Try to become part of Rockabillys’ concession food naming

When the Jackson Rockabillys introduced their inaugural manager – Matt Franco – at a press conference in January, owner Dennis Bastien made a statement that kind of got lost in the shuffle that day.

The team is having another naming contest, this time for items on the menu in the concession stand.

The team is called the Rockabillys, and Bastien would like for some – possibly – all menu items to have some kind of catchy name that ties to the Rockabilly genre of music.

A couple of examples he gave that day were the “Love Me Tenders” that might be given to chicken tenders.

Personally, if I’m walking up to a baseball concession stand, I’m probably just going to be like, “Just give me some chicken tenders, barbecue sauce, French fries and a large sweet tea.”

But some people apparently get a kick out of walking up to that same concession stand and asking for an order of some “Love Me Tenders.”

To each their own, I guess.

But in the spirit of the contest, I’ve got a few suggestions. Anyone who reads this has my permission to use them.

“Hound Dogs” – This is an obvious reference to one of Elvis Presley’s songs that put him on the national music map in the 1950s, and hot dogs are one of the staples of baseball game menu items. Maybe the “hound dog” is a specialty dog like a hot dog with chili, cheese, mustard and jalapenos. (Other possible related items to this would be “Bird Dog” by the Everly Brothers and “Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad” by Wanda Jackson.)

“Dixie Fried” – Maybe this would be a way to fry anything that gets fried in the concession stand with a special oil or seasoning or something. “Can I get an order of dixie fried love me tenders?”

“Dixie fries” – An easy alternative to referring to a Carl Perkins standard. Do they call all fries that or just some certain order of fries like fries with cheese, chili, mustard, onions and jalapenos? I’m not the concession stand director, so that’s not my call.

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On Over Here” – The Rockabillys don’t need to do things like their predecessors in the stadium did, but they did have certain concession stand windows where ice cream was sold. Maybe the could add milkshakes to the offerings in those windows and it would make sense to pay tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis with a sign over those locations. (I’m stretching here, I know.)

“Skinny Jims” – Eddie Cochran doesn’t get near the attention his music deserves. Maybe if a local beef jerky maker wanted to make a little money at baseball games this summer, this would be a decent marketing strategy.

“Blue Suede Shoes” – A baseball team in Jackson, Tenn., called the Rockabillys can’t have a concession stand initiative and not have something – literally just about anything – named this. My brainstorm idea – blue cotton candy fashioned like a pair of nice dancing shoes.

“All Mama’s Children” – That’s the label they should put on the kids’ menu.

“Milk Cow Blues” – This was a song by Sleepy John Estes … could they put that name on a cheeseburger?

While early June when the Rockabillys play their first home game is still three months away, the good thing about that is there’s still time for some of you to come up with ideas that actually make sense without 200 words of explanation.

So do better than me (which I fully acknowledge is a very low bar).

Until then, I’ll try to get used to ordering fried chicken by referring to it as an Elvis Presley love song.

Brandon Shields is the managing editor of The Jackson Post. Contact him at brandon@jacksonpost.news. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or Instagram @Editorbrandon.