As a gawkey 17 year old kid from southern West Virginia, being in the flatland oil fields of Oklahoma there was a lot to take in; a newly expanded football stadium, Skelly Stadium, named for the Skelly Oil Company and a brand new athletic dorm that carried the name of another prominent Tulsa family, LaFortune Hall. Oklahoma, where the wind comes blowing off the Plains, seemed like a pretty cosmopolitan place as compared to Fayette County, West Virginia .
Of all the shiny new skyscrapers, oil baron supporters, and dreams of gridiron grandeur, what has stayed with me most was Eddy's Steak House and my introduction to the Lebanese salad called tabouli. Eddy's, as many old line steakhouses had dozens of black and white photographs of celebrities and athletes that have dined in the establishment.The Tulsa Oilers minor league baseball team's field manager at this time was a former Major League favorite of mine, the great Warren Spahn. The Oilers were the AAA farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. Spahn was the best left handed pitcher in the history of major league baseball. This baseball Legend's photographs dominated the walls of greats and near greats that had dined there
One of the few and special nights I was able to have dinner while a student I was able to meet and shake hands with Mr. Spahn and his dinner companion and friend Stan Musial. Stan the Man was retired but still involved with the Cardinals Organization. Musial was once quoted as saying about his friend "Spahn will never get into the Hall of Fame because he will never stop pitching"
I have had a couple of occasions to be back in Tulsa since those days, each time I have found time to have dinner at the place that introduced me to what has become one of my favorite foods, tabouli.
In the late 80's, about 20 years later than the football recruiting trip. As Chairman of the West Virginia State Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators held a meeting in Tulsa which I was able to attend.
While there I met the Chairman of the Ohio State Senate Insurance Committee. He and I were invited to dinner by a couple of Insurance Lobbyists, so I suggested Eddy's to get my tabouli fix. The Ohio State Senator, Bob Ney later became a U.S. Congressman who gained national notoriety as the fall guy in the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal. My dinner companion that evening was sentenced to 30 months in Federal Prison of which the last few months were at the Federal Facility in Morgantown, West Virginia.Many years have past, two I met at Eddy's are in the Hall of Fame, one has brought great shame. My favorite food, the same.
Tabouli.
