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Consider the Oyster

October 12, 2014
Terry Vaughan

Last Friday the Tornadoes loaded up on the "yellow dog" and made the 3 1/2 hour journey to 5A Wakulla. By night's end, they carried back a 48-0 loss against perhaps the most talented team they will face all season. 

Wakulla is located just beyond Crawfordville and next door to Medart and Panacea. Just down the road in Franklin County lies Apalachicola, considered to be the nation's oyster capital. If you have ever partaken of one of these saltwater mollusks on a saltine with a bite of Tabasco, chances are that it came from Apalach. The fresher, the better. In fact, raw oysters are always meant to be consumed alive.

The next time you bring home a bushel of these popular delights, consider the time and sacrifice involved for your taste buds to enjoy the experience of slurping down one of these slippery creatures.

Oysters take forever to grow on the ocean bed. To produce a pearl, it typically involves 3 to 6 years of waiting. Oyster farmers place an irritant within the shell and the resulting white orb is the result of the oyster's defense mechanism as it fights to cover up the foreign object. 

Bradford currently finds itself stuck on the ocean floor,  fighting the irritant of a 1-6 season. It isn't easy to swallow for Tornado Nation as their team is  being eaten alive like an oyster perched on a soda cracker.

However, looking down from the press box area Friday night, I continue to see a team that fights hard with plenty of young talent on the field. Tornado fans need to be patient. There is reason to believe that there will be a shell of a future and a pearl will one day be on display.

Until then we can all shrug our shoulders and say "aw shucks". It is difficult sometimes to wait for the pearl.  

For Bradford fans who made the long journey to Crawfordville Friday night, hopefully they found the time to stop by a local restaurant and enjoy a dozen of Apalachicola's finest. While they were a long distance from home, it is comforting to know that Panacea is just down the road.