The Best of Times

I recently read an article about my wife’s high school, White Pigeon, participating in a football game against a long-time rival Centerville.  What made this game interesting is that it was not the students that played in the game, rather the alumni of each school coming back to play.  It was a charity event used to raise money for the athletic departments of each school.  The players paid to play and the fans paid to watch.  Everyone wins.  Great idea!

This, along with my body clock telling me that “football season is near” has been a major distraction for me.  I spent one summer as a lifeguard at a family pool association.  To this day if I am anywhere near water, I am counting heads, anticipating which kid may slip under, and thinking about the best route to get to them.  The impending football season makes you think about all the things you would be doing.  Right now would be our pre-season conditioning involving interval training and lifting weights.  Two a days would start in about 10 days.  The first week would be without pads, the second with.  There would be a four-way scrimmage and soon enough our first game would be played.  This used to be against Bloomfield Hills Lahser.

I played for Birmingham Seaholm.  Our cross town rival was Birmingham Groves.  I can’t help but wonder what would happen if there was an alumni game.  Would I participate? 

Yes.

Let me rephrase that…

HELL YES!

The reality of the matter is this.  I was an offensive tackle.  With the way my body has “matured” since then, I am certainly not moving anywhere else off the line, perhaps an interior defensive line position.  With the quarters being 12 minutes long we are talking 48 minutes of game.  Based upon an even split of possession we are looking at 24 minutes of playing time.  This might result in 50 snaps of the ball.  Assuming that there are a few other linemen looking to play and that most would be younger than 46, I would probably be given maybe 10-12 snaps.  Yeah…I could do that.

It did make me think about my team mates that would still be able to suit up.  Mike Lutomski and John Bookmyer look like they are still in about the same shape as they were back in 1982.  Eric Mariani would be counted on to be our “playmaker”.  I never knew Mark Sacket to have a bad game at anything we ever competed in.  Curt Arnold could “will” his way through anything….I am certain he would play well.

At quarterback we had Bill Kiptyk.  Bill was a great athlete with a strong arm and the speed and size to take on any tackler.  He has dropped off the face of the earth.  The last I heard he was living in Europe.  Although most welcomed, I doubt we’d see him come trotting back for a game.  Some youngster would need to call signals.

I can’t help but think of the movie “The Best of Times” with Kurt Russell and Robin Williams.  They replay the game of their life to see if Robin Williams would drop the game winning catch...again.  It iss not really a football movie...though it is about a football game.  It is about friendships..self-confidence, and making the most of life's opportunities.   If you’ve never seen it I highly recommend it. 

If such a game were to happen, this is how it would break down. 

1.       The event would be scheduled.

2.       The word would spread out amongst the old players from each school.

3.       Most would immediately indicate a willingness to participate.

4.       Reality would set in.

5.       "Scheduling conflicts" would arise.

6.       The initial 50-60 participants would whittle down to 18-24 per side.

7.       Coaches would have to trim down the play books to a few…very simple plays.

8.       During the game, at least 4 players from each team will not be able to finish due to pulled hamstrings or calf muscles.

9.       One knee will be completely blown.

10.   The 24 year old who played D3 ball will dominate for each side.

11.   There will be at least one hit causing a concussion that will make everyone else wonder if they were sure this was a good idea.

12.   No matter what the score, organizers will declare that “everyone won tonight”.

13.   The players will leave the locker rooms where their wives will be waiting for them like their girlfriends did 30 years ago.

14.   A local restaurant will be the place to go for a post-game meal and “re-hydration therapy” session.

15.   Each player will remember the game completely differently than the next.

16.   None of the players will want to, or be able to get out of bed before noon the next day.

God…it would be beautiful.