The Ice Cream of the Future - we'll miss you

With New Yankee Stadium just a few short weeks away from opening to sell-out crowds every game, and the buzz of a new ballpark that hasn't been felt since before most current Yankee fans were born, Yankee fans may get so wrapped up in the hoopla that they may not even notice the loss of an ahead-of-its-time treat that served them well for so many years.

I speak of course about Dippin' Dots: The Ice Cream of the Future.

As the Yankees released an extensive list of all the wonderful new dining options the upgraded new stadium will feature, conspicuously absent was the cryogenically frozen snack, which did not make the cut among the seemingly random list of vendors like Johnny Rockets, Carl's Steaks, or Famous Famiglia Pizza.

After a quick peak on their website or their Wikipedia page it actually seems like Dippin' Dots is doing OK--did you know that in 2007 they had a revenue of $46.4 million? True story!

I guess people get nostalgic in different ways. While the "true Yankee" fans clamored for one more year at Yankee Stadium, I said good riddance. Of course I recognized the history of the old place, but knew that it could no longer service the hordes of people who waited on VERY long lines to enter the stadium, buy $12 beers, and go to the bathroom--and dry their hands on their shirts, because there were no paper towels by the time May rolled around.

But today I realized why I'm so nostalgic about Dippin' Dots: I've never even had them. My parents never bought them for me when I was a kid (they're disproportionately more expensive than regular ice cream) and a small helmet-shaped cup is hardly big enough for an adult. I thought that--like the future--the Dippin' Dots guy and his little stand would be waiting for me on the day I finally decided to fork over my $5 in exchange for the cold, beaded treat.

So what's the moral of the story? Don't wait until tomorrow to do what you can do today. Carpe diem. The Ice Cream of the Future waits for no man--not even a Yankee fan.