This missive has nothing to do with wine except for one of the most memorable post-game quotes of my 50-plus years of writing about sports. It was spoken by Russ Francis, one of the NFL’s best tight ends of his day, and it came at the end of a disastrous afternoon for Francis and his New England Patriots, who had just been face-planted by the Houston Oilers 31-14 in a Division Round playoff game on their own turf in Foxboro.

Having admitted he’d expected to be celebrating an ass-kicking – instead of lamenting one – Francis said of the bottle(s) of bubbles waiting for him back home that New Year’s Eve: “Dom Perignon is the truth the light and the way. But tonight . . . it’s going to be light’s out.”

The memory is relevant, of course, because H-town’s current NFL franchise, the Texans, visits Foxboro Sunday for another Division Round game (albeit in a different stadium), hoping to end our town’s 45-year conference championship game drought, which happens to be the longest among the league’s current cities by a full decade.

Both those 1978 Oilers and the 1979 team – the first to be officially christened the “La Ya Blue” Oilers – would lose AFC Championship Games in Pittsburgh, where the Texans at least finally sort of made amends with their 30-6 AFC Wild-Card Round stomping of the Steelers Monday night. A stunningly lopsided victory that ended Mike Tomlin’s storied coaching career in Pittsburgh, it earned the Texans a spot in the Division Round for the seventh time.

Since 1979, Houston’s franchises are 0-10 when reaching the AFC semifinals. Hall-of-Famer Warren Moon went 0-for-4 when he got this far during his Oilers years. Subsequently, Matt Schaub was 0-2 as the Texans’ QB of record, while Brock Osweiller and Deshaun Watson failed in their only shots. (Both Schaub and Osweiler also came up short in their respective visits to Gillette Stadium.) Now C. J. Stroud, admirably back for his third try in three seasons, again hopes to break Houston’s Division Round curse.  

The Oilers’ breakthrough romp came in their first-ever Division Round game in their ninth season in the NFL and followed a no-less surprising 17-9 Wild Card-round beat-down of the Dolphins in Miami. While, on paper, the Pats paddling was considered a mild upset at the time, Houston had previously pulled off an astonishing comeback on the same field in mid-November and the Patriots subsequently found themselves in a chaotic state for the high-stakes rematch.

Only a few weeks earlier Chuck Fairbanks was suspended as head coach after owner Billy Sullivan learned that Fairbanks had already been secretly hired to take the reins at the University of Colorado (Where he would go 7-26 before being fired. Yep, karma can be a bitch).

Anyway, the first quarter ended deceptively 0-0, but the final 45 minutes mostly belonged to Houston. The Oilers built a 21-0 lead, starting with a 71-yard Dan Pastorini touchdown pass to Kenny Burrough. A Mike Reinfeldt pick of a Steve Grogan pass then gave the Oilers the ball at their 1-yard line, from where they drove 99 yards with the final 19 coming on a Pastorini-to-Mike Barber strike. Another Pastorini-Barber TD hookup left the Pats reeling.

The flummoxed Grogan would be benched right before the half after completing only three of 12 passes for 38 yards. Trailing 24-0 following a Toni Fritsch field goal, the Patriots offered a bit of resistance late behind Grogan’s backup, Tom Owens, but a Gregg Bingham interception sealed the deal, setting up a clinching 2-yard touchdown run by Earl Campbell. The Oilers, for better or worse, were Three Rivers Stadium-bound.  

Interesting fact: The Patriots wouldn’t lose another home playoff game for 31 years.

“Oh, wow, how about that?” Wade Phillips responded when I told him that in a conversation Thursday.

Phillips, who was his late father Bum’s defensive line coach that day, remembers how “confident we were after beating them up there already with that comeback. We just knew we were going to win.”

“That comeback?” On Nov. 12, the Patriots had stormed out to a 23-0 lead only to have the Oilers respond with 26 unanswered points. A deftly executed field goal – a variation of Phillips’ patented “Bumerooski” – preceded a second-effort Earl Campbell 1-yard touchdown plunge that cut the margin to three, and Pastorini subsequently found Rich Caster for the winning points.

“We had a great defense . . . Hall-of-Famers across the front,” Phillips said, referencing nose tackle Curley Culp, end Elvin Bethea and outside linebacker Robert Brazile. “We were good, really good.”

Alas, not good enough to deal with the hand they were dealt in the next weekend in icy Three Rivers Stadium. Although the Oilers’ defense forced five turnovers, the offense coughed up the football nine times – five Pastorini interceptions and four lost fumbles – in a 34-5 thumping.

Like me, Wade found it interesting that the Texans earned their latest golden opportunity at the expense of the Steelers.

“Kind of amazing, isn’t it?” he said.                  

Note that Phillips, me and John McClain will share the dais on Jan. 31 for Sports Night at the Pearl Fincher Museum (pearlmfa.org) in Spring. Tables go for $3,000 and individual tickets for $300. Wines from the excellent, locally-owned Nice Winery will be served and it’s a slam-dunk given that a slew of great memories will be shared.

Phillips holds the distinction of having served as the head coach of more NFL franchises – six – than any man ever. Wade and I initially met in 1976, his first year on his dad’s staff and my first year covering the Oilers for the Houston Post. McClain and I battled it out as rival beat reporters for the Post and the Chronicle from 1980 through 1983, forging a lifetime friendship in the process.

OK, enough ball talk. Let me close with a wine note. There will be a Burgundy “class” at the Alliance Française de Houston (427 Lovett Blvd., in Montrose) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, conducted by Spec’s eminently knowledgeable fine-wine buyer James Barlow. It renews a long tradition of Spec’s tastings at the Alliance (alliancefrancaise.org) begun by the late Bear Dalton. The price is $55 for Alliance members and $65 for non-members. Yes, I fully intend to be there.