5 Things We Know On A Sunday – “The Cobra” Gets Called Up, Ultimate Summer Roadside Food, Greatest Summertime Beers, Banana Ball Rocks, Plus We Make Wiffle Ball Great Again

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5 Things We Know On A Sunday

1. Whether they played for your favorite team or not, seeing the passing of sports stars from your youth sting a little bit at my age. Here’s to Pittsburgh Pirate Dave Parker. The Cobra passed away Saturday at the young age of 74. And yes. When you read a certain point in life, 74 seems really young. One of my favorite era of MLB during the late 70s. The Rangers weren’t good, or on TV often, so you watched national teams. The Pirates World Series win in 1979 over Baltimore may have been the greatest uniform combo all-time and it gave us the slogan “We Are Family”. Too young, Cobra, too young! Enjoy this video. The announcers alone featured here are worth the price of admission if you were a kid in the 70s.80s.

2. Depending on how you grew up, one of the great things about going on vacation might have been pulling over to the side of the road and having a picnic lunch. You’ll never eat better than sitting on a fallen tree, next to a river on your way into the mountains on a summer day. The cold fried chicken, pork and beans out of the can and maybe a candy bar and a cold Shasta Cola are impossible to beat. I feel bad for folks who got cheated out of that experience!

3. Top Three Beers That Just Taste Better In The Summer: No. 3. Tecate. Don’t ask me why, it just does. Also, it’s mandatory you have chips and salsa when having a Tecate. Cans only. No. 2. Shiner’s Orale! If you’ve never had it, give it a try. No. 1. Rolling Rock. One of my first favorite summer ales and still is. I only enjoy it when it’s hot outside. For the most part. “From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe…33”

4. The Savannah Bananas continue to fascinate me as they take over the sports landscape this summer. Playing now in sold-out football stadiums, Banana Ball is teaching other teams and leagues a valuable lesson. At the end of the day, folks want to have fun. That’s it. Make it fun. Make it enjoyable and give folks their money’s worth. From college to pro, you can’t always control the outcome of the game, but you can completely control the experience of the fan from start to finish. No one understood this better than longtime Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage Jr. Team Owners and colleges need to go to school on why they’re so popular and incorporate what they can.

5. If you gave me a few days to get my arm in shape, I’m pretty sure I could strike out a couple of Texas Rangers hitters playing Wiffle Ball. The great game of summer. I’m not sure if many kids still play it, but it was a staple almost every day for me and my brother and friends for several years. We need to look into putting together an adult Wiffle Ball League in Lubbock. The biggest debate would be whether to allow the Big Red Bat or go purist with the skinny yellow bat. Also, we’d have to decide on which ball to use. The one with holes all around or the one with half the ball solid plastic. Both were lethal in the hands of an expert. And of course, the folding lawn chair will be the catcher and serve as the strike zone. And as adults now, we can make use of this week’s #3 Thing!!!

Hyatt

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