The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — Cheers and cat calls erupted from the crowd as the longtime rivals took the stage.

They eyed each other for the briefest of seconds before Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough and Texas City attorney Ron Plackemeier clasped each other in a bear hug.

As the judge announced the names of other candidates, the crowd of hundreds remained fixed on Yarbrough and Plackemeier arranging paper towels and two bottles of water.

After all, there’s is a rivalry of legendary proportions. Yarbrough is a University of Texas graduate and former football captain. Plackemeier is a Texas A&M graduate and former yell leader. The two have been building a rivalry since the day they shook hands.

On Saturday, the two sat, side by side, Aggie by Longhorn, to face off in Texas City’s shrimp-eating competition.

Yarbrough in a burnt orange T-shirt and Plackemeier in a maroon apron wiped beads of sweat from their faces as announcer George Fuller read the rules.

“You must peel your shrimp,” he said, twice for the sake of Plackemeier who was rumored to be considering eating the shrimp whole.

And with the buzzer, they were off peeling and trying to shove three pounds of shrimp into their mouths.

The competition was tough. Contestant Stacy David appeared to be off to a good start, piling up a large stack of shells in the top half of her Styrofoam container after only five minutes. Yarbrough peeled, ate, peeled, ate and sipped water. Plackemeier peeled, peeled, peeled, then shoved a handful of pink shellfish into his mouth.

“Holy smokes, these shrimp are flying!” Fuller yelled into his microphone.

The crowd cheered. A slight smell of Cajun spice hung in the air. No contestant dared stop to wipe their fingers.

“That’s it!” Fuller yelled, as the buzzer sounded.

Yarbrough leaned back in his chair; Plackemeier froze, shrimp still poking from between his lips.

Contestants were shuffled offstage as judges weighed their Styrofoam containers.

“Oh it was tough,” Yarbrough admitted offstage. “The shrimp were delicious, but I swear there were more. Or maybe I’m just getting slow. I finished all of them last year. I’m embarrassed of myself.”

Minutes went by and the contestants were called back to the front of the room.

“The reigning champion is still the champion!” announced Bill Carroway of sponsor Associated Credit Union. “Judge Yarbrough once again is the champion of Galveston County.”

Plackemeier grinned and shuffled the rest of the contestants away to let Yarbrough have his moment, while some contestants continue to joke that they were cheated out of victory.

“It’s not humanly possible to eat that many shrimp,” laughed Andy Mann, who’s running for Congress. “The only explanation is he’s an alien or somebody cheated.”

Plackemeier just shrugged.

“Hey, try again next year,” he said. “Republicans can’t beat him, and Aggies can’t beat him, either.”