Not a Whole Lot

This is when the dog days of summer ring the truest for me, and more so this summer. School is over with, the Tour de France is over, regular season football doesn't start for a month, and with no job news to report, there just isn't much going on. Today consisted of buying graduation gear, packing, and watching Napoleon Dynamite for the first time. I can see why people like it so much, it was pretty good. Not Top 10 worthy, but much better than Anchorman, which I thought was crude and overdone at times. I also put in a 65 minute run that included the Bonham Road trails and the long uphill trek up Rt. 73 back into Oxford. But the legs felt good and I'm looking forward to running in the Englewood 5K in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow will consist of golfing, bowling on Friday, and the parents coming down for some packing on Saturday. My dad and I possibly may go to watch 7 on 7 high school football down at the football stadium Saturday. 7 on 7 is just offensive backs and receivers vs. defensive linebackers and secondary, but we're so football hungry it doesn't matter. These are often referred to as Passing Camps. When my dad coached high school football, his team was one of the first to start the trend since they threw the ball so much.

My dad was defensive coordinator for Alter, then Wayne high school in the 70s and 80s. I remember as a little kid always looking forward to Friday nights, going to football games. Now, Wayne was not where I went to school (Northmont). I didn't know the difference at first. In fact, Wayne used to open the season against Northmont, and I rooted for Wayne, not yet realizing I was in the Northmont school district. Northmont would give Wayne a game, but Wayne had too much talent. For Friday Show and Tell, I would talk about that night's football game haha. At the game, I would do play by play in the stands. I think I embarrassed my mom when I did this. If Wayne had the game in hand in the 4th quarter, my dad would let me come down to the sideline and come on the field. Then I got to spend the rest of the night with my dad in the locker room, celebrating with the players. For a 6 year old, this was a big deal. Getting to be in the locker room afterwards, seeing all of the reporters, eating all of the potato chips and cake I wanted, with garbage cans full of pop was heaven. But it was also nice to be with my dad since during football season I didn't get to see him as much. I remember one night after Wayne beat Centerville, who at the time was quarterbacked by Kirk Herbstreit, who of course went onto Ohio St. and is now at ESPN, my dad and I stopped at Perkins for a cheeseburger. We just talked and had a good time; I'll always remember that night.

In my dad's final year, I got to be Ball Boy (I'm in 3rd grade now). I even went to some of the summer practices, so the players knew me and most of them treated me with respect. That year, I got too close to the action and actually ended up at the bottom of a pile during practice. My dad wasn't too happy about that. Since I was on the field, if you looked closely during the TV highlights, there would be me running into view at the bottom of the screen. There's a really good shot of me at the end of the year, bundled up in my winter coat and stocking hat looking on as Wayne scored a touchdown. There were two big highlights that took place for me. First, was actually talking to then Lead Sports Anchor Dave Calabro of Channel 2 at halftime of one of the games. Now, Calabro is a sportscaster in Indianapolis and is the voice of the Indy Racing League radio network I believe. He was a nice guy. Second was getting to be with the team at their practice at Welcome Stadium before their 1st round playoff game. Welcome Stadium is now basically a dump that UD still uses as their football stadium, but then, it was and felt much bigger than that. I remember being out of breath as I ran goal line to goal line. Another highlight was traveling with the team to the Centerville game, and while getting soaked and sick, Wayne won and I got to be part of a huge locker room celebration. On the highlight video, there I am, right in the middle of it with the players as they dance away.

But again, it was just great to be with my dad and getting to share his last year with him. He gave up coaching the next year to be around more, which I'm grateful for. I hope I gave him some memories where he can be proud of me. Thanks Dad.

You know, I didn't think I had much to say, but it's funny when you start writing, you never know where you're going to end up. Good night.