"And Matty scores with a case of Tastykakes!"

In the early days of TOOOAST!!!, Matty voiced his revulsion at a shoehorned-in plug for Tastykakes -- a local delicacy of sorts in Philly, where they've been made for nearly 100 years -- whenever a Flyer scored a goal against the Capitals.

I also found the plugs rather unseemly if not downright embarrassing, and certainly more suited to the four-hour shill-a-thons that pass for Philadelphia Eagles radio broadcasts. But then I stumbled onto an ESPN Classic broadcast of Game 6 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals between the Flyers and Buffalo Sabres...

Neither Bernie Parent nor Roger Crozier surrendered a goal through the first two periods of the game, and when Bob "Hound Dog" Kelly finally broke through just 11 seconds into the third, Gene Hart announced that Kelly had scored not for the lead in a potential Cup-clinching game, not for the distinct possibility that the Flyers would win their second consecutive championship, but for... a case of Tastykakes.

Later in the third, when future Deep Woods OFF pitchman Bill Clement streaked down the slot all alone, took a pass from Orest Kindrachuk, and potted the biggest goal of his career, Don Earle bellowed that Clement, too, had scored for a case of Tastykakes.

(However, both broadcasters still mispronounced Clement's name "CLEM-ent" rather than "cle-MENT". Hey, what do ya want for a fourth-liner who'd been a healthy scratch the previous game?)

Tastykake -- which currently houses its operations on the former site of the Philadelphia Navy Yard -- also sponsored the Flyers' post-game show in those days.

The current Flyers broadcasters would be well served to dial the plug down a notch: how 'bout not mentioning the product until the second time you state the Flyers have scored, rather than ramming it in there immediately after the puck crosses the goal line?

Anyway, despite the tradition of the campaign -- and mostly because I wasn't around to see the first iteration of it -- the whole idea still seems crass and vaguely inappropriate. But given the the way in which the Flyers routinely fall all over themselves to exploit any and all links to the mid-'70s glory years, and my perception of Tasty Baking Inc. as a relatively un-shitty corporation, I suppose it's not as bad as it seemed.

Is it Kate Smith belting out "God Bless America"? Of course not. But neither is it the "Matt Blatt Splat," or the "BFI Wasted Opportunity Of The Game."

(And as a bonus, it doesn't involve noted wordsmith Mike Quick.)

So tear open some Butterscotch Krimpets and enjoy -- it's not the end of the world.

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