Ty Sherrell, Creative Director of UAN, sat down with Patrick Dougher in this UAN edition of The Six to take on light and more serious issues around Texas and the country.

The interview started out as a fun exchange between the two with banter about Big Tex, the giant statue at the Texas State Fair. The figure has gone through some major changes over the years, but has recently been renovated to stand tall at the fairgrounds again.

Big Tex started out in 1949 as the largest Santa Claus. In 1951 he officially became a cowboy. In 1952 he debuted for the first time at the fair. In 1953 he got a nose job and started to speak. In 1955 he got his new clothes. In 2002, he got an AARP card (turned 50) and they wanted him to age. In 2012 an electrical short caused the figure to burn down, but his death was only temporary. Sixty years after his first debut, Texas has a new and improved version of Big Tex to stand tall over the fairgrounds.

On a more serious note, Ty and Pat discussed the recent government shutdown, which caused 800,000 government workers to be sent home for 16 days without pay, most federal programs were shut down, parks and other governmental monuments were closed, and a series of other damage that still has not been assessed. This was irresponsible.

Why weren’t the people who were responsible for the shutdown held accountable and docked for their pay during this shutdown?

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