I know we have all either watched or heard of the show on the Food Network, “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” hosted by Guy Fieri (you know the guy that has the spiky blonde hair, sunglasses and drives the old car). We all watch that show and think, “Wow that looks really good, I’m going to ride to New Mexico and try that!!” There is something about seeing food on television that makes us think we have to have that, when in all honesty we will probably have gone 2,000 miles for something that was just okay. I realized it had to be the television effect this past spring when I decided to take a trip with my parents up to Charlotte to try out The Penguin, after seeing it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I had never been there before and thought, “I’m going to eat here so that I can go home and brag about how I have been there and how great it was.” If only it had played out the way I imagined it in my mind. When I got there I ordered the Penguin burger with fries and a coke, and just a few minutes later my order that I was going to brag about to my friends when I got home arrived at my table. While the burger wasn’t bad, it didn’t live up to what I had built it up to be in my mind. It was not that much longer when I started to daydream and started wishing instead of riding an hour away to eat this burger, I had just stayed in Spartanburg and went somewhere closer to home. It was on that way home that I started a discussion with my dad about what places we could have eaten at that day instead. It was at that point when I realized, why travel anywhere else when some of the greatest Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives are right here in my own town. The first place that came to my mind was the Beacon, I thought “If only I would have been walking and talking and ordered myself a chili cheeseburger a-plenty, I would have been more satisfied and an hour closer to home.” Then I started thinking “Or if only I had just called up Jed and Richard and we could have went to the NuWay and I could have ordered a Redneck cheeseburger. That would have been really good today.” My mind then started to think, “Had we not rode all the way up here today, I could have tried the Wall of Fame burger challenge at Ike’s Grill or got a couple of hot dogs from Holme’s Hot Dogs.” If I could do cardio at the pace that my mind was thinking of places to eat in Spartanburg, I would be writing this blog at 175 pounds right now. The discussion kept on going during the whole ride back home as we brought up Sugar and Spice, Boots and Sonny’s, The Skillet, Carolina Barbeque, Papa's Breakfast Nook and many, many more. As we got closer to home and approached the Highway 221 exit off of I-85, I began to realize that it is amazing how we take having so many great places to eat in our town for granted. We see so many of these places on television that we “have to try” that we forget that in our very own backyard we have so many restaurants that out of the area people consider destination restaurants. I know that when we watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and shows like it, we are still going to see places that we “have to try” but in the back of my mind I’ll be saying, “If you think that’s good food, you should come to Spartanburg.”
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So many times we hear about great players that come along through our area, we hear the legends of how great of a player they were in high school and how we missed our chance to see them once they have moved on to college ball or even into the professional ranks. As a kid growing up in the 90’s I often was told of the legendary plays that Stephen Davis would make as a running back at Spartanburg High School but I never got an opportunity to see him play. The first real player like that, that I remember seeing play in person, was Anthony Simmons when I got to watch him play in the State Championship game against Dorman in Death Valley. It was a performance that as a kid I remember thinking “I will never forget watching this guy play in high school.” The special players are the ones that make you remember seeing them play, even though they may have gone on to bigger successes, seeing them excel in front of a high school crowd somehow makes you feel like you are part of a special group, a group that only a few will ever get the privilege to be a part of. Over the years I have been blessed to be able to continue to get to see some great players play sports in this area, whether it was Marcus Lattimore at Byrnes, Sidney Rice at Gaffney, DJ Moore at Broome, or even Debo Samuel at Chapman, the list could go on forever. I am thankful to have great friends who also get to see these players play and can give me a heads up when I need to take an opportunity to go and see one of these players. I’ve decided to use this blog to let you know about two players that you should take the time to check out before they’ve moved on to play at the next level.
Deion Holmes, Chesnee Basketball: Deion is one of those type of basketball players that only come around once in a blue moon in this area. He is up for consideration as a McDonald’s High School All-American and he is also currently on pace to be the second leading scorer in the history of high school basketball in the state of South Carolina. He is such a great scorer that even on a night when he finishes a game with 35 points, you sometimes find yourself making the comment of “he had an off night”. For most players a thirty-five point night may be a career night but not when you talk about Deion. I know that we live in an area that isn’t what you would call a “basketball area” but trust me it is well worth the trip up Highway 221 to Chesnee to see this kid play basketball. Tavien Feaster, Spartanburg Football: Tavien Feaster is another amazing running back from a school that seems to always have great running backs. Feaster will be entering his senior year this upcoming football season and a lot of colleges will be calling this fall trying to make one last plea for him to join their football program. Over his two years of playing football, Feaster has totaled 4,321 all-purpose yards. He not only is an outstanding football player but he also excels at track and field, winning 4A state championships in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. If you have yet to see him play a game on the football field, you should reserve your tickets for next season, because it’s a show you don’t want to miss. While there is always a new crop of good players coming along each year, there are very few times when you get the opportunity to see great players. Deion Holmes and Tavien Feaster are two of those players. I often get asked by friends, “how good of a player was that person in high school?” and I have to try and explain how exceptional of a high school athlete that they were. Take my advice and go and watch these two players play, don’t be the one asking “how good of a player were they in high school” but be in that select group that gets to say, “You should have seen them play in high school.” |
JamesBoiling Springs native, lover of sports and food. 15x SC Press Association Award Winner. I do some sports writing and radio every now and then. Archives
April 2020
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