from Garden & Gun magazine’s Talk of the South newsletter
July 28, 2011
Talk of the South
The Real Friday Night Lights
(Courtesy Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, Waco)
Goings On
The Real Friday Night Lights
The NFL may be back in business for the fall, but when it comes to football, folks around the South know the true heart of the game is on display every Friday night at the local high school stadium. And nowhere does this display get any better or bigger than in the great state of Texas.
Opening July 30 and running through January, a new exhibit at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin captures the storied history of the state’s Friday-night fall rituals. Curated by author and G&G contributor Joe Nick Patoski, Texas High School Football: More Than The Game pulls together some 200 artifacts—from vintage helmets and letter jackets to championship rings to Drew Brees’ high school jersey (Westlake High School, class of ’96). Even mascots get a proper tribute. After all, where else but Texas would you find the Itasca Wampus Cats?
To get yourself appropriately pumped, click here to watch a short video about the exhibit, and then check out this photo gallery for a preview of some of the memorabilia on display. And if you’re anywhere near Austin, celebrate the opening with, what else, a pep rally on Saturday, August 6. “It ain’t bragging if it’s true, as we like to say in Texas,” Patoski says. “And it’s true: We own this game.”