My Daughter Has Been Spotted

Monjunis
Originally uploaded by darebouche

Recently, we half-kiddingly asked the vast Daddy D readership if anyone had seen my daughter. She has been found, seating hungry patrons and bussing tables at this southeast Shreveport restaurant.
Yes, Sweet 16 is gainfully employed, and we are grateful. Somewhere among the "Imported Foods, Muffalettas & Po-Boys and Italian Salads, she's learning the value of a dollar.
I don't think she realized when she accepted the position that the hostess would have to bus tables, but it's honest work if you can get it. The pay might be a little inconsistent because she gets some percentage of the evening's take.
We asked if she gets a base salary plus tips, or what. Of course, she doesn't know. I have so far resisted the temptation to drive up there and ask questions of the manager. All that matters to my daughter is that she has walking around money. I guess that's all that should matter to me, too.
So, go eat at Monjuni's and don't forget to generously tip your hostess.
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By the way, I am forced to offer a posthumous apology to my mother. When I was my daughter's age, she urged me to take a job as a busboy at a nearby restaurant. I thought I was above that. My daughter has shown me the error of my ways. God bless her.

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Who's Got Spirit?

Kooky Pilot Fans
Originally uploaded by darebouche

The Alma Mater's basketball team fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, vanquished in overtime by the Gold Rush from Xavier University. The game had everything you need from college basketball: raucous fans, tension in the final seconds and emotions running high. The wacky student section berated the officials all evening.
It is remarkable that little LSU-S has developed such a spirited atmosphere for basketball. When I was in school there, intercollegiate athletics was a preposterous, faraway notion. Now, the Pilots are one of the strongest basketball programs in NAIA and the baseball team is a perennial winner.
So, I found myself in the gym with a racing heart as the game went down to the final horn. Back in my day, the only thing on campus that made my heart race was the girl across the aisle. LSU-S has plenty to cheer about.
Yes, there's even a mascot.

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Don't Dis the Dish

Shrimp Buster!
Originally uploaded by darebouche

A co-worker called last week to say she had encountered some out-of-towners who were looking for places to eat which are uniquely Shreveport. One of the first, most obvious places I recommended was Herby K's. The place has been around for decades, is a Shreveport landmark, and thrives despite being situated in an essentially dead part of town. If you don't know where you are going, it is difficult to find. This is part of its charm. Its signature dish is the Shrimp Buster. They pound jumbo shrimp flat. They bread them, fry them and serve them with their own sauce. There are many people who have moved away who, upon coming home for a visit, make a trip to Herby K a priority.
So, this lady says, "Oh, that place with the flat shrimp? I don't think so." Yeah, that place with the flat shrimp, you idiot. I swear, her dismissive attitude made me angry. Look, why don't you just send them to Chili's and be done with it?
Even if you think it, you do not say it. The Shrimp Buster is Shreveport sacred. So, lady, go back where you came from and don't call me for restaurant advice again.
Everybody else, meet me at Herby K's for lunch.

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Growing Up in the Church

This time of year, people have a tendency to take stock of their religious beliefs. Conversations about what we believe have popped up in diverse contexts for me lately. My son said he engaged in a robust discussion at work about creationism vs. evolution. I recently attended a Roman Catholic mass and an Episcopal Eucharist in the same day, leading to internal conflicts about communion. My daughter has been spending a lot of time with some friends who are active in an evangelical Christian church.
It can all be very confusing when church has always been a part of your life. I went to Catholic schools for twelve years. I was an altar boy as far back as I can remember, and a lector after that. I married the daughter of an Episcopalian priest, and so I shifted a little left in the late 1980's and became a lay eucharistic minister in her church.
My kids were baptized in that church, and both have been confirmed there. My in-laws' roots run deep there. My wife's grandfather, an architect, designed the place. It was my father-in-law's base when he went to seminary. So, it is in many ways a home for our family. I don't even really grasp the depth of it, because my kids are fourth-generation members. I'm still a newcomer.
Now, we are in the holiday season. I know there are different ways to express greetings this time of year. For me, one way is best: Merry Chistmas! Sometimes, you have have to go with what you know.

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Fightin' Words? Consider the Source

"Do you think spending the holidays in Shreveport two consecutive years is a reward? I lived in Shreveport for 14 months right out college and it felt more like a death sentence. I still have nightmares of having my car breaking down late at night in Bossier City. Medication and afternoons on a shrink's couch simply can't get me past this." - Paul Finebaum in today's Mobile Press-Register
It is tempting to get worked up when you read something like this, but let's take a breath. You have to know this writer's work. He's intentionally provocative. In other words, he writes stuff like this simply to incite a reaction. I tried something similar for a couple of years on the radio, but didn't have the stomach for it. I got tired of people not getting the joke. It wore on my wife and family that there was always someone mad at me about something Radio Darrell said. Even now, there's a local radio personality who stirs people up. Some people just don't like it. Others just don't get it.
From Finebaum's perspective, another trip to Shreveport could be a grind. For people here, the only thing attractive about a 6-6 Alabama team coming back to the Independence Bowl* is the opportunity to pretend we hate Nick Saban for three or four days. We don't really hate Nick Saban any more than Finebaum hates Shreveport. He was unhappy when he lived here and wrote for the Shreveport Journal. That was in large part because people didn't understand or appreciate his particular brand of sports wrting. He moved on. We moved on. He's basically been forgotten here, except on the rare occasion he tries to deposit excrement on our cake.
We can hate Finebaum for sport, just to be in keeping with the spirit of things; but then we're playing his game. Ignore him and he will go away, just like he did when he was fourteen months out of college. That's really the best thing we can hope for.
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*Alabama will play Colorado in Shreveport on December 30. Remember, this is the team that lost four games in a row to end the season, including falling at home to Louisiana-Monroe. So, now a joke is making the e-mail rounds:
BREAKING NEWS !!!!!!
The University of Alabama is going to decline the invitation to the Independence Bowl. Their travel agent showed them the route between Tuscaloosa and Shreveport. It turns out Alabama won't be able to go because they can't seem to get past Monroe.
Finally, keep this in mind: It was in vogue twenty years ago to make fun of the Independence Bowl. I hear Finebaum is up for a role in the big-screen version of the late, lamented TV show "Arrested Development." Sometimes, typecasting works.

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Cheers for Chad!

One of the most consistently successful local basketball coaches operates in relative obscurity. Chad McDowell, the head coach at LSU-Shreveport, is a winner. He has proven it time and again, and it’s time people took notice. At the start of his fifth season as the Pilots’ head coach, McDowell already has more than 100 wins to his credit, and a couple of the most noteworthy victories don’t even show up in the statistics. In November of this year, his NAIA squad won exhibition games over NCAA opponents McNeese State and Centenary. Make no mistake about it; exhibition status notwithstanding, those victories are attention grabbers.The Pilots have won 76% of their games since the program was resurrected in 2003, and 88% of their games in LSUS’s basketball facility, nicknamed “The Dock.” McDowell’s ship has come in thanks to his ability to attract NCAA-caliber talent to his rising tide program. One of his brightest stars was Fredericko Payne, who led the NAIA in scoring two seasons ago. Payne scored an average of 25.5 points per game and was selected as the first All-American in LSUS history. Payne was the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. He was named the Louisiana Small College player of the year in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
This season, McDowell’s emotional leader is Josh Porter, who missed most of the 2006-2007 season after breaking two vertebrae during a game. There was legitimate concern at the time that Porter may be paralyzed. There was fear that his life may have been in jeopardy. A year removed from those horrific moments, Porter has made a full recovery and is playing one more season for Coach McDowell.
The Coach creates the kind of atmosphere that draws players to his program.He did it at Byrd High School, his first head coaching assignment. His teams won 86 games in four years. He moved to his alma mater, Southwood High, and took the team to the 5A state championship game in 2001. In two seasons leading the Cowboys, he notched 67 wins while losing just 10 games. Then, the opportunity to coach at the college level presented itself. Five years later, his list of accomplishments includes GCAC championships in 2005 and 2006, back-to-back GCAC Tournament titles; three consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearances, two GCAC Coach of the Year Awards (2004 and 2005) and four Louisiana Small College Coach of the Year Awards (2004-2007). In 2006, the Pilots rose to No. 1 in the nation in the NAIA rankings.
He has done all of this while deflecting attention away from himself. His coaching style generates a fast-paced, breathless brand of basketball that is as entertaining to watch as it is effective. Catch the Chad McDowell Show at The Dock while you have the chance. The way things are going, he may be piloting a much larger program before you even realize he was here.

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