosoma cornutum), jackrabbits (Lepus) and rattlesnakes are all common to the plains surrounding Amarillo.

Most of Amarillo's population growth and commercial development are occurring in the southern and northwestern parts of the city.[27] Similar to many towns in the Texas Panhandle, the city's downtown has suffered economic deterioration throughout the years.[28] To help revitalize it, the organization Center City of Amarillo was formed to establish partnerships with groups who have a large presence in the city.[29] Since its conception in the 1990s, Center City has sponsored public art projects and started block parties in the downtown area.[30]

The 31-story Chase Tower was opened in Amarillo's downtown in 1971.[31] Completed in the same year as the Chase Tower, the Amarillo National Bank Plaza One building houses the headquarters of Amarillo National Bank, the city's largest financial institution.[32][33] The Santa Fe Building, completed in 1930, was the regional offices of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, but was vacant for several years until Potter County bought the building for $426,000 in 1995 to gain new office spaces.[34]

Amarillo's historic homes and buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places reflect the economic growth from around 1900 to the start of World War II. Polk Street contains many of the city's historic downtown buildings and homes. The large historic homes on this street were built close to downtown, and homes were located on the west side of the street as a symbol of status because they would be greeted with the sunrise every morning.[35]

The City of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks, including a skatepark west of the city. Amarillo's largest parks are Medical Park, Thompson Memorial Park, and Memorial Park, near Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus. From 1978 to 2002, the Junior League of Amarillo and the City of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department co-sponsored Funfest, a family entertainment festival, benefiting the city parks and the league's Community Chest Trust Fund. Funfest was held in Thompson Memorial Park during Memorial Day weekend.[36] The festival included Amarillo's only 42.2-kilometre (26.2Â mi) foot race, the Funfest Marathon.

Amarillo, like most of the Texas Panhandle, has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).[37] Both the city and the region as a whole lie in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7.[38] Amarillo is characterized by a winter season featuring large diurnal temperature variation, great day-to-day variability, a rush of cold air from the north or northwest into a warmer area and occasionally, by blizzards and a hot summer with low humidity. The normal annual precipitation is 20.4 inches or 520 millimetres, Much of Amarillo's precipitation falls during heavy convective showers and thunderstorms during the late spring and summer months, According to 'Cities Ranked and Rated' (Bert Sperling and Peter Sander), Amarillo averages 48 days per year during which thunder and lightning is reported. This is above the national average. These storms can be severe – Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle are situated in the western portion of "Tornado Alley" and are prone to Severe Weather events, occurring roughly through the Spring and early Summer months, these dangerous thunderstorms can produce damaging straight-line winds, large hail, tornados, and flash flooding. Amarillo is no stranger to devastating tornados, tornados have occurred in and around the city in 1968, 1970, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2007, and most recently in 2013, 2015 and 2016. The strongest tornado to ever hit Amarillo was a deadly EF-4 tornado that struck the city in the night time hours of May 15th 1949. Amarillo suffered a direct hit, causing catastrophic damage and loss of life in Amarillo's most densely populated areas. The tornado devastated the south and east sides of the city, killing 7 people, and injuring more than 80 others. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 37.0 °F (2.8 °C) in January to 78.3 °F (25.7 °C) in July. Sunny weather prevails year-round, with nearly 3300 hours of bright sunshine annually. The National Weather Service in Amarillo forecasts and provides climatic data for the city.

Extreme temperatures range from −16 °F (−26.7 °C) on February 12, 1899 to 111 °F (43.9 °C) on June 26, 2011, but lows do not typically lower to 0 °F or −17.8 °C in most years, while highs above 100 °F or 37.8 °C are seen on 4.7 days. There is an average of 5.9 days of lows at or below 10 °F or −12.2 °C, 8.8 days where the temperature fails to rise above freezing, and 61 days of 90 °F (32.2 °C)+ highs; unlike in the Rio Grande Valley or eastern portions of Texas, days where the low does not fall below 70 °F or 21.1 °C are uncommon due to the aridity and elevation. Blizzards are very possible, but snowfall is typically light, averaging nearly 18 inches or 0.46 metres seasonally and the median figure is near 10 inches or 0.25 metres

[39] Amarillo is also recorded as the windiest city in the U.S. by the Weather Channel "America's Windiest Cities". weather.com. 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.Â

At the 2010 Census, there were 190,695 people residing in Amarillo, an increase of 9.8% since 2000.[46]

According to the 2010 Census, 59.7% of the population was White, 6.3% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.1% Asian, 0.1% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 1.5% of two or more races (non-Hispanic). 28.8% of Amarillo's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race).[46]

There were 67,699 households out of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. Of 67,699 households, 2,981 were unmarried partner households: 2,713 heterosexual, 82 same-sex male, and 186 same-sex female. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65Â years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.10.

The age distribution of the city was as follows: 27.9% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there are 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,940, and the median income for a family was $42,536. Males had a median income of $31,321 versus $22,562 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,621. About 11.1% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

In 1913, Amarillo became the first Texas city and the fifth in United States to use the council-manager form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in a legislative body, called a council (before 2014, it was called a commission).[47][48] Amarillo's commission is composed of five elected commissioners, one of whom is the mayor of the city. The mayor and each commissioner serves a two-year term. The role of the commission is to pass ordinances and resolutions, adopt regulations, and appoint city officials, including the city manager. While the mayor serves as a presiding officer of the commission, the city manager is the administrative head of the municipal government and is responsible for the administration of all departments. The city commission holds its regular meetings on Tuesday of each week.[49]

As the seat of Potter County, the city is the location of the county's trial, civil, and criminal courts. The Randall County Amarillo Annex building is located within the city limits and houses its Sheriff's Office and Justice of the Peace Court, Precinct 4.[citation needed]

The Texas Seventh Court of Appeals is located in Amarillo.[51]

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Amarillo District Parole Office in the city.[52] It also operates the Clements Unit and Nathaniel J. Neil Unit in unincorporated Potter County, east of Amarillo.[53]

The United States Postal Service operates the Amarillo Main Post Office.[54] Other post offices in the city include Downtown Amarillo,[55] Jordan,[56] Lone Star,[57] North Amarillo,[58] and San Jacinto.[59]

In the U.S. House, Amarillo is located in Texas's 13th congressional district, and is represented by Representative Mac Thornberry. In the Texas Legislature, the city is in the 31st District in the Texas Senate, represented by Republican Kel Seliger, a former Amarillo mayor. It is in the 87th District in the Texas House of Representatives, having been represented by Republican David A. Swinford since 1991. Swinford retired in January 2011 and was succeeded by fellow Republican Four Price, who is the current representative. That part of Amarillo within Randall County is represented by Swinford's Republican colleague, John T. Smithee, who has served in the 86th District since 1985.

Grady Hazlewood, a 1930s district attorney in Amarillo, served in the Texas Senate from 1941 to 1971. He authored the first state school loan programs for returning World War II veterans and college students. He is the father of the farm-to-market road program in Texas.[60]

Amarillo is considered the regional economic center for the Texas Panhandle[61] as well as Eastern New Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle. The meat packing industry is a major employer in Amarillo; about one-quarter of the United States' beef supply is processed in the area. The city is also the location of headquarters for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Petroleum extraction is also a major industry. The helium industry has decreased in significance since the federal government privatized local operations in the late 1990s. Bell Helicopter Textron opened a helicopter assembly plant near the city's international airport in 1999.[61]

The city's largest employer in 2005 is Tyson Foods, with 3,700 employees. The Amarillo Independent School District is next with 3,659 employees followed by BWXT Pantex, Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System, City of Amarillo, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Amarillo College, Wal-mart, and United Supermarkets.[62] Other major employers include Bell Helicopter Textron, Owens-Corning, and ASARCO.

Approximately 14 million acres (57,000 km2) of agricultural land surrounds the city with corn, wheat and cotton as the primary crops. Other crops in the area include sorghum, silage, hay and soybeans.[63] The Texas Panhandle, particularly in Hereford, Texas, serves as a fast-growing milk producing area as several multimillion-dollar state of the art dairies were built in early 2000s.[64]

The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) is funded by a city sales tax, and it provides aggressive incentive packages to existing and prospective employers. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the AEDC gained notoriety by sending mock checks to businesses across the country, placing full-page advertisements in The Wall Street Journal, and paying an annual $1Â million subsidy to American Airlines to retain jet service.[65][66] The AEDC is largely responsible for bringing Bell Helicopter Textron's development of the V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft and the future site of Marine One assembly in Amarillo.[67]

According to the 2000 United States Census, 20.5% of all adults over the age of 25 in Amarillo have obtained a bachelor's degree, as compared to a national average of 24.4% of adults over 25, and 79.3% of Amarillo residents over the age of 25 have earned a high school diploma, as compared to the national average of 80.4%.[68]

The higher education institutions in the city are Amarillo College, a two-year community college with over 10,000 students; Wayland Baptist University, a private university based in Plainview, has a branch campus in Amarillo; Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at Amarillo School of Pharmacy, and Texas Tech University at Amarillo, a branch campus of Texas Tech University that offers selected master's degree programs. West Texas A&M University, a regional university headquartered in nearby Canyon, has a satellite campus in the Chase Tower in downtown Amarillo.

The public primary and secondary education are mostly handled by the Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) and Canyon Independent School District. (CISD) The AISD has approximately 29,000 students in 2004 while CISD has over 8,000 students in 2005.[69][70] The AISD operates 4 high schools, 9 middle schools, 36 elementary schools, a specialty high school, and an alternative school. While, the CISD has 2 high schools, 2 junior high/intermediate schools, and 4 elementary schools in Amarillo. Randall High School is located on the southern edge of Amarillo. Other school districts in the city are River Road, Bushland, and Highland Park. Nonreligious and Christian denomination private schools in Amarillo include Ascension Academy, Holy Cross Catholic Academy, San Jacinto Christian Academy, Amarillo Montessori Academy, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, St. Joseph's Catholic School and St. Mary's Catholic School. The city also has one charter school, Amarillo Collegiate Academy.

From 1922 to 1938, the author Laura Vernon Hamner, who wrote a novelized biography of Charles Goodnight, served as the Potter County school superintendent. She was a ranch historian and radio personality. In her later years, she lived in the Herring Hotel, owned by Ernest Thompson, and was often known informally as "Miss Amarillo".[71]

Amarillo has a number of natural attractions near the city. The Palo Duro Canyon State Park is the United States' second largest canyon system, after the Grand Canyon and is located south of Amarillo. Palo Duro has a distinct hoodoo that resembles a lighthouse. Another natural landmark near the city, the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is located 30 miles (48 km) north of Amarillo. It is once known as the site for prehistoric inhabitants to obtain flint in order to make tools and weapons. About 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Amarillo in Briscoe County is Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, the state park is the home of the official Texas State Bison Herd, who were captured and taken care of by cattle rancher Charles Goodnight.[72]

From 1932 to 1977, the Paramount Theater, originally built for $250,000, flourished in Amarillo. It had plush red carpet, murals and a pipe organ, 1,433 seats, and was considered the finest theater north of Fort Worth. The building is now an office and parking garage.[25]

Local millionaire Stanley Marsh 3 funded many public art projects in the city including the Cadillac Ranch, located west of Amarillo on Interstate 40, a monument of painted Cadillac automobiles that were dug into the ground head first. Marsh participates as well in an ongoing art project called the Dynamite Museum, which consist of thousands of mock traffic signs. These signs, bearing messages such as "Road does not end" or displaying a random picture, are scattered throughout the city of Amarillo.[73] Besides these works, one can find close to the city the final earthwork of Robert Smithson (and another commission by Marsh), Amarillo Ramp.

The city has events and attractions honoring the cowboy and Texas culture. During the third week of September, the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo brings participants mostly from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas to Amarillo since 1921.[74] On the Tri-State Exposition grounds, the Amarillo National Center is a special events center for events ranging from national equestrian competitions to motor sports and rodeos. The World Championship Ranch Rodeo sponsored by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association is held every November in the Amarillo Civic Center. Amarillo hosts the annual World Championship Chuckwagon Roundup the first weekend in June. Teams in competition prepare a feast of breaded beef cutlets, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and sourdough biscuits and attempt to duplicate the food served on western cattle trails of the 1860s and 1870s.[75] The Amarillo Livestock Auction on Bull Road holds a free-to-the-public cattle auction on Tuesdays. Now located on Interstate 40, The Big Texan Steak Ranch is famous by offering visitors a free 72 ounce (2 kg) beef steak if it (and its accompanying dinner) is eaten in under an hour.

Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, opened in 2006, houses the Amarillo Opera, Amarillo Symphony, and Lone Star Ballet concerts. The facility, located just across the Amarillo Civic Center, features a 1,300-seat auditorium. The Globe-News Center was built in hope by city officials and others that it will revitalize the downtown area.[76] The nonprofit community theater group, Amarillo Little Theatre, has its season run from September to May. The theater group's two facilities, the Mainstage and the Adventure Space, are located west of Amarillo's downtown. The Pioneer Amphitheater, located in nearby Palo Duro Canyon, is the setting for the outdoor musical drama Texas, which plays nightly during the summer. The musical depicts a story about the history of Texas Panhandle settlers throughout the years. In 2002, the producers changed its name to Texas Legacies after retiring the previous script that was used for 37 years for a more historically-accurate one, but attendance declined over the next four seasons, so it was decided to revert to the original Paul Green script in 2006.[77][78]

The Amarillo Public Library is affiliated with the Harrington Library Consortium. The consortium consist of public, college, and school libraries located in the Texas Panhandle that share resources and cooperate with one another. Other members include the Amarillo's public schools, Amarillo College, Canyon Area Library, Lovett Memorial Library in Pampa, Texas, and Hutchinson County Library in Borger, Texas.[79] The Amarillo Public Library's main branch is located in downtown and operates 4 neighborhood branches.

Wonderland Amusement Park is located in northern Amarillo at Thompson Park, named for Ernest Thompson. The park also houses the Amarillo zoo and offers picnicking.

Amarillo residents are known as Amarilloans. Notable Amarilloans include actress Ann Doran (1911â€“2000), old-style journalist Bascom N. Timmons, prominent surveyor W. D. Twichell, the Dory Funk wrestling family, former UFC Champions Heath Herring and Evan Tanner, astronaut Rick Husband, professional golfer Ryan Palmer, rockabilly pioneer Buddy Knox, actress Carolyn Jones, actress and dancer Cyd Charisse, actor and poet Harry Northup, State Senator Max Sherman, Republican state chairman Tom Mechler, clergyman W. Winfred Moore, politicians Beau Boulter, Roy Whittenburg and John Marvin Jones, businessman T. Boone Pickens, Jr., singer-songwriter J. D. Souther, gambler Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston, and music artist and composer Terry Stafford ("Amarillo by Morning"; "Suspicion"). Tom Blasingame, considered to have been the oldest cowboy in the history of the American West, worked for seventy-three years, primarily, on the JA Ranch south of Amarillo. Pulitzer-prize-winning author Mark E. Neely, Jr. was born in Amarillo on November 10, 1944. In nearby Clarendon and Canyon, Texas, lived the Western artist Harold Dow Bugbee, whose early works were patronized by Ernest Thompson. Physician Steven Berk wrote Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor's Story about his kidnapping from his Amarillo home in 2005 and how the four-hour ordeal changed his perspective on life. Singer Lacey Brown of Amarillo advanced to the top 24 in season 8 on the hit show American Idol. She returned to the show again in season 9 and advanced to the top 12 but was eliminated from the program on March 17, 2010.

The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the American Quarter Horse breed. The organization is headquartered in Amarillo and has a museum. There is also an American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame exhibited in the museum; among the inductees was J. L. "Dusty" Rhoades of Odessa, who served as AQHA president in 1966 and 1974. In addition, the AQHA and Center City of Amarillo co-sponsors the project, "Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse" which consist of horse statues located in front of several Amarillo businesses, such as the downtown Amarillo National building, Nationwide Insurance, and Edward Jones. An area business would purchase a horse statue and a local artist paints on it.[80]

Two of the Amarillo area's higher education institutions have at least one museum in their campuses. The Amarillo Art Center [1], opened in 1972, is a building complex with the Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA)[81] and concert hall located on the Washington Street Campus of Amarillo College. In addition, Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus is the home to the previously mentioned AMoA[81] and is regarded as the largest natural history museum belonging to any two-year college in the United States.[82] Located on the campus of West Texas A&M University, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum claims to be the largest historical museum in Texas.

Don Harrington Discovery Center, located in the city's hospital district, is an interactive science center and space theater with over 60 hands-on exhibits.[83] Outside of the building is a steel structure called the Helium Monument which has time capsules and designates Amarillo the "Helium Capital of the World."[9] Near the proximity of the Discovery Center, the Amarillo Botanical Gardens has gardens, indoor exhibits, and a library for visitation throughout the year.

The Texas Pharmacy Museum claims to be the only Texas museum specialized in the research, collection, preservation, and exhibition of the history of pharmacy, is also located in the city's hospital district.[84]

Founded in 2013, by businessman Tom Warren, The Amarillo Historical Museum is Amarillo's only local museum to exclusively feature local history.[85]

Other notable museums in the area are the Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum and the English Field Air & Space Museum. The Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum features a collection of Native American artifacts and provides dance performances. Sadly, the English Field Air & Space Museum, which had been operated by the Texas Aviation Historical Society featuring aircraft and space exhibits, in 2007 closed its doors and lost many of its aircraft. The museum is now rebuilding its aircraft collection as Texas Air & Space Museum and is located on American Drive on the south side of the airport.

The major local newspaper is the Amarillo Globe-News, owned by Morris Communications, was a combination of three newspapers: Amarillo Daily News, Amarillo Globe, and Amarillo Times. Other publications include a local monthly magazine dealing with city and regional issues in the Amarillo area called, Accent West and a daily online paper, The Amarillo Pioneer.[86] The American Quarter Horse Association publishes two monthly publications, The American Quarter Horse Journal and The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal, HISPANIC Newspaper El Mensajero owned by Dr. Ramon Godoy started printing in 1989.

Amarillo's major network television affiliates are KACV-TV 2 (PBS), KAMR 4 (NBC), KVII 7 (ABC), KFDA 10 (CBS), KCIT 14 (Fox), and KCPN 33 (MyNet). In the 2005â€“2006 television season, Amarillo is the 131st largest television market in the United States designated by Nielsen Media Research.[87]

Amarillo is the 168th largest United States radio market in autumn 2005 designated by the radio audience research company, Arbitron. According to Arbitron the top 5 rated commercial radio stations in Fall 2012/Spring 2013 are:

The regional public radio network, High Plains Public Radio, operates KJJP-FM 105.7. Other notable radio stations around the area include the college stations KACV-FM 89.9 (Amarillo College) KZRK-FM (107.9), and KWTS-FM 91.1 (West Texas A&M University) in nearby Canyon.

The city gained national media attention in 1998 when television talk show host Oprah Winfrey was unsuccessfully sued by local cattlemen for comments made on her show connecting American beef to mad cow disease, costing them and their industry millions of dollars.[88] In order to attend the trial in Amarillo, she temporarily relocated her show to the Amarillo Little Theatre for nearly a year. During the trial, Winfrey hired Dallas-based jury consultant Phil McGraw to aid her attorneys on selecting and analyzing the members of the jury.[89] McGraw would later become a regular guest on Winfrey's television show and subsequently started his own talk show, Dr. Phil, in 2002. Another notable trial in Amarillo includes the Fort Worth-area murder case of T. Cullen Davis, which involved one of the richest men in the United States, his former wife, and her daughter and boyfriend. The trial was moved from Fort Worth to Amarillo in 1977 on a change of venue.[90] The murder of Brian Deneke also brought attention from outside of the Texas Panhandle mainly due to the fact that the crime revolved around a conflict between two different cultures. The small town of Tulia, Texas, approximately 47 miles (76 km) south from Amarillo, was the scene of a controversial drug sting in 1999. Local civil rights attorney Jeff Blackburn took up the case of the Tulia defendants, which became a cause célèbre and resulted in the exoneration and pardon of the defendants.[91] A federal lawsuit directed at the officials responsible for the sting operation was held in Amarillo. In the final settlement, the City of Amarillo agreed to pay $5 million in damages to the former Tulia defendants; disband the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Task Force that it set up to oversee the sting operation; and require early retirement for two Amarillo Police Department officers who were responsible for supervising the sting's sole undercover agent.[92][93]

Amarillo has been mentioned in popular music such "Amarillo by Morning" by Paul Fraser and Terry Stafford, Nat King Cole's "(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66", Bob Dylan's "Brownsville Girl" (Amarillo was referred to as the "land of the living dead"), Rob Zombie's "Two Lane Blacktop", Amarillo Sky by Jason Aldean, and the song "Is This the Way to Amarillo" written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, recorded famously by Yorkshireman Tony Christie and Sedaka, and revived in the UK by comedian Peter Kay through performances in the comedy series Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and in a charity performance for Comic Relief. Christie's version, which only managed to reach 18 when originally released in 1971, made it to the number 1 spot in the UK Singles Chart in 2005 for 7 weeks.[94][95] In 2010, Damon Albarn wrote the song "Amarillo" whilst on tour in America with the Gorillaz, although it is not known to what extent the song is reference to the city.

The Amarillo Film Commission is a division of the Amarillo Convention and Visitor Council that was created to provide film crews with locations and other assistance when filming in Amarillo.[96] Amarillo was the setting for many motion pictures, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Switchback 1997, and The Plutonium Circus, the 1995 South by Southwest Film Festival winner for best documentary feature. Amarillo was the title of the third episode of the second season of AMC (TV channel)'s drama Better Call Saul, a spin-off of the hit drama Breaking Bad. The city played a part in the plot of the episode, as it was a location used by series protagonist Jimmy McGill to solicit clients.[97]

The Lone Star Football League team Amarillo Venom and the NAHL Jr. A hockey team, the Amarillo Bulls both play in the Amarillo Civic Center. Amarillo previously hosed an independent league baseball team, the Amarillo Thunderheads of the American Association, which played its home games in Potter County Memorial Stadium from 2011 to 2015. The city was the home of the Double-A Amarillo Gold Sox Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League off and on from 1939 to 1982.[98] In 2019, the Texas League's San Antonio Missions plan to relocate to Amarillo under a new name and play at a new $45.5 million downtown ballpark.[99] Amarillo had a minor league indoor soccer team called the Amarillo Challengers that competed in the SISL and later the USISL.[100]

West Texas A&M University features a full slate of NCAA Division II teams; however, Amarillo College is one of the few community colleges in Texas without an athletic program. From 1968 to 1996, Amarillo hosted the annual National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT), a post season women's college basketball tournament.[101] During high school football season, the Amarillo Independent School District schools' home games are in Dick Bivins Stadium which had a $5.7Â million renovation in 2005.[102] Randall High School (part of the adjacent Canyon Independent School District) plays its home games in Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon, as well as the yearly Clinton Invitational horseshoe tournament. River Road, Highland Park, and Bushland High Schools, also play football, in addition other sports.

Amarillo is home to the Amarillo Gun Club, which features a variety of clay target sports including trap, skeet and 5-Stand.

Another part of Amarillo's sporting history was its roots in professional wrestling. Amarillo residents Dory Funk, Stanley Blackburn and Doc Sarpolis promoted the territory for several decades. Funk's sons, Dory Funk, Jr., and Terry Funk were both National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champions and represented Amarillo.

Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is a public airport located 10 miles (16Â km) east of the central business district of Amarillo, north of Interstate 40. A portion of the former Amarillo Air Force Base was converted to civilian use and became part of the airport.[103] The airport was named after NASA astronaut Rick Husband, an Amarillo native and commander of the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-107, which disintegrated on re-entry, killing Husband and his crewmates. The airport is served by several major air carriers with non-stop service to Dallas, Houston, Denver, and Las Vegas.

Tradewind Airport is a public-use general aviation airport located in Randall County, 3 nautical miles (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) south of Amarillo's central business district. The airport covers 595 acres (241 ha) and has two asphalt-paved runways and one helipad.[104]

Buffalo Airport is a public-use general aviation airport located in Randall County, 9 nautical miles (10 mi; 17 km) south of Amarillo's central business district. The airport covers 40 acres (16 ha) and has two grass runways.[105]

Local transit services in the city have been available since 1925 and have been provided through the City of Amarillo's Amarillo City Transit (ACT) department since 1966; before that time the system was privately owned. ACT operates bus services that include fixed route transit and demand response paratransit which are designed for people with disabilities. The ACT transports approximately 350,000 passengers per year on the fixed route and 30,000 paratransit passengers, but it is a declining ridership. ACT has no plans to scale back any of their transit routes or services.[62]

Amarillo has no passenger rail service but remains an important part of the rail freight system. The BNSF Railway complex in Amarillo continues to serve a heavy daily traffic load, approximately 100–110 trains per day.[106] The Union Pacific Railroad also sends substantial shipments to or through Amarillo. In addition to intermodal and general goods, a big portion of rail shipments involve grains and coal. There have been various proposals over the years to add passenger service. One, the Caprock Chief, would have seen daily service as part of a Fort Worth, Texas—Denver, Colorado service, but it failed to gain traction.

The streets in Amarillo's downtown area conform to a grid pattern. The city's original street layout was set up by William H. Bush, beginning at the west end of the town moving to the east. Bush named the north to south streets for past United States presidents, in chronological order except for John Quincy Adams because the surname was taken with the second president, John Adams.[107] (The last president so honored was Grover Cleveland; though the city has expanded eastward the pattern was not continued.) While the streets running north–south honor past presidents and are designated'streets', east–west streets are numbered and are designated 'avenues'. North of the Fort Worth & Denver (now Burlington Northern-Santa Fe) railyard, the numbers are "NW" (northwest) west of Polk Street, and "NE" (northeast) east of Polk. South of the railyard (including the downtown-city center area), numbers are officially "SW" (southwest) west of Polk, and "SE" (southeast) east of Polk. Colloquially, though, most tend to dub the SW/SE avenues as W (west)/E (east), respectively. One example of the numbering difference regards the former U.S. Highway 66 routing west of downtown and into the San Jacinto neighborhood. Most call it 'West Sixth Street' when it's actually SW Sixth Avenue.

In 1910, the Amarillo voters approved to pay for street paving and the materials used to pave the streets were bricks.[108] As of 2003, the city still has 16.2 miles (26.1Â km) of brick streets in some parts of the downtown area. The city spent $200,000 in 2002 to restore one block of brick street on Ninth Avenue between Polk and Tyler streets.[109]

Less than one mile (~1.6Â km) of Interstate 27 highway is located in Potter County. The highway terminates at the city's main west-east highway, Interstate 40, just north of the Potter-Randall County line. The roadway continues northward into downtown Amarillo via U.S. 60, 87, and 287, via a series of four one-way streets including Buchanan, Pierce, Fillmore and Taylor. North of downtown the highway becomes US 87 & 287 and continues northward to Dumas, Texas.[61]

Interstate 40, the city's major east–west thoroughfare was completed entirely through Amarillo in November 1968 across the center of the city. Previously, U.S. Highway 66 was the major east–west highway through the city, generally following Amarillo Blvd. to the north of the downtown area and then curving southwest to leave the city near the Veterans Hospital. A city route (which was an original alignment of US 66 through central and west Amarillo) followed Fillmore south into the downtown area and turned on West 6th through the San Jacinto Heights district which is now home to many antique shops, restaurants and other businesses, passing the Amarillo Country Club and veering onto West 9th Street and Bushland Blvd. before tying into the through route at a traffic circle near the Veterans Hospital. Loop 335 circles around Amarillo in all four directions and consists of four-lane roadway on its northeast and southwest quadrants and two-lane paving to the southeast and northwest.

Amarillo is also mentioned in the song "Route 66".

Amarillo is home to medical facilities including Baptist St. Anthony's and Northwest Texas Hospitals, the Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center, Bivins Memorial Nursing Home, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Texas Tech School of Pharmacy, and Texas Panhandle Mental Health and Mental Retardation. All are located in the Harrington Regional Medical Center, the first specifically designated city hospital district in Texas.[110]

Baptist St. Anthony's, known locally as BSA, had some of its services listed on the U.S. News & World Report's "Top 50 Hospitals" from 2002 to 2005.[111] BSA was a result of a merger between the Texas Panhandle's first hospital, St Anthony's, with High Plains Baptist Hospital in 1996.[112] The BSA Hospice & Life Enrichment Center provides important services to the Amarillo area. The BSA facility, opened in 1985, was the first free-standing hospice west of the Mississippi River that was built and opened without debt.[113]

Northwest Texas Hospital is home to the area's only Level III designated trauma center.

The Thomas E. Creek Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located east of Harrington Regional Medical Center. The facility opened in 1940 and was renamed in 2005, honoring the 18-year-old Amarillo Marine who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.[114] Construction began in 2006 for a new Texas State Veterans Home in northwest Amarillo. The United States government, through the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, provided the funding to build the facility, while the Texas government will run it after construction is completed.[115] The home is scheduled to open in 2007.

Drinking water is provided by the City of Amarillo and its Utilities Division. Amarillo's water supply used to come from both from Lake Meredith and the Ogallala Aquifer. Due to the lake's low water level, water is now only supplied by the aquifer. Lake Meredith is located northeast of Amarillo and in 2005 it contained at least 114 billion US gallons (430,000,000 m3) of water. By 2011, lake levels had dropped so much due to the Texas drought, the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority voted to stop using it entirely.[116] Generally, the city's daily water production averages between 40–50 million US gallons (150,000–190,000 m3).[117]

Collection and disposal of the city's trash and garbage are the responsibilities of the City of Amarillo's Solid Waste Collection and Solid Waste Disposal Departments. Amarillo's non-hazardous solid waste is collected and disposed of through burial in the city's landfill. The City of Amarillo also operates recycling collection centers, one located near the downtown area and 4 at fire stations in the city.[118] Other utilities are primarily provided by private organizations. Natural gas is distributed by Atmos Energy. Electric power service is distributed by Xcel Energy, which bought out the Amarillo-based Southwestern Public Service (SPS) in 2006. Wired telephone service is primarily provided by AT&T. Cable television is provided by Suddenlink Communications.


who is making everyone sick in minor details

During the film, someone is trying to make the students sick at the upscale boarding school, Danforth Academy. Teenagers Abby, Paige, Claire, and Taylor join forces to solve the mystery. Other teenagers, who could be potential suspects, include Mia and Riley - two girls who have everything that money can buy; Emily - the know-it-all Principal's daughter; the wacky Sean Meneskie, and the school's strange Professor Plume. The four best friends must find out who it is. In the end they figured out that the culprit was Mia, she did this so her father could earn more money to pay for her modeling camp. She tricked everyone into thinking the cafeteria food was contaminated so they would buy food from the vending machines (which is her father's business) [1]

Minor Details

Minor Details is a 2009 mystery film by John Lyde of MainStay Productions and written by Sally Meyer and Anne M. Edwards starring Kelsey Edwards, Caitlin EJ Meyer, Danielle Chuchran, Lauren Faber, Jennette McCurdy, Emma Duke, Savannah Jayde Gipson, Brady Edwards, Andrew Cottrill, and Elijah Thomas playing students at the boarding school Danforth Academy trying to discover why a mysterious epidemic of sickness is starting to take over the school.