STILL DIPPIN’…& SPITTIN’

July 17, 2019

By DINO COSTA

Earl Campbell still dips, and his favorite brand is Skoal.

Walt Garrison, the old cowboy, he’s still reaching into his back pocket for another pinch of Copenhagen…or like Earl Campbell, does Walt prefer Skoal

too? I think that Walt might still be a Skoal man to this very day.

A good old boy from Georgia who goes by the name of Madison Bumgarner…I’m positive that MadBum is a Copenhagen southern blend kinda guy.

Oakland Athletics team President Billy Beane still spits into a paper cup, although I’ve never been able to figure out what the Moneyball man’s

favorite chew is.

Does Carlton Fisk still put a pinch between his cheek and gum…or did he only do that when he was chopping up some firewood at his home in Vermont?

Guys that dip or chew tobacco can be found in all walks of life. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I had to go to the dentist two years ago for a routine check-up, told the dentist that I was a dipper and expected the perfunctory rebuke…only to have the dentist respond by

telling me that he was in that same club as well.

Football players dip as much as baseball players do. Current Redskins running back Adrian Peterson is often spotted with a huge wad of longleaf

tobacco in his mouth before games and during warm-ups. In fact, and I have no precise numbers to go by, but I did see something Online not too long

ago where some surveys indicate that now, NFL players dip as much and maybe even more than baseball players do these days.

Brett Favre has always dipped, Jim McMahon, as well as John Elway.

How bout’ that?

Hockey players are known to be big dippers. In fact, when I was doing talk radio in the lovely little river town of Huntington, West Virginia, back in

the day (actually the very first talk show with my name on it was in Huntington back in 1998) I remember being in the Huntington Blizzard

locker room following a game and seeing tough winger Tracy Egeland putting a monster-sized chew in after a game.

Even some players on the PGA Tour like to relax while they’re playing by sliding in a dip every now and then. Dustin Johnson, for one, likes to dip,

although the Tour has rules against it whilst playing. Jason Duffner is another. 2015 PGA Tour Rookie Of The Year Daniel Berger has always enjoyed

a dip in his lip while on the course. Anyone ever see Tiger reach for a tin ever?

I’m also told that the dipping habit extends to a few guys on the WWE Tour. The Undertaker (the what?) dips, in addition to guys like Steve Austin,

Brock Lesner, and Shawn Michaels.

You want me to get into dippers on the Pro Rodeo tour? Let’s safely assume that a good 90% of all professional rodeo cowboys have that permanent

circle on one of the back pockets of their Wrangler jeans.

You’d also have to believe that many drivers on the Nascar circuit like to throw some hammers in their mouths during a 500-mile race, right? Then

again, as I think about that, it has to be pretty challenging to take one hand off the wheel while going almost 200 miles an hour to spit into a cup

of some kind.

I wonder how many in the media enjoy smokeless tobacco? I do know that former Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz is a dipper. Kravitz is now

with the Athletic website.

Getting back to my dentist, during that same visit where he informed me that he likes to throw a chew in once in a while, I asked him what he considered more ‘dangerous’, chewing, or smoking? He told me he

considered smoking riskier because of the ‘fire’ and the ‘hotness’ that it produces in the mouth. Whatever.

My own dip usage began back when I was running my own lawn and landscape firm back in the nineties. My introduction to chew was with a brand called

Hawken, which if anyone is looking for a chew to break themselves into the craft, I highly recommend. Hawken is a wintergreen chew that almost tastes

like candy with probably the lowest amount of nicotine of any other smokeless tobacco on the market.

Since then I’ve graduated to pretty much all of them, different flavors, different brands, but mostly I’ve tended to stick with two brands

primarily, either Copenhagen or Skoal, and if I had to choose between the two, I’ll always favor Copenhagen.

But lately, I’ve been going with a different brand, it’s called Stoker’s, which isn’t widely available in many states, in fact, it’s only been within

the last year or so that it’s been out west. Yeah, for the most part of late I’ve been a Stoker’s wintergreen man. But hey now, don’t ever allow me

to tell you what brand or flavor to choose for yourself because this is still a free dip America we live in.

I will tell you that if you dip flavored tobacco that the burn will be more prevalent than if you dip natural flavored tobacco. But once you dip for a

while that burn I speak of goes away and they all kind of feel the same against your gums.

When do I enjoy a dip the most? That would usually be right after I’ve had a meal. Something about a satisfying dip right after you’ve eaten that

really…satisfies.

Yeah, I still enjoy cigars a lot, and it’s kind of funny because once I start on a cigar kick that can last several weeks, my urge to dip goes away

completely.

I just happened to throw a pinch in just now as I finish up this piece.

Now I’m gonna watch the end of the Mets-Twins game on my recliner in the living room.

Yeah, I’m still dippin’…and still spittin’.

But can you believe I still haven’t purchased a mud jug?

https://www.mudjug.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjrvpBRC0ARIsAFrFuV-i3_SrUuUsMWtYD5NYl-nyB93TDRk-0i1B70FEaodK9f1ZZQxphD8aAibgEALw_wcB