FOODS and SPORTS

Baseballs-Boccie Balls-Soccer Balls-Basketballs

By Adam S. Eterovich

As a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, I have noticed for a number of years columnists and writers referring to sports personalities and foods by their ethnic or racial background, this was not always so and I don’t know if this is good or bad. Some poor souls feel left out.

We have Italian-American DiMaggio, Notre Dame Irish, Afro-American Bonds,( I know his mother, Pat, she runs around San Carlos with an Afro-American T-shirt), Cuban-American Canseco, Scot-Irishman McGuire, Dominican Republic Sosa, Stanford Indians (American Indians put a stop to that) and the fighting Irishman John L. Sullivan. Even the Mexican-American, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Japanese, Bolivians and Austrians are named, pity the poor Bosnians, they just got here, but they have formed a soccer team, song and dance groups and actually asked me if they could make some home made booze..I suggested using prunes squeezed properly..everybody else does and takes it to games.

So.....We would like to join the crowd...John Babich, Croatian-American struck out Babe Ruth three times in 1935, the Fat Mans Baseball Club of Nevada, 1870, starred Marko Medin 6’4’’ at 240 pounds, a saloon owner; and other Croatian-Americans: Beggs, Bronzan, Haller, Hesner, Jelinich, Kreevich, Labetich, Lolich, Lubratich, Metkovich, Mustanich, and Johnny Pesky-Paveskovich.

You want football: Erdelatz, Beban, Saban, Bronzan, Radakovich, Kuharich, Matesich, Cindrich and many others. The 49ers made the biggest mistake when they lost Elvis Grbac, his father named him after Elvis Presley because he liked him in the old country.

Also...Boccie Ball Champions Jerry Cepernich, 1975, San Francisco champion and Walter Ivancich world champion in 1995.

Also.. Davor Suker, Golden Boot Award, and the Croatian Soccer team in third place at the World Cup, The French beat them with players that are not French.

Also.. the European World Heavyweight Champ, Zeljko Mavrovich, who has a Mohawk haircut, and looks meaner than Mike Tyson. He will fight Lennox Lewis on Sept. 26, in Connecticut, then on to Holyfield.

How about Basketball..with Tony Kukoc and the Chicago Bulls..the only Croatian on the team and Dino Radja with the Boston Celtics (Celts!-Croats) to name a few.

And on to Tennis..Ivanisevich and Majoli.

Racing..with Mario Andretti-Andretich, all time champions.

Foods...also Swiss cheese, Jewish bagels, Danish cookies, Swiss strudel, Italian olive oil (Antonio Lucas-Lucich discovered oil in Texas-you use this to cook with, not olive oil), French wine, English mutton, Polish sausage, Dutch pancakes, Danish cookies, Swedish rolls, Viennese-Austrian coffee, Portuguese sardines, Irish potatoes, Hawaiian, Samoan and Tongan roast pig, German hamburger, Chinese noodles, Chile rollenos and Mexican Enchiladas. We could add Bosnian civapcici..(just like matzo balls), Dalmatian srdele s kvasina, luka i maslina ulje, Croatian gavrilovich salami, Slavonian Slivovitza (prunes) and Istrian prsut...all hot sellers!

Foods...You know who invented California Cuisine, Tadich Grill, the oldest restaurant in San Francisco,1849, all waiters, cooks, owners came from Dalmatia in Croatia, Original Joes (the original), Tony Rodin owner from Dalmatia and Marco Polo-Pilich brought spaghetti from China..he was born in Korcula, Croatia.

God, this is a great place to live, and to think that the above people invented all those goodies for the rest of us..

I like hotdogs, craps and horses.