NASCAR silly season keeps getting earlier. The Ol’ Sports Talker is having a good Summer!
Now that Tony Stewart has left Joe Gibbs Racing, Speculation is that Ryan Newman will join Stewart in Stewart-Hass Racing in 2009. Don Miller (Penske’s #2 guy) crafted Ryan Newman in the image of Mark Donohue. Pretty soon drivers will be jumping teams week to week, if this trend continues.
Billy Packer is leaving CBS sports after calling his Final Four this past March. 34 straight Final Fours. What a record. I still remember back in 1979 he said that Indiana State had no right being #1 in the country in basketball. This made me mad and gave me a grudge that I still harbor to this day. I was at Indiana State at the time with Larry Bird. His son, Mark Packer, has the drive-time slot here in Charlotte on sports talk radio, WFNZ. I imagine that Billy will still do ACC games with Ray-com Sports.
David Stein of Sporting News Radio made me think back to my youth. He brought up that the annual MLB All-Star game was a special “snack time”. Growing up with a middle class family, it was true in my house. My parents would get French Onion dip and wavy potato chips and Hawaiian Punch for us kids to enjoy the All-Star game. This was a special treat for us. This was the only time we would get to see “those” players in the American League. The only other time we got to see the other National League players was when they played the Cincinnati Reds. Not like today where you can turn on TV and see anyone of a dozen games per day.
My Dad worked for Connersville-Roots Blower Company. They bought all their lumber from Shields Lumber in Cincinnati, Ohio. Every year, a representative from Shields would come in and he would get free tickets to a Reds game. Vada Pinson was my favorite player even over Pete Rose. I can remember taking my glove to a game in hopes of catching a fly ball. I never did.
Now a days, I’m kind of jaded by the game of baseball. Striking players, lock out by owners and cancellation of World Series will do that. I much rather go tot a AAA game than see the prima donnas play ball. But baseball will forever be part of my Summers. I think I will go see the Knights play in the next few weeks. Nothing like a hot Summer night under the lights watching someone play baseball. Where did put my glove?
I can still remember having a conversation with a friend of mine in the 6th grade. Steve Waddell was his name. One day, we were walking home from Frazee elementary school and I saw his notebook. On his notebook he had drawn a logo of the New York Mets! NY Mets! In my small world called Connersville, I thought that everyone was a Cincinnati Reds fan. When I asked him why the Mets, he said that this was his Dad’s team. (Little did I know that the Mets would win the 1969 World Series.) Maybe this is what baseball and sports in general, is all about. Passing on your likes to your children.
I am going to make a pitch for an organization. The organization is the Boys and Girls Club of America. Growing up in Connersville, Indiana, there weren’t a lot for young guys to do. There was a YMCA, but it was costly to join. I belonged to the Cub Scouts, but never made the transition to Boy Scouts. Then the Boys Club of Fayette County opened. They had hand me down pool tables, ping pong tables, a big TV. I lived there on Saturdays. I’d ride my bike there on Saturday mornings and not return until it was time for dinner. Or during the Summer, when I wasn’t playing ball or swimming, you could find me there. Today, it’s still a good place for kids to go and have fun. Most are supported through United Way, but if you get a chance to give back, either with money or time, please do so.
Until next time, I’ll be the old guy in the bleachers with his glove. This is the Ol’ Sports Talker saying, be and athletic supporter!
