The Zebra Cup Picnic continued too add to the lure of the tourney. Jack Hayes once again was up and cooking far before the first hung over player's alarm rang.
Jack continues to astonish us with mouth watering appetizers, as the air fills with the aroma of his barbecue. We have been surprised that the local residents leading up to the picnic site have not raided our food.
Jack has been very cordial to those who call asking for special favors. Dayton Shockers player Gary Wilson was
n't shy about asking for more baked beans! Jack was all too willing, although Gary's wife suffered the consequences for days afterward. Most of Gary's hockey gear smelled far better than the room he shared with his wife!The set up begins around 7am. Jack hauls his barbeque equipment behind his truck. He makes his own barbecue sauces. He begins th
e process with by slow cooking the ribs. Using a blend of different smoking flavors, the long process rewards his patrons with delicious ribs. The meat falls off the bones causing the ribs to be an early favorite for eating.Somewhere along the process Jack begins his legendary baked beans. Gary calls them Willey's beans, but I think Jack reserves the right to name his products. Those of who play on Wilson's team certainly know the fog in the locker room, known as Willey's Ass, is a direct result of too much of Jack's Beans!
But look at the spread! How many hockey tournament picnics do you get a buffet line like this? This picture doesn't r
eally do justice. This is just the set up. I would have taken the time to take more pictures of the real spread, but I was in serious jeopardy of not getting any food. If you are in the way when Jack puts the food out, you could be in the way of a serious stampede!For the teams that play late Saturday morning / early afternoon, all that is left to remind them of how tasty the ribs were is a pile of bones. After the ribs have been fought over the burgers, brats and yes the baked beans become the staple.
It seems like every year someone forgets how to go 3 blocks up, and 4 blocks left to ge
t to the picnic site. Or, maybe Tim gives them the wrong directions just because he can.After taking a vote, it was concluded that Tim gave poor directions to new players causing them to miss the rib stampede.
Tim's wife Beth made Tim wear his players' helmet during early rib stampede to insure he didn't suffer any further damage to his head. Truth be told, Tim's been wearing a helmet since his early days on the 'special bus'. Wearing the helme
t in the lunch line is nothing new to Tim.One thing to be sure, if Tim's wife had seen how cozy he was getting with one of the goalies wife, even a helmet wouldn't have helped. After taking the picture I asked Kim where her husband was. She said she didn't know but she was sure he would be there soon because Tim had just given him directions ..........
All in all, it appeared that everyone enjoyed another great feast. We can't thank Jack enough for all he does. He is so dedicated to making this event a success, he stopped playing hockey at the tournament. Even the little drizzle we had to put up with didn't dampen our spirits. Thanks to Jack's cooking, Labatt and Molsen we had another successful Zebra Cup Picnic.
There are rumors that this may count towards a seminar.
Hmmmm, we'll have to see about that in the future. But for now, the main event is camaraderie, good food and drink!I hope to see everyone again in 2010, at the next Mid-Am Zebra Cup!
