All hails explained

Years ago Bones & I lived together in a house with like seven other guys. One roomate was a Cal Ripken fan with the nerve to claim that Cal was the greatest shortstop of all time. Bones & I declared that inaccurate and would argue at length that Jay Bell was clearly better than Ripken. What kept him going was his pursuit of the question, whether or not we were serious. He never knew.

With that carnival of back-rent-owing roomates, we spent a little time playing games of skill. One game we often played. Players took turns attempting simple feats of dexterity with shotglasses and coins. Successful players were able to establish new rules legislating behavior during the game.

Whenever Bones or I accomplished said feats of dexterity, we made a rule that required all players to toast, "All Hail Jay Bell!" before each player's turn. After that, we'd pile on additional All Hails to other worthy athletes ("All Hail Chico Lind!" "All Hail Sammy Khalifa!" "All Hail Doug Frobel!" etc. etc.)

Cal Ripken would have to accomplish his own feat of dexterity to undo such a rule. He was very clumsy. Eventually, he became something of a Pirates fan.