sago1
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Here's a Romo article with different twist from his hometown newspaper. Sorry I don't know how to take out all the commercial-type stuff, etc.
Burlington's tallest tale is a Cowboy story
Posted: Nov. 25, 2007
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Mike Nichols
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]E-MAIL
[/FONT]
Burlington - They love an outlandishly tall tale here.
This is, after all, the hometown of the world-renowned Burlington Liars Club.
Love a can't-be-true, million-to-one yarn so much they make plaques out of them and hang them on downtown buildings.
The one at City Hall is a classic. It's about the winter it got so incredibly cold they actually spotted a politician with his hands in his own pockets.
There's never been a tale around here, however, like the one unfolding this week, when the 10-1 Packers are slated to take on the 10-1 Cowboys.
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It's about a kid, says Fred Mabson, a local restaurant owner, who "had no advantage in any way, shape or form. His parents were not wealthy."
Just, said the boy's former high school football coach, Steve Gerber, "very loving."
He grew up in a little house in a nondescript part of town across from the old cemetery, which seemed sort of apt.
In an age when we tell kids they have to specialize in a sport by the age of 5, have the best gyms and the best fields and the best nutrition programs or have no chance at all, this is the sort of place where dreams die.
Not with this kid.
This kid was just a typical boy, a little "hyper" actually, said his sixth grade phy-ed teacher, Rick Koceja. "Very active."
"Got in his share of trouble," but knew "when to settle down."
Just a "nice hometown kid" whom nobody expected to end up in the NFL, said Rick's wife, Nancy. How could they? For the longest time, he didn't even play football.
He played soccer until his freshman year in high school, said Burlington High School Athletic Director Eric Burling. And even then, he was better known as a basketball guy - a "gym rat."
Yes, said Burling, he was a good athlete. But not one who got much notice from the big schools. Ended up playing football at Eastern Illinois. Didn't even get a full scholarship.
"No one," said Burling, "would have suspected what he has done now."
Now, said Burling, people are ordering retro Burlington High School football gear all the way from France. People from Seattle to New York are sending money for Burlington jerseys with Romo's old high school number, 16, on them. They want to know where the NFL's latest star came from. Want to pretend they come from here as well. And who wouldn't?
Tony Romo - the kid who somehow settled down into a job as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys - recently signed a contract worth $67 million. That's enough, the Burlington Standard Press pointed out, to buy $3 "sliders" at Mabson's place for 22 million of his closest friends.
Nowadays, of course, everybody wants to be Romo's friend. He hangs out with starlets, which cracks the old friends up. They go down to Dallas to visit and end up getting hugs from Jessica Simpson.
There are only 10,000 people in Burlington. Things like this aren't supposed to happen here.
This is Packers land, and always will be. But it's also a place where little kids parade around in Romo jerseys. Men are cutting Packer hats in half and sewing them to Cowboy lids. Everybody has a story about Romo - a good one.
And this week - as the local boy prepares to take on his idol on Thursday night - they're worth listening to because every once in a while a tall tale isn't just outlandish and unbelievable.
It's actually true.
Burlington's tallest tale is a Cowboy story
Posted: Nov. 25, 2007
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Mike Nichols
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]E-MAIL
[/FONT]
Burlington - They love an outlandishly tall tale here.
This is, after all, the hometown of the world-renowned Burlington Liars Club.
Love a can't-be-true, million-to-one yarn so much they make plaques out of them and hang them on downtown buildings.
The one at City Hall is a classic. It's about the winter it got so incredibly cold they actually spotted a politician with his hands in his own pockets.
There's never been a tale around here, however, like the one unfolding this week, when the 10-1 Packers are slated to take on the 10-1 Cowboys.
Advertisement
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adsonar_placementId=1266526;adsonar_pid=527757;adsonar_ps=1371709;adsonar_zw=300;adsonar_zh=150;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com';
It's about a kid, says Fred Mabson, a local restaurant owner, who "had no advantage in any way, shape or form. His parents were not wealthy."
Just, said the boy's former high school football coach, Steve Gerber, "very loving."
He grew up in a little house in a nondescript part of town across from the old cemetery, which seemed sort of apt.
In an age when we tell kids they have to specialize in a sport by the age of 5, have the best gyms and the best fields and the best nutrition programs or have no chance at all, this is the sort of place where dreams die.
Not with this kid.
This kid was just a typical boy, a little "hyper" actually, said his sixth grade phy-ed teacher, Rick Koceja. "Very active."
"Got in his share of trouble," but knew "when to settle down."
Just a "nice hometown kid" whom nobody expected to end up in the NFL, said Rick's wife, Nancy. How could they? For the longest time, he didn't even play football.
He played soccer until his freshman year in high school, said Burlington High School Athletic Director Eric Burling. And even then, he was better known as a basketball guy - a "gym rat."
Yes, said Burling, he was a good athlete. But not one who got much notice from the big schools. Ended up playing football at Eastern Illinois. Didn't even get a full scholarship.
"No one," said Burling, "would have suspected what he has done now."
Now, said Burling, people are ordering retro Burlington High School football gear all the way from France. People from Seattle to New York are sending money for Burlington jerseys with Romo's old high school number, 16, on them. They want to know where the NFL's latest star came from. Want to pretend they come from here as well. And who wouldn't?
Tony Romo - the kid who somehow settled down into a job as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys - recently signed a contract worth $67 million. That's enough, the Burlington Standard Press pointed out, to buy $3 "sliders" at Mabson's place for 22 million of his closest friends.
Nowadays, of course, everybody wants to be Romo's friend. He hangs out with starlets, which cracks the old friends up. They go down to Dallas to visit and end up getting hugs from Jessica Simpson.
There are only 10,000 people in Burlington. Things like this aren't supposed to happen here.
This is Packers land, and always will be. But it's also a place where little kids parade around in Romo jerseys. Men are cutting Packer hats in half and sewing them to Cowboy lids. Everybody has a story about Romo - a good one.
And this week - as the local boy prepares to take on his idol on Thursday night - they're worth listening to because every once in a while a tall tale isn't just outlandish and unbelievable.
It's actually true.
