John Werner, who has lived and worked in Waco, Texas, for decades, was asked earlier this week what the odds were for Chip and Joanna Gaines attending Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl game between the Baylor Bears and Georgia Bulldogs.
“Very high,” said Werner, who has covered sports for the Waco Tribune-Herald for 37 years. “They’re at most high-profile events where the Bears are playing. And they’ll probably be shown on TV more than Kirby Smart and Matt Rhule combined.”
Ah, yes, the stars of the wildly popular HGTV real-estate show “Fixer Upper” are bona fide celebrities these days. And while they stay extremely busy running their ever-growing Magnolia Homes enterprise and raising their five kids, there are no bigger fans of the Baylor Bears.
Both Chip (BBA 1998) and Joanna (BBA 2001) are Baylor alums and donors. And they make it a point to get to as many Bears games as possible, “especially the big ones,” Werner said.
This Sugar Bowl is a big one for the Bears. Two years removed from a 1-11 season and a scandal that brought down former coach Art Briles, Baylor is playing in the Sugar Bowl for the first time since 1957 and seeking its first 12-win season.
Neither Chip nor Joanna was available for comment, but one of their publicists confirmed they would, in fact, be in New Orleans for Wednesday night's game.
“Yes. Chip and Jo will be there,” John Marsicano said in an email reply to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Not available for comment, unfortunately. Sic ’em Bears! And Happy New Year!”
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