Football season begins on Friday. Yep, already. It's what they call Zero Week in high school football and I'm keenly aware of this as I like to cover high school football games for newspapers and such.
The good folks at the Waco Tribune-Herald sports department have brought me on board again this season, which means I'll be found at high school football stadiums on Friday nights. I must remember to write about the touchdowns and tackles rather than the concession stand food.
But, to that end, I'm going to incorporate one with the other, sort of. Each week I'll either feature a local high school football concessions stand, or a hometown restaurant that has a special connection with the high school and particularly the football team.
This happens everywhere in Texas, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, on Tuesday I traveled to Austin to see the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum's high school football exhibit. Right at the beginning of the exhibit is a replicate of a small town diner table decorated by high school football memorabilia.
In fact, Waco even took center stage as the poster above the table promoted a pre-Word War II football game between Waco High and Bryan High at Waco Stadium.
Anyway, if you enjoy the fact that I tend to write about football more so than a food blogger perhaps should, then look for these blogs on Saturdays throughout the fall. If you don't like how much I write about football (Cameron), well, I don't care. Deal with it.
Here's some more.
Before attending the museum, I ate lunch at Hut's in Austin. Hut's features responsibly raised ground beef. It's a great hamburger patty, but they don't stop there. The Hut's menu features about 15 different varieties of hamburger including Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens burgers. I suppose if Waylon Jennings hadn't given up his seat on the plane he would have a burger named after him at Hut's. Jennings did however live and recorded "Bob Wills is still the King" in which he declares that whoever happens to be in power in Austin, Bob Wills is still the king. So maybe Waylon didn't care that he didn't have a burger named for him at Hut's.
Back to football, Hut's decorates its walls and ceiling with pennants. The former members of the Southwest Conference surround the sign above the kitchen.
Remember the Southwest Conference? It featured a school called Texas A&M that was good in football every year and, oddly enough, was happy to be associated with the other Texas schools. Oh how times have changed.
I've been asked pretty frequently lately what is going to happen with the Big 12. Honestly, I'm concerned about it as it affects Waco and also my alma mater Texas Tech. You know what, though? High school football isn't going anywhere and they're not going to take away good hamburgers at places like Hut's. So I'll rest with that peace of mind.
