EC's South Island League

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1959
Will EC's Life in '59 Be Devine?

That is a wonderful thought... but nope... EC's Life in '59 will just be benign (sorry, that's the best rhyme I could find)... bland, boring, dull, ho hum and humdrum would fit the bill and describe my life much better.

But I must say that music was at an all-time high for me... EC's favorite period might just be the late 50s in pop music... good-time rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, rhythm 'n' blues and do-wop... don't get any better than this.

The Top Song on the Billboard Pop chart was Mack The Knife by Bobby Darin... taken from a 1928 German musical "The Threepenny Opera" by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht... this is a great melody... Bobby's version is not operatic... it is big band... my favorite version of the song was an instrumental by Dick Hyman... it reached #10 on the Billboard chart... the 1950s was a great time for music... radio would play multiple versions of the same song... the variety was much better than it is today.

Here is Dick Hyman's great version of "Moritat (Theme from the Threepenny Opera):

https://playback.fm/charts/brasil/vi...ee-Penny-Opera

Motown Records was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records... Gordy borrowed $800 from his family cooperative... yep, his family would loan money to family members, but they charged interest... he asked for $1000 but his family said it was too risky of a loan... $800 was all they would give him... years later Gordy would sell Motown Records for $61 million.

The Day the Music Died... that was the day the plane crashed with three rock 'n' roll stars in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa... Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and pilot Roger Peterson all were killed... this day wasn’t described as such until Don McLean’s 1971 song "American Pie".

We lost a great singer and songwriter: Buddy Holly... his career was short, but a great one... his music is still revered today... how good would Buddy have been if he hadn't chartered that play... Dion and Waylon Jennings both say they turned down Buddy's offer to take the plane instead of the bus... Dion turned Buddy down saying that $32 was too much to pay... that was a month's rent for his parents in Brooklyn.
We lost a fine newcomer: Richie Valens... sadly we only got the songs "La Bamba" and "Donna"... who knows what he would have done in the future.
We lost a fine disc jockey: The Big Bopper... "Chantilly Lace" was a blast on the radio.

Miss America was Mary Ann Mobley from Brandon, Mississippi... she went on to be very successful in TV and movies.
Nobody in the country missed the Miss America TV show hosted annually by the great Bert Parks... my family watched it year after year... but beauty pageants went out of style eventually... they got a lot of bad publicity... and I think it really died when they replaced Bert Parks as emcee... people loved to hear him sing "There she is... Miss America"... those were the "Happy Days of the 1950s"... thank goodness, EC got to be a part of that wonderful time and place.

Quiz shows were the rage in '59... in testimony before congress, gameshow contestant Charles Van Doren admitted he had been coached before appearing on NBC’s "Twenty One" game show in 1956... the big money quiz shows were very, very popular... "$64,000 Question" was another one that we watched religiously... it's a shame that they had to rig the shows for ratings... but, hey, that's the way of the world... even one of my all-time favorites Paul Harvey, used to really stretch the truth on his popular radio show, "The Rest of the Story"... Paul Harvey strayed from the facts to make the story more interesting many times.

On the "$64,000 Question", I remember answering all of the questions when one contestant chose "baseball" as his category... HOW ABOUT THAT!... don't remember his name or how much he won, but I was with him all the way... yep, EC answered 'em correctly.

In 1959, Westerns were the most popular television shows. There were 26 running that year.

1959 Most Popular TV shows:
1. Gunsmoke (CBS)
2. Wagon Train (NBC)
3. Have Gun Will Travel (CBS)
4. The Danny Thomas Show (CBS)
5. The Red Skelton Show (CBS)
6. Father Knows Best (CBS)
7. 77 Sunset Strip (ABC)
8. Wanted: Dead or Alive (CBS)
9. Perry Mason (CBS)
10. The Real McCoys (ABC)

Boy, EC has an odd item for you... can you believe this?
At the first Grammy Awards, held in 1959, Frank Sinatra won a single award... and Alvin and The Chipmunks won three.

Notable books include: Hawaii by James A. Michener and Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence.
Nope, EC is not a reader of books... but I loved the sports pages in the newspaper, The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.

One final item for you folks with prurient interests... Playboy Magazine made it debut in 1959 with Marilyn Monroe as the first playgirl... nope, EC did not look at the centerfold... Heavens no, EC wouldn't do that... but I must confess I did read the articles... just didn't look at the pretty pictures.

(Disclaimer: EC does not alway tell the truth... occasionally EC prevaricates a bit.)

Yep, I peeked at Marilyn.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 8, 1959

BIG WIN FOR 1ST PLACE YANKEES... NOW TOP THE SUPREME LEAGUE BY 2 GAMES
The South Island Supreme League leader, the New Yerby Yankees, got a little breathing room in the league standings
with a comeback victory over the tough Jackson Jackalopes, upping their lead to 2 games over the Jacks and the
Meraux Tigers... the Yanks are 8-2, while the Jackalopes and Tigers are 6-4.

New Yerby clipped Jackson 8-7 this past weekend... Meraux bashed the Zebulon Zips 13-3... Delta upended the Bar Har Acadians 6-2 and Mystic rallied past the St. Dominic Saints 8-7.




1959 Supreme League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1959
Hopin' Life Is Fine in '59

All my life when I get down, I turn to movies, music and shopping to get happy... my life in '59 was drab, boring, uninteresting... EC was just going through the motions and headed nowhere... just drifting and dreaming... so to perk up my life I would buy a record or two... 45's only... never got into albums except for a greatest hits album with a dozen hits on it... go to a movie... or go look at men's clothes... EC always like to window shop... it was cheaper to do it that way -- and just in case you don't know what "window shopping" is -- you just go into stores and look at the clothing -- you don't buy it... window shopping is a nice, frugal way to enjoy an afternoon.

OK, all you cats, frats, buckaroos, little darlin's and teenyboppers, too, let check out the top of the pop charts.

Lordy mercy, it's a great week for music... I love 'em all... I have all of them in my 7653-song library... except for LaVern Baker... I love LaVern Baker, but EC never heard the song "I Waited Too Long"... gonna have to check it out... EC may have missed a good one... apparently it did not cross over to the pop charts.

I guess EC was always looking for a dreamlover, so my pick of the week this week would be Bobby Darin's "Dreamlover".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVHAQX5sSaU

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 15, 1959

TRIO OF TEAMS TIED FOR LEAD IN SECONDARY LEAGUE
There's a traffic jam in the South Island Secondary League standings... a trio of teams are tied for the top spot... only one of them can win the pennant and be promoted to the Supreme League... there are only four weekends remaining on the schedule... Cherrywood, Braxton and Joliet are all 7-3... Braxton has the toughest task... the Bruins play both the Stouts and the Green Giants... Cherrywood and Joliet have the easier schedules... head-to-head games are a must win for each one of them.

This past Sunday all of the co-leaders copped victories... Cherrywood disposed of the Billings Rams 8-3... Joliet outscored the Parkland Perfectos 10-7... and Braxton just barely beat the last place Littleville Supermen 3-2... in the other game Pelham pounded the Grin Hill Smileys 10-6.

This coming Sunday on the road the Stouts (7-3) take on hapless Littleville (2-8)... Joliet (7-3) will welcome Grin Hill (4-6)... and Braxton (7-3) travels to Billings (5-5)... in a clash of also-rans Parkland (4-6) goes to Pelham (4-6).




Secondary League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Special thanks to txranger for the great South Island Logos.
His great creativity and skill make me enjoy my leagues so much.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 15, 1959

YANKS REIGNS SUPREME WITH 2-GAME MARGIN OVER JACKS AND TIGERS
All three of the top teams in the South Island Supreme League copped wins this past weekend, but it wasn't easy... they all three won by a single run... that means first place New Yerby (9-2) is still 2 games up on runners-up Jackson (7-3) and last year's pennant winner Meraux (7-3) with only 3 to play this season... the Yankees had a tough time with last place St. Dominic, winning 5-4 with a late-inning comeback... the Jackalopes had quite a tussle with the Mystic Mariners and finally pulled it out in the bottom of the 9th inning 7-6... and Meraux rallied past the Delta Stars 4-3, scoring the winning run in the last of the 9th... actually it was a great weekend for close games in the Supreme League... Bar Harbor only beat the Zebulon Zips by 2 runs, winning 7-5.





Supreme League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1959
EC's Hopin' Line is Fine in '59

A group of my platoon decided to spend a weekend in San Francisco... we spent some time on Russian Hill, the Russian community in San Francisco... the stores and shops are very much like Russia... they speak Russian and English... so, of course, we wanted to show off our Russian... we met some Russian-Americans at a park, who really spoke Russian like a native Russian... they were surprised to find out we were native Americans with no Russian background or heritage... they thought we had Russian parents... they asked us, if we were "Red" or "White" Russians... were we communists or royalists?... that's how good our Russian was... we were very pleased to find this out.

We went to Fisherman's Wharf to sample some of the so-called great seafood there... nope, not so... it is just bland and for tourists... not really good seafood... I love fried and boiled seafood... 'Frisco seafood is broiled or boiled without good seasoning... not like that in Louisiana... our seafood has taste and mild seasoning, not hot pepper seasoning, but just good tasty seasoning... good seafood never burns your tongue.

There was one dish I liked in Monterey and San Francisco... it was called Crab Louis... crabmeat salad with a 1000 Island-type dressing on top of it.

There's nothing like the seafood in South Louisiana and New Orleans... there's nothing like the good Cajun cooking you will find in South Louisiana and New Orleans.

One of my favorite places to eat in New Orleans is on Canal Street -- Mandina's -- a neighborhood Italian and seafood restaurant... their Italian dishes are excellent...just good-tasting comfort food.... most of the time,I get a shrimp salad with loads of boiled shrimp... I dip them in a mild tomato-based cocktail sauce with touch of horse radish... they give you slices of warm, buttered and lightly-toasted french bread to eat with your meal... sometimes I get a delicious po boy sandwich on a special New Orleans french bread baked by Leidenheimers... half-shrimp, half oyster... with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise... UMM, UMM GOOD!... afterward we head to Angelo Brocato's Bakery on Broad Steet and get homemade spumoni ice cream... so, so nice... that really finished off a fine day in the Crescent City.

In Baton Rouge where I have lived since 1977... I came here so my wife could get her master degrees... I worked at WYNK, the country station in town... my all-time favorite restaurant was Brunet's on Flannery Road... the owner played in the NFL with the Washington Redskins... I think he was a good solid special team's player for 7 seasons in the 1970s.

(Special thanks to Wikipedia)

Robert Paul Brunet (born July 29, 1946 in Larose, Louisiana) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Louisiana Tech University and was drafted in the seventh round of the 1968 NFL Draft... In 1973, Robert and his brother Billy started a seafood delivery business and the next year, the family opened a Cajun Seafood Market.

In 1977, the Brunets opened a restaurant called “The Galley,” changing its name in the early 1980s to "Brunet’s Cajun Restaurant." Brunet’s was known for its seafood dishes — made from family recipes — and could seat more than 300 people. The restaurant was open for 34 years, and the brothers retired in 2011.

Brunet's had outstanding seafood and Cajun cuisine... no hot stuff at all, just well-seasoned with just normal amounts of pepper and salt... it never burned your tongue.

I loved his fried shrimp for an entree... wonderful boiled shrimp cocktail, too... he had a great appetizer called a "tee pan" or "little stuffed bread"... it was like a fried fritter stuffed with delicious and scrumptious shrimp, crabmeat and cheese... wow, was it a feast.

For dessert I got bread pudding like none other... my favorite all-time dessert... it was soft and delicious... it was more like a pudding or soft custard... most chefs ruin bread pudding by putting too much bread and not enough pudding... it is usually too dry or hard for my tastes... well-made bread pudding uses stale french bread (better to absorb the custard and sauce) -- stale french bread is an essential ingredient to good bread pudding -- Brunet's was totally soaked and saturated with a flavorful vanilla custard and topped off with a superb and very rich coconut cream sauce... I have eaten bread pudding all over the place in South Louisiana and New Orleans... none came even close to Brunet's... not even the famed French Quarter restaurants in New Orleans like Antoine's or Arnaud's... it was a special gourmet dessert... and absolutely wonderful.

I really miss Brunet's Cajun Restaurant... it's good to know Bob is still alive and kicking... I miss him, too... he was a congenial host and loved to talk football... Bob Brunet is a great guy and he and his brother served some mighty tasty seafood and Cajun cuisine... even at the time Bob was in great shape... he looked like he was still in NFL-playing shape... today he is 76 years old.