Two Of My Greatest Heros

Now, this may not have been written at the Uncle Earls 15 years ago, but it sure fits now...

Tryin' to be a hero, and winding up a zero,
Can scar a man forever right down to his soul.
Living in the spotlight can kill a man outright...
Because everything that glitters is not gold.

If you are 'new' to the Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Field Trials and were not there before 2010, you do not know the battles fought, the heart break felt and scars worn by the great men and women of the good old days...

Amos Mann and Blair's Diamond Cutter

It was them who inspired me, and that came before you, and made the Uncle Earl's what it is today.

Jimmy Young and Reggie Little in the golf cart

 I did not know it at the time, but I was watching empires crumble, and legends being 'made' that money cannot buy,

 and will never be matched, forgotten or beaten. Like Blair's Diamond Cutter below...

And...Ironically, my two greatest all time legendary heros were not even men... 

                                                 Sherry Bando

One was a lady and the other was a dog, and such were the days of Uncle Earl's past when 'Elis the King' and his queen ruled Winnfield!

                                                              Sherry Bando and Elvis the King

The Uncle Earl's know it all's of today, don't even realize that there was a time when there was no "Best of the Best' 

and if you could not call your dogs out after the whistle blew, and have them 'on the leash' within 30 seconds, 

you were penalized and it cost you a point and...

                                                  de la Houssaye's C Arrow Patch


                                   That's right, if you couldn't call your dog out, it could cause you to lose!

http://www.moffittcatahoulas.com/uncleearls/ue1997.html

                               Marcus de la Houssaye and NALC reg. C Arrow Patch @ UE 2011

Those were the days of the great Catahoula hog dog men 

                                       Queen Tanya of Antwerp, Belgium

and women, and the legends that will never be forgotten,

        Hoyt Ferguson and Hondo

http://www.moffittcatahoulas.com/uncleearls/ue1998.html

                             de la Houssaye's Valyrie a great-granddaughter of Diamond Cutter

 and those magnificent bastards that legends are made of and who made 'our' names famous!

                                  de la Houssaye's Bobalou 1995-2006

Don't forget...

It will be 11 months before the next Uncle Earl's family reunion and we can gather together again @

in honor of the most famous Catahoula hog dog man, of the 20th century, Louisiana Governor Earl Long.

                               Uncle Earl Long painting by George Rodrigue

But in the meantime, coming up next month in southeast Texas,

Hoyt and Hondo

we can gather as a family and in memory of, and honor Hoyt Ferguson, on Memorial Day weekend, it is the East Texas Hog Baying Championships

And on the heels of the Uncle Earl's last month, and the Sherry Bando Memorial Bay back in January, the word is:

               "RUN YOUR DOGS, AND NOT YOUR MOUTH!"