I’m not exactly sure of the year, but it was several years ago – way before we had turf at the stadium – but we were in the so called “new stadium” for a Howard Payne football game against someone one night. The game started and progressed like any other game but as we got into the second half of the ballgame (I remember absolutely nothing about the game, even who we were playing) all of a sudden I looked at the visitor’s side as the fans all got up and left. I’m calling the ballgame on the radio and I’m just thinking to myself, “What the heck is going on?” A few minutes later, they all came back in the stands. I’m thinking, you know, they’re playing a trick on someone, or it’s a routine of some kind, or something they were doing for their team. Anyway, after they get back into their seats, I look down to my left and I see all of the fans down in that section, on the home side, get up and walk out of the stadium. I continued doing the ballgame and they came back. I’m just bumfuzzled! I have no earthly idea what’s going on. Then, down to my right, all the people get up and they depart the stadium. After about five minutes or so they come back. I finally just gave up and decided well, whatever it is, it’s over.
I had about three guys in my booth helping me that night and I notice behind me the door opens and all of them get up and leave. Then I notice the people in the booth next to me, they get up and leave. I can’t see what’s happening downstairs. Anyway, after the guys come back we have a time out in the game. I took my headphones off and I said, “What the heck is going on out there?” They said, “They had a bomb scare and they were evacuating the stadium.” I said, “A bomb scare! Get one of the policemen to come up here.” So, at the next time out on the field, the policeman came up and he said, “Mr. Huston did you need something?” I said, “Yeah, how come y’all are evacuating everyone up here and you didn’t take me out?” His replay was, “We didn’t want to interfere with the broadcast.”
So I was a survivor of the bomb scare of 1970 something, maybe 1980 something. But it is something that when you get one, I mean a phone call to the police station or a phone call to the stadium that says anything about a gun or a bomb or anything like that, be thankful that we have a terrific police department and a police department that’s going to do everything in their power to protect you. I didn’t say anything about protecting ME, but hopefully they will work on that in the future.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].