Not your usual boring selection show

College football in the beer hall: And the four finalists for the Lombardi Awardare ...

Jake Kirkpatrick gives the Lombardi finalists a Texas feel.
The Lombardi Award was there for all to see at Saint Arnold.
Auburn's Nick Fairley is a sack master for the No. 2-ranked team in collegefootball.

It's hard to imagine there ever having been an awards selection show before quite like the one held in Saint Arnold's beer hall Wednesday night.

Certainly, not in the often staid, strict, traditional world of college football honors.

But there was the Lombardi Award trophy sitting on the long bar for anyone to come up and examine, free pizza and beer being served to the guests who found their way in on a rainy evening, new Lombardi Award T-shirts and hats being sold and sports radio station 1560 The Game broadcasting live from the corner. And the Houstonians who showed (and asked) got to hear the four finalists for the 41st Lombardi Award — named after legendary coach Vince Lombardi and given to the best college lineman in the country every year since 1970 — before even the players themselves.

Auburn defensive lineman Nick Fairley, Clemson defensive end Da'Quan Bowers, Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn and TCU center Jake Kirkpatrick are the four final, paired down from the 12 semifinalists announced earlier. All four of the finalists will come to Houston for the Lombardi Award's college-football-award unique two days of activities and events, Dec. 7 and 8, and one will join a list of winners that includes a long list of NFL impact players — Warren Sapp (1994), Orlando Pace (1995) and Ndamukong Suh, last year's winner, among them.

Of course, some of the folks who made it to Saint Arnold were just hoping that this beer hall reveal will become a Lombardi Award tradition as well.

"We just heard about it and thought it'd be something cool to do," said Mike Adams who went with his buddy Justin Beard. "We had no idea that there'd be free beer. I think a lot more people will come next year if they do it again."

The Lombardi Award is trying a number of new things this year to increase the visibility of Houston's longtime college football award in the city it's always called home. Besides the finalists reveal at Saint Arnold (a first), the award itself will be handed out at a theater setting in the George R. Brown Convention for the first time as well. In the first 40 years of its existence, the Lombardi Award was presented at a dinner. This year, $25 student tickets are also being offered. (A regular ticket runs $100 with all-event ticket packages set at $2,500 for multiple guests).

Vicki Brentin, the chair of the Rotary Lombardi Award, stood back, taking in the scene at Saint Arnold, pleased that the finalists selection event brought out a crowd that included members of the Rotary Club of Houston (a club whose own history dates back to 1912) and regular college football fans. Guys in suits mingled with people in T-shirts.

Brentin couldn't wait to call Fairley's position coach at Auburn, Tracy Rocker. Rocker knows a thing or two about the Lombardi Award, having won it in 1988 and Brentin got his cellphone number as soon as she heard that a Tiger had made the final four.

With Auburn and TCU players among the Lombardi Award finalists, the second and third-ranked teams in the country are represented. The inclusion of TCU's Jake Kirkpatrick could draw some Horned Frogs fans to Houston for the December event. This is the second straight year — and the second time ever — that a TCU player made the Lombardi Award final four, another sign of the program's increased acceptance as a major player among college football's BCS big boys.

This isn't the Heisman Trophy. But, in way, that's part of the point. From the beginning, the Lombardi Award has been set up so all net proceeds go to the American Cancer Society and the four finalists visit kids at local hospitals every year.

"There's only one award that brings in the players for two full days of events," said Debbie Elias of Elias Events, which aims to bring more of a wow factor to the award presentation itself — including plans for a 20-foot tall replica of the trophy that was carved out of pink granite.

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washed out

Houston DJs remember pioneering music store that's closing after 50 years

Photo by Craig D. Lindsey

Soundswaves announced its imminent closure on Saturday, April 25.

The parking lot of the Soundwaves on 3509 Montrose was well-populated on Saturday, April 25. Earlier in the day, the record/skate/surf shop announced on Instagram that the store would be closing soon and all the merchandise was 50 percent off. Of course, people showed up to grab as many items – LPs, T-shirts, skate shoes – as they could, waiting in line as longtime owner Jeff Spargo rang up customers one-by-one.

Soundwaves was once Houston’s mightiest independent record-store chain, with locations all over the city (its South Main location was frequented by hip-hop heads like the late DJ Screw and famed producer/ex-employee DJ Premier). It all started in 1970 when a then-19-year-old Jeff Spargo opened the Inland Surf Shop in Westbury. Seven years later, he would open up his first Soundwaves near Hobby Airport. He would later merge surfing and sounds when he launched the Montrose location in 1997. An official closing date has yet to be announced, and CultureMap was unable to reach Spargo for comment.

As the new millennium introduced streaming-music platforms that made physical media almost obsolete, record chains like Soundwaves were on the decline. The Montrose store – once a prime destination for local and visiting DJs, with its overwhelming, eclectic selection of vinyl and CDs – would eventually become the last one standing.

We asked a few of the city’s finest spinners if they have memories of stocking up at that location and/or other Soundwaves spots:

Emdee “DJ Kool Emdee” Anderson: “I used to frequent it very often. I remember when DJ Premier used to work at the original Main St. location. And when No More Mr. Nice Guy [from his hip-hop group Gang Starr] was released, he put copies of the album in the front of every record slot. I joke with him about that when I see him.

“That location was a hangout spot for DJs and producers. I got a number of gigs by helping others with music suggestions.”

Kris Stivers: “I have tons of memories (and spent tons of money on records). I was there all the time – practically every location. I introduced my sister to a buddy of mine who worked there and, now, he’s my brother-in-law. My sister then got a job at the Montrose location. She called me once from the store and put Questlove on the phone. I met Little Brother and other artists there. I miss those days.”

GrandfatherCLOC: “I met Blind Rob and Devin The Dude at the one on Gessner & 59. I still have a Soundbombing II T-shirt from when The ARE was working at South Main.

“The most memorable was meeting DJ Theory from [KTRU radio show] 12" Sub, a few years after it was off the air, at the one on Montrose. I heard one of the employees speaking and was like, that's Theory's voice!”

Jason “Flash Gordon Parks” Woods: “I went to all the locations. One of my fondest memories was finding Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s Starbooty and feeling like Steel in Juice.”

Jason “DJ Burb” Rodgers: “I only went to the one on Main. I used to go there every Tuesday after getting out of class at UH-D to listen to some new releases in the listening booths.”

Jason Graeber: “I remember all the great music lovers who worked there. Chris and Brandon always knew about the new EDM artists that were coming out. Bucky was great at introducing people to new rock and underground music. Before you had online influencers, the kids at the record stores drove what people listened to. I remember walking in and checking the end caps from my favorite employees to see what new music they were recommending. I feel that this is something that is missing and why it is harder for great bands to get traction.”

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