East come, easy go.

The Reading Phillies have their "Crazy Hot Dog Vendor". A guy who looks like he is riding an ostrich and throws hot dogs up into the stands. It's funny when one of the wieners unwraps on it's flight and pieces of hot dog and roll fall down all over the crowd. The Reading Royals have "Slapshot", who comes out on the ice on this little buggy equipped with and air cannon and launches T-shirts into the crowd. On Friday night, I was at the Velodrome in Trexlertown and a normal looking guy throws T-shirts from track side, up to those in the seats or other spectators standing around the perimeter of the track.

I was standing along the track just past the finish line and the PA announcer told us to all yell if any wanted a free t-shirt. I looked down and the guy was straight in front of me at the bottom of the track. I yelled, "Up here". He made eye contact and threw it right to me. It was in my hand and suddenly another guy who was reaching for it, accidentally knocked it out of my hand and we all watched it roll down the steep bank of the track. You could hear the oohs and aahs from the crowd and it was sort of a bummer, but no big deal. The guy picked it up and threw it to another set of spectators off to our left.

There was a guy standing to my right between me and the guy who attempted to get the shirt and while I was fiddling around with my camera, I heard a voice saying that he was sorry. I looked over and we were laughing about the whole thing. He kept apologizing and I said, "No problem. It's just a shirt." Ahh, but the little devil inside me was in action and I couldn't resist and I added, "Besides, it probably wouldn't fit anyway." He got a kick out of the comment and was laughing but the guy didn't realize that I wasn't referring to me.....lol. If there was an avatar on here for it you would be seeing a little smiley devil inserted at that last lol. Nasty, aren't I? Hee, hee, hee.

All was not lost. After each race night, the fans are invited to go into the infield and meet the racers. It just so happened that Friday was a night where the "legends of the track" were racing. I got to see all the old guys who used to race there 25 years ago when I used to go out a lot on Friday nights. I went into the infield and met up with a few. I was talking to one, Gibby "the bear" Hatton. I told him that for years, I had a 16 by 20 photo of him that I took with another popular guy there (who was also present, Art McHugh who now works in the press box), hanging up on on the third floor wall. It was a picture of the two of them sprinting around the turn before the finish line. Maybe all you family members remember seeing the picture. He thought it was kind of cool. I said if I only knew he was going to be there, I would have brought it along for him to autograph. He told me to keep an eye on the schedule for future "legends" nights and he is always there. He said Art would probably enjoy seeing the picture and putting his name on it, also. I remember taking the picture the first time I was ever there with mom in 1978 and never thought anyone would be interested in a photo that old.

I told him this is the first year I have been here since Nelson Vails used to ride here, just after he won the silver in the Olympics. He commented, "Yeah, 1984, you have been gone for a long time. Good to have you back." Made me feel so welcome.

There aren't many sports where the spectators and pros get to interact. How else would I have gotten an autograph from a silver cycling medalist back in 1984 a week after he got it? And we can't forget good old Maple Grove and the drag races. You don't have to go far for entertainment and even with the cost of gas, we have plenty around here without having to spend more than a gallon or two. I guess it all depends what one is interested in. I had a good night and what I thought would be a simple night at the local velodrome, gave me some memories I will never forget.