Bowl update: From circus catches to country fried steak
As the story in Friday’s paper indicates, Floyd Casey Stadium is one massive stadium. Although the stadium is massive, the "Hall of Fame" is certainly not. Adorning the end zones are the numbers of retired "greats" in Baylor history. If you gave me a million dollars I couldn’t tell you one of them other than Mike Singletary. There was some guy named Goree whose first name I can’t remember. Just that Jared Dort, chronicling the game in photos for this paper, kept making Frank Gore jokes despite the glaring dissimilarities between the two — most notably their last names. Still, whatever history is lacking on the playing surface is more than made up for by the structure itself. Located off campus, in the middle of Waco, it’s a palace of football in one of the last places you’d expect to find a palace of football. It’s off a main drag but in a very residential neighborhood. The team had a good practice, mostly running separate offense and defense drills, but did some 7-on-7 late. On a fun side note, Ge’Shun Harris, one of the two players I talked to for the story in the paper, made an acrobatic catch in the 7-on-7, coming up with a ball headed for the ground after it was batted by a defender. "I know you liked that catch," he said at the end of the interview. I told him it was impressive, even halting the podcast (which should be available by late Friday morning on this website) Jared and I were doing at the time. "I’ll do a couple of those for you Saturday." I told him thanks, but he should be doing them for the photographer. And maybe to stand in front of him when he does. The stadium has some history for me too. I was at my first Texas stop in the industry, working for a small paper in the eastern part of the state. The team was in the playoffs and at Floyd Casey Stadium. I remember the game vividly — the press box workers were distracting me to watch an event on TV, loudly screaming, "Is this really happening?" That event? The Ron Artest brawl. It’s been a flood of memories for me out here, personally. After that first stint, I did two years time in Temple, which we passed through from Killeen to Waco. In fact, Killeen and Cove schools are in the Temple coverage area. After covering the practice in Waco, Jared requested a good place for country fried steak, which is impossible to find in Yuma. Or at least, a really good one. So I went looking for one place on a vague memory in Temple. I used to eat there all the time, but couldn’t remember where it was or what it was called. Oh well. But we did end up at Clem Mikeska’s BBQ. I mention the name only because with a name like Clem, you know it’s going to be good. I didn’t eat there all that often, but could remember that name over the one I never ate at. Ain’t that always the way? Of course the food was delicious. There is no bad CFS in Texas. Then we headed back to the hotel room in Cove and, as far as anyone is concerned, going to bed early and not contemplating the hour drive to Austin. --- Click here to listen to Eddie and Jared's podcast from Baylor
