Peaches: 100,000-plus
Teddy: 1
While one streak continued this week -- Tuesday night the National League lost its 143rd All Star Game in a row (and I didn't see ONE PITCH!?) -- a personal and painful peachless streak ended.
Louisiana Tech photographer Donny Crowe stood in line for an hour Saturday at Mitchum's Peach Orchard and came away with a sack of peaches. Thanks to Donny, I had my first peach of the peach season. I kept the pit; might have it bronzed. And I take back all the bad things I've ever said about Donny.
********
This week's Sports Illustrated has a 1969 Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver (shown here in 1970; love this picture) on its cover. The mag honors the Miracle Mets and catches us up on some others who celebrate anniversaries, in '59, '79, '89 and on like that....A neat twist: Featured are Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon and NFL Hall of Famer Lance Alworth. The tie of both to Ruston is more than just Cannon's being from Baton Rouge and Alworth from Mississippi and later, one of the greatest Arkansas Razorbacks of all time. Back in the late '50s, Pat Garrett of Ruston was a sprinter, a star of Ruston High's state championship track and field team, and he raced against both. He lost to Cannon a couple of times, once running for Louisiana Tech against LSU's Cannon at the Florida Relays. Garrett (semi-retired, a former head of Tech's English Department, still a Tech professor and still an early-morning runner) could beat Cannon for 90 yards but Cannon was fast AND huge and strong and could catch Garrett at the wire. In Shreveport at the Byrd track, Garrett beat Alworth in a match of Louisiana's fastest and Mississippi's fastest.
A couple of weeks ago Garrett, whose dad Hoss is a Louisiana Sports Writers Association Hall of Famer, and LSWA HOF member Cannon were talking just before the start of the organization's annual banquet. They were at the back of the Natchitoches Events Center and in a few minutes both would be needed up front for the Walk of Stars, the traditional beginning to the program. Cannon told Garrett, "OK, I'll go on up here and see you in a minute. I'll catch you at the wire."
And Garrett signed and smiled and said, "Well, you always do..."
*********************
My own personal mother ("Sweeter") called this week to alert me that Chick-Fil-A has great milkshakes. She'd just knocked out a peach one; she knows I love a milkshake.
I knew this, knew Chick-Fil-A had great storebought shakes. Wonderful on-the-go shakes. And there's even a Chick-Fil-A on the Louisiana Tech campus! The problem? It doesn't have a milkshake machine. My mission now: find out why, get this injustice changed, develop a milkshake mainline between me and the on-campus machine. My MOM is even trying to make some calls to get this problem straightened out. Anything you can do to help, feel free...
Hope you have a fun day...
