TigerHat
12-15-2005, 05:52 AM
Southlake Perspectives Magazine
By Jason Blair
"Pops" Warner remembers the old days in Katy. As someone who grew up on the
poor side of Katy he can remember gazing wistfully across to the wealthy
side of the town: "They had a landfill over there - I could see them rich
kids playing on it. They liked to stick pieces of glass together on a string
and wear it around their necks just to show us poor kids how much they had."
When asked what they had on his side of town Warner replied: "Dirt mostly -
wouldn't grow nothing but ragweed. That ragweed was the start of the real
money gap in Katy. Somebody from the rich side of town figured out how to
grind up the ragweed and make cloth out of it. That is where the KT Mills
came from. Once they had cloth they could trade it to the rich people in
Houston for all sorts of things. They even built schools on the rich side of
town. The state of Texas made 'em build us a school also, and that is where
Katy High School came from."
When asked how Katy high school got good at football Pops replied "It was
a way of getting even with the kids from the rich side of town. Since we
didn't have nothing but dirt all us kids spent all our time running in it.
One kid broke into the landfill one night and found an old football some
rich kid in Houston threw away. We filled it up with dirt and we was ready
to play. That dirt ball is why Katy don't pass much. It was too heavy for
the kids to throw - so not many of us learned how. But you did learn how to
catch - if someone throwed you the ball it would break your ribs if you
didn't catch it. Mostly though we just ran with the ball. Lugging that dirt
ball around made us strong as oxes - we could run over most people."
Asked if he still went to Katy games Pop's answered: "What else is there to
do in Katy? Count dirt? Of course I go to the Katy games. Watching the kids
lug that dirt ball reminds me of when I played."
"How do you like Katy's chances against Southlake in the state championship
game?" we asked him and he replied: "Look how bad they beat us two year'n
ago in the state championship of ought three; 82 - 0* it was, worst beat
down in Katy history."
Pops continued: "Katy has as much chance against Southlake as I have of
dating Renee Zellweger. She's from Katy you know. Like everyone here I know
her real well of course, but unlike most people in town I actually saw her
once. Katy had just played her school in football and we passed each other
after the game. That was the most beautiful young woman I ever saw; she had
all her teeth and everything."
"I can remember how the rich girl string around her neck had the shiniest
pieces of glass stuck to it I had ever seen. As we passed everything went
into slow motion - the sparkle of the sun light from her neck glass hung in
the air around her, her beautiful eyes looked at me and she smilled. We
passed and the moment was gone."
"I never saw her again, but it makes my heart skip a beat thinking about it.
Of course, what could I have offered any woman, let alone a great beauty
like her? A handfull of dirt with a ragweed flower in it? Besides, there was
the age difference."
The day after this interview Pops Warner, the oldest living graduate of Katy
High School passed away. Maybe it was that cold wind blowing down from
Southlake, or perhaps the thing that did him in was the iron clad certainty
of his beloved Tigers taking an even worse Texas Toad Stomping from the
Carroll Dragons, the Number One High School Football Team in the World, than
they took the last time they played. We'll never know. We can only hope that
in his last moments the memories of lugging the dirt ball for Katy and the
sparkle of Renee Zellweger's smile warmed his heart. At Saturdays game, Pops
Warner would have turned twenty nine years old. Edwin "Pops" Warner 1976 -
2005, Rest In Peace.
* Editor's note: Pop's memory failed him; the actual score was SLC 83, Katy
0.
By Jason Blair
"Pops" Warner remembers the old days in Katy. As someone who grew up on the
poor side of Katy he can remember gazing wistfully across to the wealthy
side of the town: "They had a landfill over there - I could see them rich
kids playing on it. They liked to stick pieces of glass together on a string
and wear it around their necks just to show us poor kids how much they had."
When asked what they had on his side of town Warner replied: "Dirt mostly -
wouldn't grow nothing but ragweed. That ragweed was the start of the real
money gap in Katy. Somebody from the rich side of town figured out how to
grind up the ragweed and make cloth out of it. That is where the KT Mills
came from. Once they had cloth they could trade it to the rich people in
Houston for all sorts of things. They even built schools on the rich side of
town. The state of Texas made 'em build us a school also, and that is where
Katy High School came from."
When asked how Katy high school got good at football Pops replied "It was
a way of getting even with the kids from the rich side of town. Since we
didn't have nothing but dirt all us kids spent all our time running in it.
One kid broke into the landfill one night and found an old football some
rich kid in Houston threw away. We filled it up with dirt and we was ready
to play. That dirt ball is why Katy don't pass much. It was too heavy for
the kids to throw - so not many of us learned how. But you did learn how to
catch - if someone throwed you the ball it would break your ribs if you
didn't catch it. Mostly though we just ran with the ball. Lugging that dirt
ball around made us strong as oxes - we could run over most people."
Asked if he still went to Katy games Pop's answered: "What else is there to
do in Katy? Count dirt? Of course I go to the Katy games. Watching the kids
lug that dirt ball reminds me of when I played."
"How do you like Katy's chances against Southlake in the state championship
game?" we asked him and he replied: "Look how bad they beat us two year'n
ago in the state championship of ought three; 82 - 0* it was, worst beat
down in Katy history."
Pops continued: "Katy has as much chance against Southlake as I have of
dating Renee Zellweger. She's from Katy you know. Like everyone here I know
her real well of course, but unlike most people in town I actually saw her
once. Katy had just played her school in football and we passed each other
after the game. That was the most beautiful young woman I ever saw; she had
all her teeth and everything."
"I can remember how the rich girl string around her neck had the shiniest
pieces of glass stuck to it I had ever seen. As we passed everything went
into slow motion - the sparkle of the sun light from her neck glass hung in
the air around her, her beautiful eyes looked at me and she smilled. We
passed and the moment was gone."
"I never saw her again, but it makes my heart skip a beat thinking about it.
Of course, what could I have offered any woman, let alone a great beauty
like her? A handfull of dirt with a ragweed flower in it? Besides, there was
the age difference."
The day after this interview Pops Warner, the oldest living graduate of Katy
High School passed away. Maybe it was that cold wind blowing down from
Southlake, or perhaps the thing that did him in was the iron clad certainty
of his beloved Tigers taking an even worse Texas Toad Stomping from the
Carroll Dragons, the Number One High School Football Team in the World, than
they took the last time they played. We'll never know. We can only hope that
in his last moments the memories of lugging the dirt ball for Katy and the
sparkle of Renee Zellweger's smile warmed his heart. At Saturdays game, Pops
Warner would have turned twenty nine years old. Edwin "Pops" Warner 1976 -
2005, Rest In Peace.
* Editor's note: Pop's memory failed him; the actual score was SLC 83, Katy
0.