That fateful (day-after) Thanksgiving, the Longhorn faithful made their way to Darrell K Royal-Memorial Stadium looking to beat the Aggies.
I had spent the week before that standing in line for football tickets for my parents, sister and her husband at the time. We’ll call him “Holloway.” The ticket-getting process wasn’t quite yet refined. Probably because it had been many years since people wanted to go to games. So I sat, stood and slumped in the ramps of the stadium for two days. Classes be damned (don’t worry, I would later fail out) I was going to get tickets to that game.
It was in those ramps that I realized for the first time how awesome Mack Brown was. As Mack and company delivered slice after slice of pizza to the waiting weary, we knew we were destined to love him. It was two days later that I sent him an email thanking him for Mr. Gatti's finest, and three days later when he responded back from his blackberry saying I could repay him by cheering like crazy for the boys as they beat A&M. Say what you want about Mack, but in the years since I’ve never heard of a fan coming away from an interaction with him who didn’t feel the same way I do. Mack Brown is Pizza Awesome.
With tickets secured, my family trekked to Austin for the game. They weren’t great tickets, mind you. On the 20 yard line of lower deck (pre-Godzilla-Tron) it wasn’t really easy to see the game. But no one grumbled for too long. It was somewhere in the first quarter that Ricky broke the record, on that very 20 yard line. Suddenly we had the best seats in the house.
Bear in mind that Holloway was hungover out of his mind. I’m not sure how he was functioning. What I do know is that at one point during the game he went to get everyone cokes and waters and dropped them all as he walked back into the stadium. I personally would have said “screw it, get your own damn soda,” but as a testament to his character Holloway went back inside to get more. It wasn’t until much later that we learned the reason he took 45 minutes to get refreshments is because he had to do it twice.
Somewhere around yard 45 of Ricky's dazzling 60-yard touchdown sprint to break the record, the Longhorns went CRAZY! It was Ricky's time, but it was ours too. We were finally back on the scene. Years of patiently outwaiting arrogant coaches with little talent were done. In the moments after the record was broken, the game stopped, and a two minute Ricky-highlight-reel played while the horns chanted “Heis-man…Heis-man” and Tony Dorsett jumped up and down like a maniac. It was a good day for the Horns. We all knew the little golden trophy man was coming home and that greatness for the Longhorns was just around the corner.
It only took one year for Mack to convince the Horn fans to "Come Early, Be Loud, Stay Late & Wear Orange," and it only took that one year for Mack to convince us that Texas would soon again be awesome. Pizza Awesome.
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