The Piss Prophet (a exert anecdote from my Dancing in the Shadows autobiography)

Around the mid 1960s, Dr. Cade, a scientist from the University of Florida, was in the process of finalizing his formula for his athletic drink, later named Gatorade. Now, of course, he and his drink are world famous, but back then, he needed some supporting testimony about not only its effect, but also about its taste. That’s where a few of us Gator football players came into the picture—as human guinea pigs.

One game, while Jim Benson, Bruce Bennett and I were sitting at the end of the sideline bench, Dr. Cade approached with a Dixie cup full of a liquid. He first asked Benson to taste some of it. Benson tasted it and replied, “This doesn’t taste too bad at all.” Next, he pours a little more and offers me the same concoction. I, on the other hand, said (after gargling it a bit) “This stuff tastes like piss,” and poured the rest over my head to cool me off (technically, the first Gatorade shower). Dr. Cade quickly moved to Bruce, who responds after his taste test with, “Gee, Larry, this doesn’t taste like that at all.” That year, Sports Illustrated printed my quote, substituting letter blanks for the last three letters of the last word. (I know, I know, not much of a claim to fame–certainly not my allotted 15 minutes of fame.

A couple years ago, the University of Florida did a tribute to Dr. Cade. My wife and I were invited. He mentioned that in his favorite chapter in his memoir he named “The Piss Prophet,” he felt Larry Gagner’s input was impart responsible for its naming. He brought the house down with laughter when he said he took to heart what Larry Gagner had said about its taste, and having never actually tasted piss before, “weed” into a Dixie cup, stuck his finger into it, did the taste test by licking it, and exclaimed, “This doesn’t at all taste like my Gatorade.” I thought the resulting laughter would continue forever.

FYI: Admittedly, I can’t ever recall having tasted piss outright before either).

PS: It’s nice to know that I was slightly instrumental in helping such an intellectual like Dr. Cade (but, yet, such a regular guy) come up with such an appropriate title to such a significant chapter. We love you, Doc. The Gator Nation mourns the passing of such a triple threat, Renaissance man: scientist, violinist and poet (plus antique Studebaker collector extraordinaire).