Mem'ries Sweet- Raised in Austin
Hello. My name is Adam Shirley. I used to be a Longhorns fan. There, I said it, and it felt good to get off my chest. Now, before you start hurling rotten tomatoes at me, let me explain.
I grew up in Austin. If you spent your informative years in Austin, you more than likely became a Longhorns fan. The University of Texas culture seeps deep down through Austin's entirety, and this was even more true when I was growing up there in the 80s and 90s. My elementary school was 1.5 miles from the UT campus. My middle school was three miles from the UT campus, and my high school was 3.2 miles from the forty acres. There was no escaping the long shadow that the University of Texas campus cast on the downtown Austin area.
That being said, growing up in Austin under UT's shadow was a great experience that provided me countless great memories. The University of Texas works in great conjunction with it's nearby AISD schools, and I was brought to UT campus numerous times for various valuable educational experiences at each level of education growing up. Elementary school brought me to UT's School of Engineering to test the strength of our balsa wood bridges with a sophisticated piece of psi equipment. We saw the “Nutcracker” performed at Bass Concert Hall in both elementary and middle school and attended a lecture in physics on the forty acres in high school. I am extremely grateful for each of these experiences, which at the time made it easy to attend and root for the University of Texas athletics. Including football.
These were the good old days of turf fields and north end zone general admission seating. Which as a kid meant I was able to attend football games regularly at little or no cost to my family. My favorite part was going onto the field after football games and singing the “Eyes of Texas”among the players with our hook'em horns hand sign held up proudly. Then mosey down towards the south end zone and wait for the players to shower, dress, and come back out to sign autographs. The players back then seemed like giants to me and looking back I am impressed with how well the players interacted with elementary age kids as they were merely college kids themselves. I got numerous autographs through the years but the most memorable ones for me were those of wide receiver Micheal Adams and defensive tackles Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton. We were giddy for days afterward telling our stories of whose autographs we had acquired and what our interaction with each player was like, as if we now knew them as a person.
That all changed when I moved to Fort Worth to attend TCU. Not right away however, as at the time TCU was hopping from mid-major to mid-major conference, and I knew nothing of TCU's opponents or history. Luckily, my TCU elders were quick to inform and convert me, ensuring that I learned all there was to know of TCU's rich football history. From Dutch to Sammy and Davey, to Jim and Bob, all the way through LT and Andy, what a rich history it truly is! I have been wearing purple ever since.
Go Frogs!
Beat UT!