George Pickens

The Jacket

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I was in a bar in the Cumberland area once enjoying having Monkey as a bartender when Neal Boortz asked me where he could get a good hot dog.

There should be double entendre all over the above sentence but no, it happened as read.
This sounds like some 80's öööö. Early 90's at the latest. Hot dogs seem to have been relegated to the ballpark and the backyard for a long while now. Even A&W doesn't exist anywhere near Atlanta, you have to reach Tennessee or the southern half of Florida just to get a chili cheese shake.
 

Techbert

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This sounds like some 80's öööö. Early 90's at the latest. Hot dogs seem to have been relegated to the ballpark and the backyard for a long while now. Even A&W doesn't exist anywhere near Atlanta, you have to reach Tennessee or the southern half of Florida just to get a chili cheese shake.
Nineties or the Noughts. He had that deer in the headlights look of someone on a Lost Mission with a pregnant wife as the Questgiver.

Monkey was a great bartender.
 

00Burdell

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This sounds like some 80's öööö. Early 90's at the latest. Hot dogs seem to have been relegated to the ballpark and the backyard for a long while now. Even A&W doesn't exist anywhere near Atlanta, you have to reach Tennessee or the southern half of Florida just to get a chili cheese shake.
Back in said 80s, I worked in CNN Center and there was a guy who owned one of the fast food places (his name was Wes and it wasn't a chain - it was his only restaurant) on the ground floor. His specialty was Chicago dogs. He even had big shaker of Overdog celery salt next to the condiments.

I will go to my grave never having a better hot dog than the ones I got in that place. Un-believable.

Oh, one more thing. I read most of this thread not knowing why I was supposed to hate George Pickens... till I got to the tweet showing that play. Now, I'm on board - feeling the hate flowing through me like a hot wind from a Wall of Voodoo video. öööö that punk.
 

Dhatura

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I had a weird encounter at LAX when someone punched me in the shoulder and said, "Go Jackets!" It ended up being Calvin Booker. Just after the Thomas incident. Of course, none of us knew it then. But it was still random. He was perplexed that I was a Tech fan having never gone to the Institute. He was a cool cat. Very well spoken, as well.

Other random encounters I have had was buying USB Thumb drives with Fabio (man he is a big guy). Going on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal with Amber Rose (her heiney is not that big), being in line for a dance show with Scott Baio (just a cool guy). Having John Rocker as a seat mate on a plane (he's a big guy, as well). Buying groceries with Don Johnson. The GF has some interesting stories, as well, but I'll save those for later.

Oh, and anyone saying Karma will get us Tech fans (is that even possible?) - Karma finally got Pickens.
 

AmpuTECHture

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I was watching the 2014 ACC championship at a bar here in salt lake (we do actually have those), getting hammered until I notice the Miami championship ring on the guy who sits next down to me, and It's Dennis Erickson (Utah RB/assistant coach at the time). He was super chill, and had tons of respect for CPJ and what he was able to accomplish at Tech. Had nothing but great things to say. Talked some shop on Mike Leach and WSU as well since I have some connections to there.
 

aeromech

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I shopped groceries and Tommy "Wildfire" Rich was also shopping groceries.
There was a kid in middle school who lived in the same apartment complex as Tommy Rich. One day Tommy let him wear a pair of his wrestling trunks under his jeans to school because the kid thought it would be cool. I think the kid was left emotionally scarred by the time he went home that day.
 

gtphd

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Even A&W doesn't exist anywhere near Atlanta, you have to reach Tennessee or the southern half of Florida just to get a chili cheese shake.
A&W's strategy is to be the "big" restaurant in small towns.
 

gtphd

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I'd say you're right.

Sounds about right. They also look for single-owner, local franchisees. Many of their franchisees were teachers and Ace Hardware owners before opening up their A&W.

Root beer is great now that they make it back-of-house. Food is above average. Service is usually good. All this is because the owner is in the restaurant operating it. That's the same tactic used by CFA.
 

The Jacket

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Sounds about right. They also look for single-owner, local franchisees. Many of their franchisees were teachers and Ace Hardware owners before opening up their A&W.

Root beer is great now that they make it back-of-house. Food is above average. Service is usually good. All this is because the owner is in the restaurant operating it. That's the same tactic used by CFA.
We had one at Arbor Place Mall's food court in my hometown when it initially opened in 1999. It stuck around for a few years and was gone, I assume around the same time they vacated the rest of the state. We also had a Philly Connection in Douglasville back when those were still a little more common. I thought they were all gone as well, but discovered last year that there was one somewhere in Marietta and decided to give it a try. I was pretty surprised by how good it was. Probably shaved a few days off my life, but it was good. I still get their commercial jingle from the early 90's stuck in my head sometimes.
 

gtphd

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It stuck around for a few years and was gone, I assume around the same time they vacated the rest of the state.
No, that was a franchisee going under. The upside of having small, local ownership is the ability to build community connections, effective local marketing, and ownership who cares about the customer experience. The downside is that the owners are less financially stable and more prone to failure if the store underperforms.
 

The Jacket

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No, that was a franchisee going under. The upside of having small, local ownership is the ability to build community connections, effective local marketing, and ownership who cares about the customer experience. The downside is that the owners are less financially stable and more prone to failure if the store underperforms.
I didn't think they'd been that heavily composed of franchises yet back then. Were they ever primarily corporate in the vein of McDonalds and their ilk, or has it always been like that? I'm wondering now if Long John Silver is doing the same thing, because they're apparently now ~80% franchisees and much fewer and far between than they once were. But they also have locations like Acworth, which is a far cry from White House, TN.
 

gtphd

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I didn't think they'd been that heavily composed of franchises yet back then. Were they ever primarily corporate in the vein of McDonalds and their ilk, or has it always been like that? I'm wondering now if Long John Silver is doing the same thing, because they're apparently now ~80% franchisees and much fewer and far between than they once were. But they also have locations like Acworth, which is a far cry from White House, TN.
A&W was heavily franchised from the beginning. LJS was mostly corporate run until they were bought by Yum (who, at one point, owned LJS and A&W along with KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut ). Yum had a philosophy of franchisee-only brands because of stable revenues and a high multiple.

LJS (and Captain D's and similar) is just a dying brand. Consumer demand is decreases every year. These days people want chicken, beef, and bacon, not fish. Also, very high cost of sales. They catch it, freeze it, ship it to China or Ecuador, cut it, refreeze it, ship it to LA, send it by train across the country, then deliver to DCs.
 

The Jacket

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Also, very high cost of sales. They catch it, freeze it, ship it to China or Ecuador, cut it, refreeze it, ship it to LA, send it by train across the country, then deliver to DCs.
This is bizarre. Why is the process so convoluted? Seems like something they could have streamlined at some point, especially once they started running into financial trouble.
 
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