Many years since I bellied up to this bar

I’ve got some catching up to do as the first “lucky shirt” hit the water last summer. While that’s not actually a contemporary fishing trip, I guess that’s part of the point to this whole project. Besides, it would be an injustice to forego the original in favor of the most recent.

So, here we go.

We’re looking at a vintage R&J’s Sportstacular t-shirt today.

I know what you’re thinking. Where’s R&J’s and what’s a Sportstacular?

R&J’s was a tavern, watering hole, gathering place located in Sheffield, Illinois.

You know Sheffield, right? Kind of north of Neponset, roughly centered between Mineral and Wyanet?

R&J are Rodger and Joe, two of the three Hansen brothers (younger brother Michael) who operated the establishment and devised the Sportstacular. Along with a batch of Knox College buddies I met the Hansen brothers after first meeting their sister, Kathy, who was a fellow Siwash in the late1980s/early 1990s (actually we’re kind of always a Siwash).

As the Hansen’s were fellow sports nuts and enjoyed the occasional cold one, we all hit it off pretty well. From the sport and beverage combo arose an event that they deemed The Sportstacular, kind of like a team oriented Olympics with beer. The one day event kicked off with each four participant team playing a round of golf and likely having a few morning beers. Following the round, it was back to R&J’s for the three remaining events, darts and sand volleyball at the bar and free throw shooting at the village park. Oh yeah, and some beer. They also had something onsite called Rolle Bolle that we played at times but I do not recall it actually being included as an event. Please cut me some slack on the exact details as it was around 25 years ago, and remember, there was a fair amount of beer involved.

Julie and I actually took a road trip to the area last summer to snap a few pics.

Site of the free throw event

The old court but I believe a new hoop

Sand volleyball and Rolle Bolle, once upon a time

Fast forward to July 13, 2019 when I decided to kick off the “Lucky Shirt” project. What better shirt on a hot summer day than one that I earned on another hot summer day many years ago. The fishing portion of the project consisted of an enjoyable strip mine outing with my friend, John Kirkemo. The results of our outing are below and the original fishing report can be found by clicking here.

Date: July 13, 2019 with John Kirkemo
Location: Knox County, IL private strip mines (2 lakes)
Time: 5:00am-11:30am
Weather: Sunny/breezy to calm
Air Temp: 68-86F
Water Temp: 82-83F
Totals: 16 bass
Lures:
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (various) – 13 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 2 bass
Spinning Worm Rig – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-7 (Senko)
Top 5 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 4-6 (1-7,1-4,1-0,0-11)

As far as Sportstacular results, I know that we did not claim the title in any of the three years I was involved. But if you could quantify fun and you were counting beers, I suppose that our foursome of John Junk, Mark Junk, Matt Reynolds and myself (weakest link in the beer department) were perennial frontrunners.

Bonus pic from 3/27/07 with my original R&J Hansen’s shirt, wore it until it wore out.

And there you have it, “Lucky Shirt” post number one with many more to follow. A fine place to start the series. A small town, good times, good friends and good memories, from what I can remember. Talk to you later. Troy

So, I’ve got plenty of concepts, from silly to somewhat serious, bouncing around upstairs, jotted down in binders or noted on my phone. These ideas are in quite various stages of ever seeing the light of day, if some ever do at all.

I actually kicked off one of them last year but never got around to truly launching in the form of a blog series. It’s something that I am calling the “Lucky Shirt” project.

For years, I have pretty much worn the same outdoor attire just because that’s what I do. My wardrobe essentially consists of work clothes (collared shirt and slacks or jeans) and not work clothes (t-shirts and jeans or camo pants). Sweatshirts cover both roles with the older ones used for the not work portion.

Speaking of sweatshirts, a few green versions have been popular for fishing and other outdoor pursuits for many years.

Anyway, after a successful weight loss challenge at work in mid-2019, I decided to dig out an old batch of t-shirts that had been packed away. And, what do know, they all fit again.

As a result, I not only had a new batch of fishing shirts but also a new blog idea.

Last summer, I actually put the concept into practice but it kind of fell through the cracks. Thus, it is time to chip away at the posts that have been waiting in the wings as well as continue the project in 2020 with a new old shirt for every trip.

Just like every picture tells a story, every one of these old shirts also has a story to tell. As the project proceeds, you’ll get the stories and the stats. Perhaps, along the way I’ll luck into a “lucky” shirt to expand my standard fishing wardrobe.

I guess that’s the best I have for an explanation for the lucky fishing shirt posts that will periodically appear here on the blog. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

What do these guys have in common and why are they making an appearance on an “outdoor” blog?

Well, let me tell you.

We’ve all heard of, and probably have, lucky or unlucky numbers.

There’s also other numbers that hold a special significance.

If you are a music fan perhaps you know 867-5309 or Beechwood 4-5789?

In baseball terms, I’ve always been fond of 44, 56, 755 and 3,000 to name a few.

And a bit more loosely sports related, there’s good old #660, which is where those fellows above come into play. You see, from 1973 through 1977, the Topps baseball set offered up the challenge of collecting a total of 660 cards for your “complete set. That end card in the set, #660, often has a slight uptick in value if found in quality condition. After all, it wasn’t quite as protected as all the cards in between it and #1 in that old shoebox.

Here’s a brief look at each of the #660 cards from 1973 through 1977 before I actually reveal why I found it appropriate to build a blog post around them.

1973 Topps #660 – Fred Scherman
Southpaw Scherman spent seven seasons (1969-76) in the majors with his best years coming in relief for Detroit. In 1974 he was traded to Houston and would wrap up his career with Montreal. A highlight was his 69 appearances for the Tigers in 1971, a club record at the time.

1974 Topps #660 – Larry Dierker
Dierker’s MLB career spanned 1964-77 with all but the final season being spent with Houston (brief duty with St. Louis in 1977). Along the way he became the Astros first 20-game winner in 1969 and tossed a no-hitter in 1976. He would later serve as Astros manager from 1997-2001.

1975 Topps #660 – Hank Aaron
What can you say about the greatest #660 card of all-time? Just an amazing man, home run king and one of my favorite ball players despite only seeing the end of his illustrious career. Did you know that if you take away every homer “Hammerin’ Hank” hit, he would still have 3,000 hits? (3,771 hits – 755 homers = 3,016 hits) Interestingly, the 1975 Topps set also featured “Hammer” as card #1. And while we are talking 660, do you know what contemporary of Henry Aaron posted 660 career home runs?

1976 Topps #660 – Davey Lopes
Although Lopes had a turn with my Cubs in the 80s, I will always remember him as part of a solid Dodger infield through the bulk of the 70s. From 1973 through the rest of the decade you would find, first to third, Steve Garvey, Lopes, Bill Russell and “The Penguin” Ron Cey. An adept base stealer, Lopes was also featured on a 1976 Topps Highlight card recognizing his 1975 record setting run of 38 consecutive thefts without being caught.

1977 Topps #660 – Willie Horton
Willie Horton always seemed like one of those larger than life characters to this baseball card collecting kid in early to mid-70s. A stout frame, a killer Fu Manchu and tales of some monster homers were all a pretty cool combination. In those days it was tough to see much of my American League baseball heroes until This Week in Baseball came around in the same year that this card was issued. Turns out that my larger than life guy came in at regular guy height of 5’10”. However, his impact on and off the field was monumental, particularly in Motown, where he is honored with a statue at the Tiger’s Comerica Park.

Well, if you’ve made it this far, pat yourself on the back for enduring Troy Jackson Outdoors blog posting #660 since setting off on this adventure 1,081 days ago on May 1, 2017. Not too bad of an output if I do say so myself. You know that translates into a “batting average” of .611 for any fellow baseball fans out there. Tough to say on the breakdown of the posts in terms of swinging bunts, seeing eye grounders, Texas Leaguers, doubles in the gap or the occasional dinger. But rest assured, I’m going to continue stepping up to the plate ready to take my cuts.

And since 1,000 is kind of a nice round number, I suppose I’ll sign off with a tip of the cap and get back to writing. Talk to you later. Troy