“Anyone who doesn’t think the best hamburger place in the world is in his hometown is a sissy… and probably a security risk.” — Calvin Trillin This is one of my all-time favorite quotes, in large part because I believe it’s a philosophy that goes way beyond hamburgers. Anyone who
Great story, JP. Much appreciated. I'm a Yankees fan and love John Sterling. One point, JP, Medford is in South Jersey and is stone cold Philly country. Anyone south of Trenton who roots for anything north of Trenton is imprisoned. I'm a northerner and have felt that wrath.
Joe to Ann Ellis: Thank you for including Joe’s readers among those you survey. Thank you also for providing those surveyed with parameters of choices that are representative of many people I know. How can we learn the results of your survey?
I grew up in rural Minnesota and would never argue we had the best food unless you are talking lefse, krumkake or walleye. ... but do think Fargo has the best sports fans, whether it is NDSU, high school or even independent league baseball, Fargo has tremendous fan spirit.
Jimmy Kimmel used to talk shit about Imo's Pizza – the only real St. Louis-style pizza (the others are just imitators) – until he started thinking of it as "foodstuff," NOT COMPARABLE TO OTHER PIZZA. If you eat it without these stupid, competitive thoughts in your brain, it's (at the very least) fine.
Get over yourself. Imo's Pizza isn't close to the worst local food out there. You're just letting this fictional St. Louis rivalry enter your brain again. (The "rivalry" between St. Louis and Kansas City only goes one way. St. Louisans either "like Kansas City" or "don't ever think about Kansas City.") There is no rivalry to one-sided ridiculousness.
Enjoy your burnt ends and get over yourself. <<eyeroll>>
*This is written in jest. I don't really care what you like or don't like. You be you. :)
I’m originally from NY, and yes NY has the best pizza (I’m partial to DiFiaras in Brooklyn, although I’m not from Brooklyn) but other opinions of best in NY abound. Yes, Bob Murphy is the best announcer, (or maybe second to Vin). That said, I’ve never met anyone from NY, or Vegas where I’ve now lived for 20 years, not LA, where I lived for 5, who thinks they have the best BBQ. Those from Memphis, NC, Texas, KC, of course. Personally, my vote goes to Joes KC. NY has best pizza, bagels (most of the country doesn’t even have bagels, just round bread) and many other things. But not the best BBQ, and anyone who thinks so just isn’t paying attention.
So... look :) I have been a Yankee fan all my life (40+). I would restate Joe DiMaggio's quote: "I want to thank the good lord for making me a Yankee fan."
But... I never loved John Sterling. I appreciated him, he's part of our history, some of the calls are fun... but I don't really care about this. And I wonder if it's because he's not my childhood announcer? That's Scooter. And I did have all these feelings when he retired.
But John - and Michael Kay, and Suzyn Waldman... sorry. I can't get up for it.
Remember folks visiting an old bar-b-que road side stand in SE run by a guy fairly well known to be a prominent Klansman. Well, folks vote with their feet. He ‘proudly’ hung in there for a while. Then cured himself of his affliction. Brings to mind all the current knuckleheads in Congress trying to ‘mandate’ social media companies cover (pick ur) right-wing conspiracy channel. Like trying to force African Americans to eat at that old Klansmans diner. Good luck.
I'm 37 and grew up a Yankees fan in Vermont (my old man is from the Bronx and I never had much say in the matter). John Sterling - first with Michael Kay, then with Charlie Steiner - was quite literally the soundtrack of my formative baseball summers. Regular season Yankee games on television were pretty rare, and we didn't have cable anyway, so we had the ballgame on the radio almost every night. On weekends, if we were working in the yard or shooting hoops in the driveway, the radio came out on the porch so we could hear the ballgame. I did my homework with Sterling on the background, went to sleep with the game on in my room. I remember debating the merits of the Sterling/Kay team with my grandmother, who has been dead more than 20 years. On long drives we would gradually lose reception from the local Yankees AM affiliate, so we would jump back and forth between stations in Plattsburgh, Albany, or New York City, groping around for Sterling's voice to break through the static. After my wife, kids, and parents, I've probably spent more time listening to John Sterling talk than anyone in my life, and he might even be ahead of some of them. My general feeling is that when I was young I thought he was the greatest radio broadcaster in the world. As I got older, either he got worse or my tastes changed, it's hard to say. He got more repetitive, certainly. Any missed opportunity to score a runner from 2nd with nobody out morphed from an irritation to an outright travesty, for example. And of course - say it with me - you can't predict baseball, Suzyn. But he was an early adopter of the importance of on-base percentage, and despite what some critics have often alleged I never thought of him as an incorrigible homer. I used to chuckle when he would introduce the next batter as "Here's So-and-So, who's not hitting at all." Either way, I can't separate the things that irritated me about him from the wonderful memories he helped create, so I still think of him fondly. So thanks, John. What a career! Good for you.
The sad part is when you get older, the best hamburger and pizza and stuff you ever had become memories of places that are no longer there and and you can no longer have.
The best burger is at Miller’s Bar in Dearborn, Michigan. Fact most recently checked in 2022. Mind you, it was just after visiting my parents’s graves on what would have been their 75th wedding anniversary. Our doctor’s office was right near there and we used to stop for lunch after appointments.
I've been blessed with 18 years of Gary, Keith, and Ron, but even still a small part of me still misses Fran Healy. Not always terribly insightful, but a perfect voice to listen to on a summer night.
I feel largely the same way about the late Joe Morgan. Sunday Night Baseball was never the same after ESPN moved on. And while it was time, given Morgan's general antagonism towards the modern game, he and Jon Miller were a perfectly paired voice for Sunday nights.
STL will always be Jack Buck country but having harry and mike wasn’t bad either!
Folks rag on um but Joe Buck in his day wasn’t half bad either! ⚾️
Great story, JP. Much appreciated. I'm a Yankees fan and love John Sterling. One point, JP, Medford is in South Jersey and is stone cold Philly country. Anyone south of Trenton who roots for anything north of Trenton is imprisoned. I'm a northerner and have felt that wrath.
Joe to Ann Ellis: Thank you for including Joe’s readers among those you survey. Thank you also for providing those surveyed with parameters of choices that are representative of many people I know. How can we learn the results of your survey?
Please ask Ms Ellis to share the findings. Nicely designed survey
I grew up in rural Minnesota and would never argue we had the best food unless you are talking lefse, krumkake or walleye. ... but do think Fargo has the best sports fans, whether it is NDSU, high school or even independent league baseball, Fargo has tremendous fan spirit.
Jimmy Kimmel used to talk shit about Imo's Pizza – the only real St. Louis-style pizza (the others are just imitators) – until he started thinking of it as "foodstuff," NOT COMPARABLE TO OTHER PIZZA. If you eat it without these stupid, competitive thoughts in your brain, it's (at the very least) fine.
Get over yourself. Imo's Pizza isn't close to the worst local food out there. You're just letting this fictional St. Louis rivalry enter your brain again. (The "rivalry" between St. Louis and Kansas City only goes one way. St. Louisans either "like Kansas City" or "don't ever think about Kansas City.") There is no rivalry to one-sided ridiculousness.
Enjoy your burnt ends and get over yourself. <<eyeroll>>
*This is written in jest. I don't really care what you like or don't like. You be you. :)
I’m originally from NY, and yes NY has the best pizza (I’m partial to DiFiaras in Brooklyn, although I’m not from Brooklyn) but other opinions of best in NY abound. Yes, Bob Murphy is the best announcer, (or maybe second to Vin). That said, I’ve never met anyone from NY, or Vegas where I’ve now lived for 20 years, not LA, where I lived for 5, who thinks they have the best BBQ. Those from Memphis, NC, Texas, KC, of course. Personally, my vote goes to Joes KC. NY has best pizza, bagels (most of the country doesn’t even have bagels, just round bread) and many other things. But not the best BBQ, and anyone who thinks so just isn’t paying attention.
So... look :) I have been a Yankee fan all my life (40+). I would restate Joe DiMaggio's quote: "I want to thank the good lord for making me a Yankee fan."
But... I never loved John Sterling. I appreciated him, he's part of our history, some of the calls are fun... but I don't really care about this. And I wonder if it's because he's not my childhood announcer? That's Scooter. And I did have all these feelings when he retired.
But John - and Michael Kay, and Suzyn Waldman... sorry. I can't get up for it.
The best pizza is from Francesco’s in Providence RI. And I am not from there.
Remember folks visiting an old bar-b-que road side stand in SE run by a guy fairly well known to be a prominent Klansman. Well, folks vote with their feet. He ‘proudly’ hung in there for a while. Then cured himself of his affliction. Brings to mind all the current knuckleheads in Congress trying to ‘mandate’ social media companies cover (pick ur) right-wing conspiracy channel. Like trying to force African Americans to eat at that old Klansmans diner. Good luck.
I'm 37 and grew up a Yankees fan in Vermont (my old man is from the Bronx and I never had much say in the matter). John Sterling - first with Michael Kay, then with Charlie Steiner - was quite literally the soundtrack of my formative baseball summers. Regular season Yankee games on television were pretty rare, and we didn't have cable anyway, so we had the ballgame on the radio almost every night. On weekends, if we were working in the yard or shooting hoops in the driveway, the radio came out on the porch so we could hear the ballgame. I did my homework with Sterling on the background, went to sleep with the game on in my room. I remember debating the merits of the Sterling/Kay team with my grandmother, who has been dead more than 20 years. On long drives we would gradually lose reception from the local Yankees AM affiliate, so we would jump back and forth between stations in Plattsburgh, Albany, or New York City, groping around for Sterling's voice to break through the static. After my wife, kids, and parents, I've probably spent more time listening to John Sterling talk than anyone in my life, and he might even be ahead of some of them. My general feeling is that when I was young I thought he was the greatest radio broadcaster in the world. As I got older, either he got worse or my tastes changed, it's hard to say. He got more repetitive, certainly. Any missed opportunity to score a runner from 2nd with nobody out morphed from an irritation to an outright travesty, for example. And of course - say it with me - you can't predict baseball, Suzyn. But he was an early adopter of the importance of on-base percentage, and despite what some critics have often alleged I never thought of him as an incorrigible homer. I used to chuckle when he would introduce the next batter as "Here's So-and-So, who's not hitting at all." Either way, I can't separate the things that irritated me about him from the wonderful memories he helped create, so I still think of him fondly. So thanks, John. What a career! Good for you.
The news Reds announcers are fine, but they’re not Marty and Joe.
The sad part is when you get older, the best hamburger and pizza and stuff you ever had become memories of places that are no longer there and and you can no longer have.
The best burger is at Miller’s Bar in Dearborn, Michigan. Fact most recently checked in 2022. Mind you, it was just after visiting my parents’s graves on what would have been their 75th wedding anniversary. Our doctor’s office was right near there and we used to stop for lunch after appointments.
I once got to talk bagels with Bud Trillin.
I've been blessed with 18 years of Gary, Keith, and Ron, but even still a small part of me still misses Fran Healy. Not always terribly insightful, but a perfect voice to listen to on a summer night.
I feel largely the same way about the late Joe Morgan. Sunday Night Baseball was never the same after ESPN moved on. And while it was time, given Morgan's general antagonism towards the modern game, he and Jon Miller were a perfectly paired voice for Sunday nights.
Took the well constructed survey. My daughter went to Wake Forest. Great school.