A Standing O: Wimbledon, Wiffleball, and White Barbecue Sauce

Once the weather gets nice, most people look forward to baseball season really getting under way. But Alex O has another sport that has his attention once the seasons turn. Summer just started and Alex O is back to talk about Wimbledon, Wiffleball, and give you a recipe for barbecue sauce (editors note: posted a day late which is my fault)

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Summer is almost a week old. The 3H days are upon us---- Hazy, Hot and Humid. I was born in the summer so it is no surprise that it is my favorite season. It is the time to barbecue, head to the beach, and enjoy the sports of the summer.

One of my favorites sporting events to watch in the summer is Wimbledon. A trip to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is high upon my bucket list of sporting events to witness live. I can still remember the epic Wimbledon match in 1980 between John McEnroe (my favorite) vs. the Bjorn Borg.I have yet to watch the HBO documentary on these two but am looking forward to it.

There is something special about this tournament that holds on to its traditions, and is the only major tournament still played on grass. When I was growing up in the 80’s the Australian Open was still a grass tourney and the US Open was grass until 1974. One of the strict rules is that players must wear mostly white. Here is a link to some outfits that caused a stir at Wimbledon. The tournament this year is now wide open on the women’s side since the Williams sisters lost as did the #1 seed Wozniacki. The favorite now is the grunting Maria Sharapova, it is all about her ability to serve if she will be able to get her second Wimbledon title. She won her first when she was 17 back in 2004.

On the men’s side, we have the 2 favorites Nadal and Federer still battling, and Nadal is hurt so maybe this could open the window for Roger to get one more Wimbledon title. Of course I will be rooting for Mardy Fish (only American left) to knock Rafael Nadal and his bum foot out of the tourney. The British are wishing that Andy Murray can win the big one. Murray is hoping to become the first Brit to win at the All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936. Murray is Scottish which always reminds me of the Mike Meyers SNL skit where he often screamed “If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap!!!”

So get your strawberries and cream ready for this weekend and set the alarm as it should be a great weekend of lawn tennis on the 4th of July weekend.

Another great summer sport of my youth was Wiffleball. Many hours were wasted playing this great game that required no running of the bases and allowed us all to emulate our favorite major leaguers trying to smash taters or throwing ridiculous breaking balls. Last week the Wall Street Journal ran a good article discussing the history of wiffle ball and the family business it remains today…… made in the USA.

I pass the warehouse and manufacturing facility daily in Shelton Connecticut and I am glad the business is still prospering. My oldest daughter is five and is about ready to start swinging the famous yellow bat.
Apparently the “sport” has matured from its days of being played on the street or back yards and there are leagues and tournaments. Wiffle.com will provide you with official rules, and a simple internet search will get you to places you can buy special bats, broken in balls, and probably most important is strike zones. We used to improvise at parties in my college years and use a keg----- if the shoe fits….

Sunday night I flipped over to NESN to see if the Sawx were playing (Yanks had a day game) and they had a special on wiffleball. Needless to say there was a depiction of people who take the game a lot more seriously than I ever did. They showed people who took a knife to the ball and made scratches to help them curve it and some people who made miniature versions of Fenway and Wrigley and then held charity wiffle ball tournaments. Baseball truly is the national pastime and wiffleball is an extension of that. Maybe we are not too far from seeing wiffleball on ESPN. I am all for it, although I think it would have to be edited like poker tournaments to keep fans interested. So if you are headed to the beach or parks this weekend grab your yellow bat and white plastic ball with the 8 slots in it and play some wiffleball.

Finally I want to provide a barbecue specialty to try. It’s called Northern Alabama White Barbecue Sauce. I recommend this sauce for chicken parts (wings, drumsticks, thighs, etc.) that have been placed on the opposite side of the charcoals (indirect heat) and sprinkled with Cajun seasoning or the bbq rub of your choice. You can cook your chicken in the oven in the oven if you don’t have a barbecue.Roast the chicken for 2 hours or so and it will fall off the bone---- then dip it in this mixture:

• 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon good barbecue sauce--- I use this instead of straight sugar and it adds sweetness and smokiness
• 1 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• Hot sauce--- amount up to you

Enjoy and Happy Independence Day!