In 1979 I read a book entitled “The Bronx Zoo” by Sparky Lyle. It was basically a diary of the Yankees 1978 season. On April 13, 1978, the Reggie! candy bar was released and given to all the fans that came to the game that day. Well, Reggie Jackson hit a home run in the game and as he was trotting the bases, the fans began throwing the candy bars on the field. Umps had to halt the game so they could be cleaned up. Kids were running out of the stands and carrying off as many as they could hold. Some fell in the bullpen, Ken Holtzman grabbed one, ripped it open and he said it tasted like cowflop.
I hope this effort by the CCC works for them. Who’s ready to plop down $30 for 12 granola bars? I think everyone should bring one to throw on the field the first time the Dawgs score a TD at home this season. (not really but, what a sight that would be!)
Loran, whaddaya got? Loran Smith gets nostalgic about Erk Russell in a great read. “There’s nothing like being a Bulldog on Saturday night.”
Go Dawgs!
Loran’s article strikes home with me on a couple of points. I had a high school teammate who was All SEC in the 1970s at UGA. He played on the O-line, but told me that they all loved Coach Russell and were equally afraid of Coach Dooley. Vince wasn’t the grandfatherly type back then that he appeared to become much later. He was a real-life Marine Corp officer and was total business.
Never a ga. southern fan, an Erk Russell fan to the bone, so paying attention to game day finals during Coach Russell’s time there was common, the one game that touched mine Red and Black soul was the 2013 beat down by ga. southern vs FU in 2013 @ that shit hole in hogtown…#FTMF!!
Otis – great post! These are the stuff that blogs are made of.
“If you don’t have the best of everything, make the best of everything you have.”
“If we score, we may win. If they never score, we’ll never lose.”
“Screw Florida and the mule they rode in here on.” ….Learn it, live it, love it!…GO DAWGS!!
“Today’s sermon is about the hereafter. If you’re not here after what I’m here after, I’ll be here long after you’re gone!!!”
Classic, Otis! Mine came from one of Erk’s legendary player calendars.
Serious question – has anyone tried the vodka that supports the CCC? That may be as close as I get to supporting a collective if it’s good.
it’s ok. I mean, it’s vodka….it can only be so good. You know?
You better listen to him, Flounder. He’s in pre med.
Said differently, is it worth $26.99 for a bottle? If so, I’ll probably go buy 1.
Price is relative, but I wouldn’t pay that for a bottle unless it was signed by Nick Chubb or Reggie Ball
Maybe they’ll have a Reggie Ball Special: You think you’re buying 3 but the 4th one is included.
This is a black day for baseball.
I enjoyed the Bronx Zoo book a lot back then, and must admit it shaped my opinions of Don Sutton and Reggie Jackson as not great teammates, and Nettles as a hell of a player. I thought Ball Four was a much better book though.
<i>Ball Four</i> was hilarious. Sometimes hilarious means exaggerating and bending the truth. I’ll never know for sure, but it seemed more truthful to me.
As a kid, I was enamored with those Yankee teams of the late 70s. The Braves didn’t win anything until 1982 so, couldn’t count on them to win anything then. I watched those World Series wins, Jackson knocking 3 straight over the fence on 3 straight pitches. The battles with the Red Sox. I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for the Yankees now. And, Ball Four didn’t have a candy bar reference, so how could it be better? 😉
Maybe it didn’t have candy bars, but it did teach a 10 year old me about “shooting beavers”.
“The Braves didn’t win anything until 1982…”
Anything is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I think they won the NL East title under Luman Harris before being swept in the playoff. Not much, but something.
Correction – it was the NL West. I forgot that error of geography at the time.
that was probably before I was old enough to notice!
Yep, the 1969 Braves were legit. Should have been in the WS except for the stupid playoffs that were invented that season. I have a copy of the program of the playoff game (went with my dad). It has a replica of the lunar lander leg on home plate with a baseball player stepping off. ”One small step for the Atlanta Braves…”
Ball Four was a great read, especially to 9th grade me.
When I was in high school, coach Russell used to frequent the business I worked as a part timer quite often. I don’t think I’ve ever met a man with more charisma in all my 62 years on earth. No wonder he got every ounce of effort out of all those undersized Junkyard Dawgs back in the day, and won so many championships in Statesboro.
The fact that he isn’t in the CFB Hall of Fame is criminal.
BTW, how old is Loran? Glad he’s still writing, but he’s got to be up there.
That’s a hard no on the granola bars.