HEY, WILLLIE!
Can you explain to me why Mel Kiper Jr. is considered an NFL draft expert? His draft predictions are almost always wrong!
DON
HEY, DON!
But he recovers splendidly by giving you the latest draftee's birth weight, favorite color and the last four of his social security.
Mel Kiper’s earliest appearances on ESPN helped spawn a cottage industry within the run-up to the NFL Draft. Google the term “mock draft” and you’ll see what I mean. And shouldn’t there be a non-alcohol beer called Mock Draft?
HEY, WILLIE!
I agreed with the Miami Marlins’ decision to trade the big bats but I thought they would use the money they saved to hire a pitching staff. Having been involved in baseball for a long time, Derek Jeter should have learned what an old Yankee, Casey Stengel, said: “You don't need a lot of runs to win a baseball game but you gotta have 27 outs.”
BC
HEY, B!
Casey Stengel also famously asked, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” That, too, fits the current situation in Miami, as well as a few other places.
HEY, WILLIE!
Nice column on Felipe Alou! That’s exactly why I look forward to the News-Journal every morning. That’s a book I have to get.
KERMIT
HEY, KERMIT!
The book is called “Felipe Alou: My Baseball Journey,” and it grabs you with the very first sentence on the very first page.
“My last name is not Alou.”
All righty then. The family name is actually Rojas, but a 1956 mix-up led to 60-plus years of Alous in baseball.
I enjoyed the book because it was far from a normal baseball book, and from that initial grabber through Page 285, you learn a few things, which is cool, if you’re into that type of stuff. And he swings through Daytona Beach on a few pages.
HEY, WILLIE!
The column on Felipe Alou brought back good memories of the B&B Seafood on what was then Broadway Boulevard.
In addition to serving terrific fresh fish meals they would clean and filet your own fish that you spent the day catching. I always scored points at home with their takeout fried fish dinners.
BERT
HEY, BERT!
Ah, the good ol’ days, when a basket of fried shrimp and hushpuppies made everyone happy.
Felipe Alou's memory of the place was so sharp, he practically recalled the early-bird specials.
HEY, WILLIE!
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face. Your comment on the NASCAR page about bringing the boys to Islip Speedway brought back a lot of memories. I spent many a Saturday night at that track watching the Figure 8 races.
LONG ISLANDER
HEY, LONG!
I always said, if NASCAR had ever started a Figure 8 series, Jimmy Spencer would’ve been Richard Petty.
Back in the days when Wide World of Sports would show rodeo, skeet-shooting and alpine skiing (often in the same 90 minutes), they’d occasionally show Figure 8 races from Islip, and it was truly mesmerizing.
HEY, WILLIE!
Nice article on Stetson alum Davion Belk (Saturday’s News-Journal). I especially liked his “Tom & Jerry” analogy. Your footnote on Dixie Wooten was good for a grin, but in the context of the story it overlooks how Kurt Warner re-started his pursuit of an NFL career with the Indoor League's Iowa Barnstormers back in the mid-’90s.
THOM
HEY, THOM!
Everybody’s an editor.
Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com