The East coast and the Tri-State area (PA, NY, NJ) in particular is a great place to live….but it is an awesome place in regards to food. There are a great many dining experiences that can be found in this area than most parts of the country.
Take for example Yocco’s Hot Dogs.
After living in various parts of the country – currently the Midwest (Michigan) and other times in the southwest (New Mexico and Arizona) – I have been lucky enough to see some different types of cooking.
Did I mention Yocco’s Hot Dogs?
Being a great fan of Mexican food I can tell you that the southwest and New Mexico in general has outstanding food. You cannot match the flavor of the green chili from New Mexico – especially the chilis from the Hatch Valley. Many people automatically think chili = hot. Not so…obviously it can be… but the flavor is the key.
Arizona has great southwestern fare as well. Not the same as New Mexico (which is a state by the way) but equally as flavorful.
How about Yocco’s by the way?
Now Michigan where I happen to live most of the year – well not as exciting. We are the home of both Domino’s and Little Caesar’s pizza. Ironically, one family owns the Tigers and the other owns the Red Wings.
Domino’s and Little Caesar’s that pizza is OK – but just OK, nothing special. I would imagine that most everyone around here has probably tried it. You can go right down the street to Northampton and go to Mario’s – or Frattelli’s here in Bethlehem. Now that is real pizza.
Oh yeah in Michigan we have these things called Coney Dogs (hot dogs with chili on them). Michiganders (or Michiganians – both are correct) think these were invented in Michigan. Well, last time I looked we don’t have a Coney Island in our state – I think that city is in New York. so it is hard to claim we invented something from a different state? Ah…maybe I am crazy.
So although we have some good restaurants in Michigan – we pretty much are just boring when it comes to food. Well, it is the midwest.
Again, Yocco’s?
Back to the tri-state area. Yeah we have some pretty good food around here. Look at what we have – steak sandwiches (and cheese steak), birch beer, Carvel Ice Cream, Tastykakes, Taylor Pork Roll, Hoagies (take your pick of the kind), oh yeah REAL PIZZA (they actually flip the dough up in the air – don’t do that at Dominos or LC). Did I mention Yocco’s Hot Dogs?
How about that Solar Eclipse…..we were on the field about to start practice when it occurred. So far no one has been blinded as far as I know. Pretty cool stuff though. With all the hype I half expected the earth to split open and demons and dragons coming out of the crack?!? Guess what you can see the next total eclipse in seven years – so stay tuned and by all means keep those funky glasses you bought for the occasion.
With the eclipse I guess this means we might have more werewolves running around. Oops sorry that is a full moon I guess.
Yocco’s?
One of the. most important aspects of defensive football is “running to the ball” or pursuit. As a coach you are constantly preaching and yelling about the benefits of team hustle and getting as many defenders to tackle the ball carrier. The term gang tackling comes from this tactic.
****As an aside here – I’m sure the PC police will someday outlaw the term “gang tackling” just like they discourage the word “Smash mouth” football. While for the most part they do some really valuable things the politically correct people should leave our great game alone. When we refer to “gang” tackling It has nothing to do with what color bandana or what side of the city you are from.***
There is nothing more discouraging and demoralizing to an offense than to face a hard charging and swarming defense that appears to be everywhere at once because of their great hustle. Everyone talks about it. But like most good things in life it is hard to accomplish. It is something that requires “want to.”
A player has to “want to” run to the ball – it takes a lot more energy to run the extra fifteen yards when you are tired than to just be a spectator and watch someone else make a play. You have e to be willing to work just a little bit harder than the next guy to be a complete ball player. It’s easy to find a reason not top hustle or run to the ball. (Just a few – “I’m tired”…..”The ball carrier is too far away – I won’t get there so what’s the point?”…did you ever see a defensive lineman an make a play that far away?”)
Being very fortunate to be involved in our game for my entire life – I have heard all of the above and more.
I just wish everyone who plays football could watch a professional team practice just once – then perhaps we wouldn’t hear the excuses. The words fast and furious may define a movie series….but that is an NFL practice. There are many players I can point to that I saw in person practice who embody the word effort. But two will always stand out in my mind.
Kyle Vanden Bosch and Mike Cofer shape the word “effort” for me. I was around Mike in the late 80’s and then Kyle in 2010-12. I have never seen players work as hard in practice.
Mike literally would rush the passer from OLB…run around the QB and keep on going down the field to get in on the play. He did this time after time….day after day. It definitely translated to his success as a pro bowl player on the field. His peers marveled at his effort and it inspired them to work harder and realize that they had more to give than an excuse.
Kyle Vanden Bosh….what a warrior. Early injuries held back his career at first….his work ethic ultimately allows him to develop into Pro Bowl player. He was talented but most remembered for his legendary effort on the field. Not a particularly big man at 6-4, 270 as a defensive end he is a testament to hustle. In practice he routinely would pursue ball carriers thirty yards downfield and try to pop the ball out of unaware ballcarriers hands. (This had two great effects – it inspired his defensive mates to play harder in practice – and also created awareness to running backs for ball security). To say it carried over onto the field on game day would be an understatement.
After watching these guys and many like them day in and day out your team gets it…..you never hear about how hot it is and how tired someone is or defensive linemen don’t need to run to the ball because it isn’t a factor. All you had two do is watch these guys and you got your ass in gear.
You have all heard it before – this is why you run to the ball:
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed….Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running!”
(Christopher McDougall from “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the greatest race the World has Never Seen”)
So, I went to Yoccos.