Bow Tie Mania

There was a time when quite often I found myself garbed in bow ties. Lois once indicated I had a whole drawerful of them – as many as fifteen! Bow ties became my favorite over neck ties because most of them were the clip-on type that I could put on and off quickly.

Not all of my bow ties were clip-on though. Some were the type that had to be tied. My wife had to tie those for me or check when I tied them to see if they were even and straight.

Red, blue, black, yellow, white, you name it, I had a bow tie in that color.

Once, back in my coaching days, I wore a fire engine red bow tie to one of our basketball games. We were in a heated contest and held the lead for quite awhile but then lost it. I called a time-out. The team flocked around me and just as I sent them back to the floor, I heard a man in the stands shout, “Hey Coach! Get rid of that tie and give us some sensible decisions!” He also indicated I'd called the wrong defense. I never liked that man much anyway so I grabbed that tie and threw it right at him. The referee saw this and gave me a technical penalty. He warned me not to do that anymore or I'd be ejected from the game! That red bow tie was one I never forgot.

Bow ties that did different things were a fun part of my collection. One, a Christmas bow tie, flashed lights and if you pushed the center it said “Uh Uhh”. (It was supposed to be saying “Hello”, but I'd worn it out!)

One had a picture of my (supposed) mouth and tongue. When I'd push a little button inside my jacket a little thing popped through the tie and looked like a tongue sticking out. That wasn't very nice, but the kids at school loved it!

For most sports activities I had a favorite that had a little tube attached to the back of the tie with a pump I could hide in my pocket. When I pumped the bulb it would load with air, the second time it would pop a peanut, like a basketball going through the hoop. When I went to shake hands with someone they might get a basketball (peanut) shot at them.

These days I only put on a bow tie occasionally, mostly on holidays or other special occasions. Keep you eye on this blog for future pics of me in my bow tie finery!