Ec's north island recreation league

[Eugene Church]

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[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

I enjoy this small league so much, I am going to expand it... uh, oh, I'm being oxymoronic... that's doesn't make sense, does it?
Explanation: I just love logos, jerseys and caps... just want some new teams and new graphics... plus, I really enjoy knowing all the players on all of the teams... and one of these days I will finish the Islandian Pro Alliance and have plenty of time to concentrate on just the NIRL and the SIRL.

I hope to add the South Island Recreational League to the North Island Recreational League... it will be just like the NIRL with two divisions and six teams each.
I will expand the NIRL and perhaps have playoffs to determine an overall Island champion.

Hope I can expand the NIRL and not mess it up... hope it is a simple process.

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1951
"EC's just having fun in '51"

Well, howdy again, friends and neighbors, little darlin's and all you buckaroos playing OOTPB... it's EC again.

It's June... and I'm 11 years old... every year I spent lots of my summer in northwest Alabama in the Tri-Cities area, Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia... that's where the vast majority of my relatives live... I stay at cousin George's house in Sheffield... his family are the city folk... also split time with cousins Jimmy and Bobby at their farm out in the country in the Central area... George usually goes with me to the farm... we just spent time swimming the Big Cypress or Little Cypress Creeks... never really got that clear, which was which... we also had to help Jimmy and Bobby do their farm chores... being city boys, George and I were not used to that... my uncle Leonard was a stickler for the farm work... it had to be done.

I remember one time he said we had to hoe the bottom... it was a corn patch near the creek... we did the work, but we did it kind of at our pace, not his... we would hoe a row of corn... and then go skinny dipping in the creek... hoe a row of corn... and then hit the creek again.

Naw... uncle Leonard was not happy with that... nawsiree... but ignorance is bliss... he never knew our system of farming.

We would also spend time rafting the creeks... we would build some kind of semi-floating device and use it the summer... sometimes we would just lay down on our backs on the grassy fields and look up at the clouds... ain't it amazing what you can see in the clouds, lying on the grass and smoking grapevine... never did like that stuff... it made your tongue sore... we didn't have cigarettes... none of the adults smoked.

Every Saturday in the good old summertime, Uncle Leonard would take us to Florence so Aunt Ruth could do grocery shopping at Hills Brothers Supermarket on Court Street.... while she was shopping, all of us would head to the Majestic or Princess Theatre to go to the picture show... wow... a Saturday double feature with all of our favorite rootin' tootin' shootin' cowboy heroes... Hoppy, Gene and Roy... Hopalong Cassidy ridin' Topper, Gene Autry on Champion, "The Wonder Horse"... and of course, the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers high atop Trigger, "The Smartest Horse in the Movies".

Since I was a DJ for 32 years, I'll use that story to cue up a song for all of you little darlin's and buckaroos... here's Roy Rogers doing a hit song from around 1975... it's entitled "Hoppy, Gene and Me"

I remember playing this the first time on my radio show... it's brought misty tears to my eyes and lots of misty memories, too.
Gosh, my life was good in '75, too.

Sorry, the sound quality is poor... hope you can raise the volume on your computer.

Listen all the way to the end of the song... Roy yodels at the end... and yes, even after all these years, EC's eyes again got misty.
I still miss Roy, Gene, Hoppy and about 30 other western stars... they made my life wonderful

Here's the link to the song:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=hoppy%...&setlang=en-US

[Eugene Church]

Saturday, June 24, 1951

4 WEEKS TO GO FOR NIRL FIRST CO-LEADERS JACKS, COYOTES
Clutch time is here for the two co-leaders in the North Island Recreational League First Division... only four games to play... it's do-or-die time for the Jackson Jackalopes and Dutton Coyotes.
Both clubs have tough assignments on Sunday... on their own diamond the Jacks (11-5) face the fourth place Stockdale Mustangs (7-9)... the Coyotes (11-5) are on the road at third place New Yerby (9-7)... and the fourth place Kofa Kings (7-9) will be in Union Heights against the last place Hackers (3-13).

[Eugene Church]

MAGIC NUMBER IS 3 FOR JOLLY JOLIET
The jolly Green Giants of Joliet are sitting sky-high and pretty in the NIRL Second Division...with a two-game margin over second place Avalon their magic number is three... any combination of Joliet victories and Avalon defeats that total three, then the Green Giants are the champions... only four games are left in the season... the NIRL only plays a 20-game schedule.

This Sunday afternoon Joliet (13-3) will be at Jackson Park playing host to the fifth place West Chester Comets (5-11), while Avalon (11-5) will be at Bobcat Field entertained by third place Theodore (9-7)... in the other matchup, it will be the fourth place Kinston Firebirds on the road at Wafford Field, going up against the hometown Eagles.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 25, 1951

JACKS, COYOTES STILL TIED FOR 1ST, JUST 3 GAMES TO GO
17 Weekends are down, just three more to go in NIRL baseball... and Jackson and Dutton are in a dogfight for the North Island Recreational League First Division flag... they both have 12-5 records... both hung tough this past weekend... and both clubs rang up victories... the Jackalopes got by fifth place Stockdale 4-1... however, the Coyotes had their hands full with third place New Yerby, finally edging out the Yanks 1-0... and fourth place Kofa nipped last place Union Heights 4-3.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

NIRL First Divison Standings
Monday, June 25, 1951

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1951
"EC's just having fun in '51"

Hey, guys and gals, little darlin's and you buckaroos, too, let's take a look at both music charts... pop and country.

Well, after a nine-week run at number one, Les Paul and Mary Ford were replaced by the great crooner with the wonderul voice, Nat King Cole... he took over the top spot on the Billboard Pop Chart with this beautiful ballad "Too Young" on June 23.
Sit back, relax and listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaFtsqU2V6U

Hank Williams toppled Hank Snow out of the number one position the Billboard Country Chart on May 12... Williams' "Cold Cold Heart" beat out Snow's "Rhumba Boogie" that had held the spot for five weeks.
But Hank Williams only lasted one week... Eddy Arnold's "Kentucky Waltz" took over May 19... and one week later Lefty Frizzell went to number one with "I Want To Be With You Always" and he kept it for almost two months.

And now some tender, lovin' country from two of the best:

Here's "Cold Cold Heart"... a live version introduced by the great Roy Acuff, maybe at the Grand Old Opry:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...F&&FORM=VRDGAR

And also Lefty Frizzell with "I Want To Be With You Always":

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...9&&FORM=VRDGAR

[Eugene Church]

Monday, July 2

AVALON BACK IN THE NIRL 2ND DIVISION RACE
Thanks to the West Chester Comets, the Avalon Oldtimers are back in the race for the North Island Second Division title... the fifth place Comets unexpectedly crushed first place Joliet 15-1 Sunday, while second place Avalon bombed the third place Theodore Bobcats 10-2... this cut the Green Giants' lead to one game over the Oldtimers... in the other game the fourth place Kinston Firebirds bested the sixth place Wafford Eagles 6-1.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

THE HISTORY OF SOUTH ISLAND

Like North Island, South Island is located in the middle of Little Lake, about 75 miles southwest of New Orleans, just a short ferry ride to Leeville, a small town on Highway 1, which is the main road northward... should you venture south and east on Highway 1, you will end up at "The End of the World" - Grand Isle... after that, there's nothing else but the Gulf of Mexico.

South Louisiana was settled by the Chitamaca Indians about 6,000 years ago... for many, many moons they lived and controlled the Atchafalaya Basin... for centuries the swamps, bayous and rivers there provided them a natural defense and protection from outside enemies... it was easy for them to defend the area... the Atchafalaya Basin also provided the Chitamacas with fish, game, deer, turkey and alligator... they also grew crops of corn, beans, squash and melons... they traveled the swamp in dugout canoes, made by carving out cypress logs... they used fish bones for arrowheads.

In the time of Columbus... for the historically-challenged, here is a little grammar school poem to help you... it helped EC in 1951... "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"... the Chitamacas numbered about 20,000... fortunately, due to their isolation in the swamps, they did not have contact with the Europeans for about 100 years... in the 1600s the Chitamacas began to suffer from the infectious diseases they contacted from the European explorers... also by the introduction of "firewater" and alcohol to the tribal culture... by 1700 their population was down to just 4,000... a bitter war with the French 1706-1718 also took its toll as they could not deal with the far superior firepower of the French... the French forced the remaining Chitamacas to resettle much farther north along the Mississippi River... only 180 Chitamacas remained in the Atchafalaya Basin by 1784.

In the late 18th century, the British expelled most of the French-speaking Acadians from eastern Canada after defeating the French in the Seven Years' War and taking over their territories in North America, east of the Mississippi River... some Acadian refugees were resettled in South Louisiana in the Atchafalaya Basin; their descendants became known as Cajuns... they also put pressure on the Chitimacan population because they took over their land... the Cajuns and the Chitamacas intermarried.

For safety, a remnant of the Cajuns and Chitamacas moved to the isolated South Island and are still there today... they live in the small town called Chitamaca... most of the population of South Island are of Acadian descent... the Cajuns live in St. Dominic, Bayou Bleu, Delacroix, Guedon, Meraux, Labadieville, Opelousas, Bar Harbor and Claiborne... the other two towns, Mystic and Des Allemands (The Germans) were settled by the Irish and Germans.

Well, I know it's hard to believe, but the South Island towns are going to emulate the North Island towns and create a recreational baseball league based on their high school teams... who would have thunk it?

The South Island League will begin play next year in 1952... two 6-team leagues... with promotion and relegation.

Note: I am aware that Chitamacha is misspelled in my SIRL... the logo designer didn't use the second "h"... I didn't have the heart to ask him to correct it... he had already wonderfully done 9-10 of the teams.
Hopefully, the Chitamacha tribe will not be offended... should they request it, I will graciously correct it.

[Eugene Church]

Saturday, June 30, 1951

JACKS, COYOTES STILL BATTLING IN NIRL FIRST
No face-to-face battles today in the North Island First Division... however, it's still "must win" time for both co-leaders, Jackson (12-5) and Dutton (12-5) this Sunday... the Jackalopes have the easier task, playing last place Union Heights (3-14) at Hilltop Stadium... the Coyotes will be at their place Civic Stadium, hosting the fifth place Stockdale Mustangs (7-10)... the best game on tap looks like third place New Yerby (9-8) on the road at Municipal Park in Kofa (8-9) against the fourth place Kings... only three games are left in the season.

Sixth place Union Heights will certainly be relegated to the NIRL Second Division at season's end... the other club will be Stockdale or Kofa... the Kings are currently one game ahead of the Mustangs... the two worst clubs in the First Division are demoted to the Second Division each year... and the top two teams in the Second Division are promoted to the NIRL First Division.

BIG GAMES FOR AVALON AND THEODORE IN NIRL SECOND
The first place Joliet Green Giants have already cinched a spot in the First Division for next season... Avalon is close to winning the second slot, but the Theodore Bobcats still have an outside chance to be promoted... an Avalon win or a Bobcat loss in the last three games will promote the Oldtimers up to the First Division.

This weekend Joliet (13-4) will be clashing with the fourth place Kinston Firebirds (7-10) at Joliet Stadium... Avalon (12-5) entertains fifth place West Chester (6-11) at the Oldtimers Diamond... and Theodore (9-8) will be at home at Bobcat Field against the last place Wafford Eagles (4-13).

[Eugene Church]

Monday, July 2, 1951

CO-LEADERS BOTH WIN IN NIRL FIRST DIVISION
The Jackson Jackalopes won their fourth game in a row... and the Dutton Coyotes stayed even with them with their third straight triumph in the North Island First Division... they are deadlocked for the top spot with 13-5 marks... only two games are left on the schedule... it could come down to the very last game of the season when they play at Dutton Municipal Stadium... Jackson has won two of the three games with Dutton.

The Jacks downed last place Union Heights in a hard-fought skirmish 3-1... Dutton had a tough time with fifth place Stockdale, but finally whipped them 3-2 in 11 innings... and Kofa skimmed by the New Yerby Yankees 4-2... the Kings are now tied with them for the third spot in the standings with 9-9 records.

The Stockdale Mustangs are in severe danger of being demoted next year to the NIRL Second Division... one more loss will do it... to avoid relegation, the Mustangs must win both of their remaining contests and one team, either Kofa and New Yerby, must lose the final two games... this will force a tie in the standings and force a single-game playoff.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]