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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > November > 22 > Entry
Why oh why am I in Wyoming?
SOMEWHERE IN WYOMING — The chartered bus rumbles across I-80 at 75 miles an hour, the speed limit in Wyoming, and as I gaze out the window I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles - north, south, east, west.
Not a tree. Not one tree. Elizabeth Browning clearly was never here. On last year’s trip, former baseball writer Gerry Fraley said, “I’m as lonely as a woodpecker in Wyoming.”
Why am I in Wyoming - and for the first time ever, I might add? I am a rookie, the Guest of Honor, on Wyomania VII. It’s an annual event put together by Hall of Fame baseball writer Tracy Ringolsby, a staunch supporter of the University of Wyoming football program.
THIS IS THE seventh year he has invited a bunch of mostly veteran and aging sports writers, plus a few scouts and other baseball people, to a weekend gathering that ends with attendance at the University of Wyoming’s final home football game.
What Ringolsby hopes is that there will be 10 inches of snow and howling winds at 20 mph so we all can suffer in the great outdoors. Chicago writer Phil Rogers calls this event, “A hunting trip without guns.”
This year’s Wyoming opponent was undefeated TCU, the No. 4 team in the country, and the Wyoming coaches hoped for a blizzard and gale winds, “Because those Texas boys won’t want to play in that.”
TCU was favored by 32½ points - but the game comes later. First we all gathered in Denver and our first night we had dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange - established in 1893 by a guy who rode with William Wild Bill Cody and the owner of Colorado liquor license No. 1.
THE MENU, uh, a bit different. Rattlesnake and Rocky Mountain oysters are appetizer choices. For the uninitiated, Rocky Mountain oysters are buffalo testicles. I try one after I’m told they are heavily breaded and if you dip them in enough sauce they aren’t bad.
With one bite I knew they were not breaded nearly heavily enough nor was there enough sauce.
The main menu? Tibetan yak. Or elk. Or Buffalo. Or quail. When the waitress mentioned the Tibetan yak, Texas Rangers media relations director John Blake asked, “Is the Tibetan yak fresh?”
I opted for the buffalo steak, which was tasty but a bit dry until I covered in with A-1 sauce.
As guest of honor, I was presented an official University of Wyoming brown and gold football game jersey ( No. 37 for my 37 years of covering the Reds) with my name on the back - Prince Hal. We all have nicknames and I was dubbed Prince Hal years ago by Toronto baseball writer Bob Elliott.
Did you know only three Division I football programs have brown in their colors - Brown University, Bowling Green and Wyoming.
The next morning the Wyomaniacs, 22 strong, took a bus to Ringolsby’s ranch near Cheyenne for lunch. He has four show horses that his wife, Jane, rides in shows. But talk about the lone prairie.
AFTER WE LEFT the interstate, we drove a few miles on a two-lane asphalt road. Suddenly, a sign appeared that said, “Pavement ends.” New York Mets scout Bryan Lambe, who lives on Long Island, wanted to stop the bus and take the sign home.
He asked Ringolsby how big Cheyenne is and he said, “It’s the biggest city in the state, about 50,000 people. Said Lambe, “We have that many people in two square blocks in Nassau County.”
As we traveled over a dirt road for a couple of miles, we were up close and personal with herds of antlered antelope, so close to the bus you could almost reach out and touch them, if you desired to touch antelope. And there was jackelope, too (very large rabbits).
That night we checked into a Marriott in Laramie, the state’s third largest burg (27,000) and home to not only the Wyoming Cowboys, but the tallest building in that state - a student residence hall that is eight stories tall.
After dinner at the university, we went to the Altitudes bar to await the Wyoming pep band. Every Friday night before a home game the pep band visits every bar in Laramie, marches through, and plays the fight song, which is “Cowboy Joe.”
THE MORNING of the game was a balmy 35, with no wind, much to TCU’s delight. And the Horned Frogs didn’t seem intimidated by the sign in front of War Memorial Stadium that said, “Welcome to 7,200 feet (two thousand feet higher than mile-high Denver and we crossed a pass between Denver and Laramie that was 8,760 feet).”
We all knew TCU would win and win big - and not just because they are much better than the ‘Pokes (Wyoming). If TCU wins out and goes to a BCS bowl, it means $800,000 to $1 million to each school in the Mountain West conference. If TCU lost to Wyoming, that would be out the window.
Just to make sure, well, this was the first college football game I ever saw where one team (visiting TCU) did not have a single flag thrown against it. And Wyoming was penalized 30 yards on one play - 15 for roughing the passer and another 15-yarder dead ball penalty after the play for unsportsmanlike conduct.
For the game, Wyoming had five first downs and 175 yards of offense. The score was 45-10 and it could have been much worse but TCU called off the horses after three quarters.
Delightfully, there was a McCoy on both teams. Wyoming’s very busy punter was a McCoy and he kicked side-saddle rugby-style, twice covering more than 60 yards in the thin air.
And TCU has a kick returner named McCoy who took one back about 80 yards for a touchdown, the first play after Wyoming tied the game, 10-10, early in the second quarter.
I’m not sure TCU is the No. 4 team in the country, but I am sure I had a great time in Wyoming and look forward to next year’s Wyomania VIII, when I won’t be a Wyomaniac rookie and I’ll know not to order the Rocky Mountain oysters.
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By Phylliscgd
February 8, 2010 8:11 AM | Link to this
interesting post. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you know that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.
By Lois
January 18, 2010 8:05 PM | Link to this
quite interesting post. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you hear that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.
By wyosteve
December 3, 2009 2:30 PM | Link to this
Tracy is one of the best baseball writers in the country. I was born and raised in Wyo and went to UW. The town of 4 was probably Bill, aptly named for the owner.
By Kevin O'Connor
November 24, 2009 7:32 PM | Link to this
Minor Point: I believe Western Michigan’s uniforms have some brown in them.
By Gary Maloy Jr.
November 24, 2009 6:35 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the memories, Hal. I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, SD for a year back in 1988. We had friends in Colorado Springs, and the drive from RC to CS was an adventure for a SW-Ohio boy who’d never seen the high-plains before. I remember there was a house at some crossroads or another with a sign (can’t remember the name of the place) that proudly proclaimed “population 4”. I have a picture of it somewhere. And I thought I lived at the end of the world in northern Norway. Wyoming, though is smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for an entertaining article. Sporty of you to try the oysters haha
By JAMESRSHOCKMAN
November 24, 2009 2:54 PM | Link to this
GREAT COLUMN HAL.MAKES ME SORRY WE WON’T BE GETTING THESE COLUMNS EVERYDAY ANYMORE.YOU ARE A GREAT WRITER EVEN WHEN IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BASEBALL. IT’S A SHAME THE DDN DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THIS.
By William O.
November 23, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this
I am long since removed from Dayton and have lived in western Nebraska for 40+ years and travel to Wyoming frequently, I would not trade 1 square inch of this country for all of Dayton. At least, that is my opinion. Go BUCKEYEs and REDS!! Yep, still follow them.
By ironmyke
November 23, 2009 2:31 PM | Link to this
I’ve been to Wyoming twice by car several years apart, both times seeing the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Snake River, Cody, and Yellowstone. Absolutely spectacular! Next time I’d like to go by train. It’s a long way to drive, and I’m thoroughly burned out on the airlines.
By Wyo Jim
November 23, 2009 2:20 PM | Link to this
I’ve lived in Wyoming for 50 years, including 30 in Laramie. My father was from Springfield Ohio, and took me to my first big league game, Dodgers Vs. Reds in Crosley Field, 1962. Hi from Windy Wyo.
By KI
November 23, 2009 2:11 PM | Link to this
I went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone the summer of my senior year of High School. Sitting on a back porch and looking west to the Grand Teton Mountains is a memory I will carry all my life. I’d love to return there some day. I’d prefer to go in the summer, though. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the USA. KI Class of ‘76
By Tom
November 23, 2009 12:28 PM | Link to this
The West has a great lure for Americans. Nothing like driving along with the gradual rising of the Great Plains and then appears the Front Range of the Rockies in the distance.
By NonTucky
November 23, 2009 10:40 AM | Link to this
Since the nice story was politicized, at least you won’t find Obama in Wyoming. Just the after effects of Obama.
By Steven Ross
November 23, 2009 9:43 AM | Link to this
I’ve been to Wyoming. Wagon wheels in the dirt are still clearly visible. No lie. The first gust of wind originated in Wyoming too. It’s still blowing.
By brunnegd
November 23, 2009 9:03 AM | Link to this
Buckhorn Exchange is one of my favorite places to eat, anywhere.
By Jim
November 23, 2009 9:03 AM | Link to this
I hope this is what we can expect in the ramblings of Prince Hal. Places to go, people see. Thanks
By HuberTucky
November 23, 2009 2:17 AM | Link to this
Wyoming is a beautiful desolate chunk of nature. Nothing more beautiful than the Tetons. Jackson Hole is awesome and real close to Yellowstone. Went snowmobiling up in the park and it was incredible. I live in Colorado now and am also enjoying the wilds of Wyoming. Now, the worst part of Wyoming is Deck Cheney.
By Nitpicker
November 22, 2009 8:09 PM | Link to this
William Cody was known as Buffalo Bill, not Wild Bill. Still a great article.
By Tim Mo
November 22, 2009 6:53 PM | Link to this
Great story from a Reds fan living out in Casper, WY. Captured the spirit of the state quite well, I’d say.