For Dad’s Day, he was given a whole bunch of things to be a curmudgeon about, including some absurdities about bad sports headlines as done by those great big networks. (You know dad is always right).
— In honor of the just celebrated Father’s Day, comes this ironic tidbit from the world of sports bar TV: Shown were the faces (mug shots?) of three young male athletes with also famous fathers who were sport stars, with survey results of who was the most prominent given by percentage, although that was buried deep on the wording on the screen. More prominent was the headline that blared “Who’s Your Daddy?” Ouch … is this Maury?
— Heading a short list of other sports bar TV snafus, is a reference to the Madison stadium that hosts Badger games. It was called the Cohl Center. Might want to change that C to a K. The prominent Wisconsin family that funded it might be annoyed.
— More humorous than annoying was the announcement on the Big Ten Network that Rutgers had named its new sports video coordinator. Must have been a slow news day. Except for the fact that the item was headed with the tag line “Big News.”
— This could be bigger news. A whole raft of NHL awards were announced the other day, and one even was for sportsmanship. Pro hockey and being a good sport? They must have looked the other way (like the refs) during that one-time punching flurry.
— Also, a Minnesota rock radio station had a commercial for Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse that said it was located in “North Hudson.” Might want to move that geographical reference even a bit farther north, closer to Houlton-Stillwater.
— The rock station also had a promo for its July 1 very popular Booze Cruise on the St. Croix River, saying that might even be topless women. Some guys I know say they recall the also popular good old days when boaters were allowed into Dick’s Bar and Grill not topless per se, but wearing only bikini tops.
— With the Fourth of July that’s coming being all about hot fun, it was interesting to see the goings-on a week or so ago when the weather finally got sultry and summer-like. It was super busy at some venues, and dead at others, about half and half. There were, get this, a whole bunch of guys in tuxes for a bachelor party, one of many such limo-lounging groups that night. Really … Not dressed in anything more radical?
Also, at the Village Inn in North Hudson: “Fresh fruit drink specials.” Now that’s more like it for the summer trove of party buses. One of those buses was noteworthy for doing a U-turn … In of all places, not the north sector, but the parking lot by the boat landing at the far south end of Lakefront Park. Also, electric car was seen doing a U-turn on Locust Street, with cars parked on both sides. It only could pull that off because it is so tiny.
— For the Fourth especially, a street-corner near Dick’s, in a private business along First Street, again has its huge, trademark Old Glory flying. It is positioned pointing down and that means the stripes of this Stars and Stripes take in a full Baker’s Dozen of 13 feet from top to bottom.
— Is The House in the house? Minnesota yet again considered, then failed to enact, a law to allow liquor store sales on Sundays, after the House of Representatives took up the debate. Maybe they should all go out for a beer and kick the idea around somemore in what might end up being a more productive legislative session.
— The Dweebs also are in the house, that venue being the WESTconsin Credit Union, where the iconic band stumped for their account monitoring program to prevent fraud. The ad ran on a regional TV channel. As far as other prominent local engagements, they had played the Smilin’ Moose earlier in May and in what could be seen as a coup for a smaller venue, also had done a gig at Not Justa Bar in Bayport, one of two such places in the Minnesota village that are expanding their operations outward to a second area location.