Thursday, March 21, 2013

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for the clearing out of the inbox.

We start with a topic of a previous post and the closing of the Gibbles Chip company.
The local icon closing its doors gave the area its own version of the Twinkies trail run and was a sad day for many fans of their various products.
I did grab three bags and yet to bring myself to eat them.
I suppose I can delude myself into thinking they truly are not gone as long as I have them around.

In my other hometown in Ashland,Ohio,the Hedstrom Ball and toy company have moved into and taken over an Wal-Mart,a JC Penney and a few other stores from an strip mall.
I remember when the shopping area was built in 1990 when Wal-Mart first hit the area and was abandoned when a newer Wal-Mart superstore was built in another area of the town.
I think these types of "recycling" are great ideas and kudos to Hedstrom and the city for doing it!

Speaking of Hedstrom,I just picked up another G2 Air football made by the company.
The football made in the 1970's was the best non leather ball that I had as a child and I look forward to taking the new to my annual cookout this summer for friends and family...

ESPN takes a look at the end of the original Big East tournament,which is returning to its roots as a basketball-centric conference.
The basketball schools managed to keep the name and the status of their conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in the terms of their split with the football schools of the league.
The Big East announced yesterday the additions of Butler,Creighton and Xavier to the league to raise the number of teams to ten....

Marlins prospect Andrew Heaney did a Q and A with the official site of minor league baseball.
Heaney was the Marlins first pick in last season's draft and was the pitcher that shutdown the Hagerstown Suns in last season's playoff game at the Muni....

Two recent passing of interest

Former Oklahoma quarterback Steve Davis was killed in a plane crash,when the small plane that he was riding in smashed into three homes in Indiana.
Davis was the engineer of the powerhouse Sooner Wishbone that led Oklahoma to back to back national titles in 1974 and 1975.
Davis was sixty years of age...

Ruth Ann Steinhagen passed at the age of 83 in Chicago.
Who was Ruth Ann Steinhagen?
She was the disturbed fan that shot Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus in 1949 and the incident was the inspiration for the book and later film The Natural.
Steinhagen was declared insane,served three years at an psychiatric institution and after her release,faded into the background and never again had further problems.... 

Two more interesting articles on not quite stars of the past from Hardball Times.
Rico Carty,the "Beeg Mon" of the late 70's Indians as the epitome of the aging player that can swing the stick and do little else,gets an article looking at his sweet swing.
I always compared Carty to Julio Franco as players that could fall out of bed at 65 and swat a double off the wall.

Jim Ray Hart was a cornerstone of those late 60's Giants teams that always looked to have the best team in the league as far as talent,but always fell short.
Hart's article looks at a talented player that had issues with alcohol and saw his skills fade quickly...

No comments: