What ties everyone together here is we are all Browns fans (well most of us). I want to hear your own stories about when you were in high school or college or even during your adulthood. Maybe it was a backyard football game or a pickup basketball game. It could have been a half court buzzer beater or a hail mary catch or pass. I wanna hear your stories...
I can't play football due to medical issues, I hate basketball, and I don't play baseball anymore because I'm too terrible to make the team. But I do have two sports moments that were cool (to me at least). In baseball the summer after 7th grade, I went 4-4 with 4 RBI's against the best pitcher we faced all year. We scored 6 runs total and won when I hit a double to the wall in the bottom of the 7th with two outs, while down one.
In my town's version of pee wee football, I once had three receiving touchdowns and two interceptions (one of which I returned all the way from inside the enzone). This was pretty dang good for me because, I happen to be really, really slow. I was our snapper and would either block or go out for a pass. While I had very good hands, I didn't get the ball much except on the goalline where I'd just snap it and turn around basically. (that was legal in our football; there was a snapper, a quarterback, and 4 or 5 wideouts.)
This game stands out to me because my touchdowns were long ones as well as my picks. I know that no one cares about these stories, but I like reliving the glory days.
1st one.. Sophomore year, playing for my high school and we are playing the final game of the season for the conference division title. We are playing arch rival Glenville(of Ted Ginn,Troy Smith fame). It is late in the 4th quarter and we are up 9 to 6. Glenville has the ball at our 10 yard line with less than 20 seconds to go and it is 3rd down. They can take the three and tie it but there is no OT in high school ball back then and a tie game would only give them a share of the division title and we would win tiebreaker and go to conference title game. So on third down the QB gets the snap and drops back to go for the win with a pass into the end zone. I am playing defensive end in a 5-2. When the ball is snapped I beat the TE on a outside rush, the TE releases and runs a route to the end zone, where he is wide open. I know I cant recover and get back to him so I head for the QB, the RB dives at my ankles to cut me but I stiff arm him down and short hurdle him as the QB is raising his arm to throw to the wide open TE. Just as the QB is starting to throw the ball I blindside him at full speed. It is a picture perfect form tackle,waist high,helmet to one side,right into his lower spine. One of the coaches told me later he thought I broke the QBs back. The ball pops straight up into the air and comes back down righ in my stomch as I am laying on the ground. I cradle the ball an roll over just as everybody piles on me fighting for the ball. It seemed like I was on the bottom of that pile forever with everybody trying to reach in under me and get to the ball. When the refs finally got it all unpiled the clock read 00:00 and we were division champs and the next week we were conference champs.
2nd one... I was a soph or JR and playing in a East vs West high school all star game. Robert Smith was the RB for the East squad. . They ran off tackle to my side. I pushed the Tackle inside and stepped outside to meet Smith head on. It was like running full speed into a brick wall. He just ran right over me and dragged me about 5 yards holding onto his foot for dear life until he finally got tripped up on my face mask and went down. Hey at least I made the tackle
KING
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
I really don't have any good sports stories. I didn't play high school sports, just a lot of backyard football and basketball during middle school and high school. I also played soccer and then baseball in youth leagues.
About the only cool stories I can come up with is when I scored 4 goals in a soccer game, getting a call that I made the traveling team for Austintown (which was like an All Star team), then eventually the Sons of Italy team. It was soon after that I quit playing.
I also remember this catch I made in baseball. It was only in practice, unfortunately not in a game, but my teammate CRUSHED this ball. I mean, this was probably the hardest hit ball I've ever seen hit in little league. Dead to center field, where I was playing. I sprinted straight back, full speed, and somehow caught this thing over the shoulder almost laying flat out for it. I remember the guy that hit is saying it was the greatest catch he's ever seen.
The only good stories I can come up with in pick up games- I remember someone getting thrown a screen pass, and I made a textbook tackle in his gut, lifted him off of his feet and straight back. Only reason it sticks out is I was always the smallest guy out there, and I remember everyone getting all riled up after it.
For some reason I always remember this one play in basketball up at the school one summer. My best friend was guarding me, and I basically snapped his ankles as I blew past him and to the hoop. I had my back to him over on the edge, faked a pass to a guy cutting on my right, spun around to my left as he stood there like what the hell just happened, and took it to the hoop. He had this dumb look on his face after the play like he knew he just got taken to school.
Nothing too fancy here, but I played against my brother in our city league basketball championship game when I was around 14.
Yep, we won.
I also hit a "inside the park" home run in another city league game. No outfield fence, just hit it to left field, it rolled through the left fielders legs and I kept chugging around the bases and slid into home safe.
How in the world can you fix something... If you don't know how it's supposed to work?
When I was in HS we had a boxing team.....non sanctioned, but more a club sport in those days.
In the 10th grade, I was sort of a reserved guy, didn't say much....still am really, but even more so then.
One kid was the opposite....he thought he was really tough, and loud about it, so at that age, you figured he was......you know the guy...the sort who would snap you in the butt with his towel as you were walking from the showers....all the guys know what I am talking about.
At any rate, we both went for the boxing team, and he was the jock type the coaches liked, and was who I was....but i was also the son of a dad who boxed about 30 professional fights....even if nickel and dime stuff.
The coaches gave this kid the first crack at a challenge....and he picked me.
He started all this bravado stuff when we squared off.....guys know the look...I am sure you gals do too...he took the first punch which I parried easily(been smacked in the face by the old man more than a couple of time just goofing around) and then nailed him squarely in the forehead with a right ......all of a sudden the look in his eye changed....as I am sure it changed in mine....I beat him about 30 seconds later.
All of a sudden, he wanted to be my best friend.
I won a lot more the next few years, but that was my puffy moment in sports.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
I'll never forget this: When I was younger, my parents always faught, never got along, and always bad mouthed eachother behind eachother's backs. - Us kids always had to hear about who was wrong. My sisters and I knew that divorce was inevitable (it happened eventually) - It was really, really, depressing to go through that. - It started when I was 4 and continued until I was 12. My father never paid attention to any of us. He was always out with his girlfriend. My mom was there. She would always take my sisters to their cheerleading events, and to their softball games etc. Anyway, here's how all that history relates :
When I was in third grade I wrestled for my elementary school. - At practice, I went through the motions, but didn't really care. As the season progressed, I'd win, I'd lose, but my attitude remained, I really didn't care. I was too busy thinking about what was going on at home. My parents never realized how depressed I was because they were too busy handling their own business. - I'd get rides to practice if my mom couldnt take me. I'd do everything I could after practice to avoid going home. I went to wrestling practice to get out of my house, but I really didnt care about wrestling. Then, something strange happened. There was a wrestling tournament at the end of the season. Of course I joined because it meant a weekend night out of my house. - Please keep in mind that my father had never been to any of my wrestling events, but, for some reason, he came to this one. The tournament was scheduled to be a very, very, long one - an all night deal. My dad and mom both went, and were courteous to one another. During my first match, I lost due to the same nonchalant attitude that I had always had. Only this time it was different. - This time, my father was there to see me lose. My dad saw me lose, and for some reason, he actually cared. He said a few words to me, then did something I'll never forget. - He walked me over to the corner of the gym where all of the trophies were. He showed me the trophies, and asked me if I wanted one. I remember looking at the trophies, they were gleaming. - They looked good. My dad asked me if I wanted one and of course I shyly replied "yes." - and then BAM! My nonchalant attitude was gone, at least for that night. My father had inspired me. - I won the next 4 matches. - I was doing stuff that my coach had taught us, but that I had never used. My father was so into it also. It was great. After I won 5 straight, I had to wrestle the kid that beat me in the first match. - You guessed it, I beat him. I then went on to win another match. - 6 in a row all at the same tournament. - Problem was, since I lost my first match, I couldn't place any higher than third. - Which I ended up doing. It was a great night. After that, my father lost interest in us again and my nonchalent attitude continued for another 12 years until the Marine Corps killed it.
Other notable sports memories: -Threw 3 touchdowns in a game in 7th grade.
- Tackled Tony Fisher several times in a game against Euclid. - He went pro. - Covered Chris Chambers and tackled him several times in a game against Bedford. - He went pro.
-Had a couple fumble recoveries and int's in high school ball.
- In 11th grade baseball, I went 3 for 4 once with two triples a double and a single.
- Hit two over-the-fence homers in an organized softball game, then did it again a few weeks later.
- Shot a 39 on the back 9 at Shawnee Hills golf course.
- Tackled Tony Fisher several times in a game against Euclid. - He went pro. - Covered Chris Chambers and tackled him several times in a game against Bedford. - He went pro
Where did you play Muni? What years would that have been that Fisher was at Euclid??
KING
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
- Tackled Tony Fisher several times in a game against Euclid. - He went pro. - Covered Chris Chambers and tackled him several times in a game against Bedford. - He went pro
Where did you play Muni? What years would that have been that Fisher was at Euclid??
it was in a tournament back in '02, i played with a bunch of 30-40 somethings, every other team was comprised of junior level players.
it was pretty awesome, as the game went on, more people were coming in to watch. we couldn't get the puck out of our end of the ice, i felt pretty hot, most of the goals were ticky tac.
Quote: What ties everyone together here is we are all Browns fans (well most of us). I want to hear your own stories about when you were in high school or college or even during your adulthood. Maybe it was a backyard football game or a pickup basketball game. It could have been a half court buzzer beater or a hail mary catch or pass. I wanna hear your stories...
I'll share.
I played football in high school, small college and at the semi pro level for a number of years.
My fondest memory came about 4 years ago playing for a local Semi Pro team. Our Starting QB went down with a injury in the middle of the year. I played QB in college but my arm strength never was stellar. I could read a defense and deliver a decent ball. But I was not the down the field thrower a la Derek Anderson. I had been playing Tight End up until that point. I transitioned back to QB and in my first start I went 15-20 and 5 TD's!!! That was the most TD's I had ever thrown in my playing career. I was proud. I have it on tape and I will keep it to show the grand kids one day LOL!
I ended up finishing 5-0 to finish out the season and we got to the semi finals where my second memory I won't soon forget happened. I was also the holder for field goals and extra points. In that game we were playing our rivals out of Jacksonville, NC. They always had a hell of a team. Well I put togehter a 4th quarter drive and we punched it in from the 1 yard line on a simple dive play. That made the game 7-6 with 30 seconds left. So we lined up for the extra point and I DROPPED THE FREAKING HOLD!!! We lost 7-6 and missed a shot at the championship game.
What I love so much about playing semi-pro was the friendships we created. After I personally lost that game, my fellow teammates stuck up for me and never blamed me. They truly felt bad for me and stuck by me. I still today at age 33 talk to several of my former teammates. I sure miss playing ball!
In 10th grade I played varsity baseball, I was dating an 11th grade girl from a different school and her 10th grade brother played for them. He was Mr. Stud pitcher but he didn't pitch against us that day. We were getting shellacked 8-0 after 3 but came back and in the bottom of the last inning, we were down 9-8, had the bases loaded, 2 outs, I was up and they brought him in to pitch.. I smacked a single up the middle right passed his ear driving in 2 runs for the win... My girlfriends parents didn't think it was funny.
In the fall tournament (our stroke play club championship) when I was 17 it was the second day and I was in the final group, paired with these two older guys who both won it regularly, one was an arse and the other a decent guy... but they treated it more like match play against each other and ignored me as I was 3 or 4 shots behind most of the day... The arse was 1 shot up on the nice guy and 3 shots up on me with 3 to play and he was all kinds of cocky.. I finished birdie, eagle, birdie to win... The nice guy shook my hand and congratulated me on a great finish, the other guy stormed off and didn't say a word...
I've played me a lot of sports, so it's hard to really narrow down the memories. But I'll give it a shot.
I was on a very good summer league baseball team. I was the starting SS and was also one of the better pitchers. Well, one game, I started at SS. One of my good friends was the starting pitcher. The team we played was one of the other elite teams in the league.
My buddy got just shelled. He gave up a HR to a guy that I'm still not sure has landed (and this game happened in about 1995). So, they take him out at the end of the 2nd inning with us down by 7 runs and bring me in to pitch. I had just pitched a couple of days before and expected just to stay in for a couple innings.
I ended up pitching shut out baseball and giving up a single hit (a little dribbler infield hit) over the next 7 innings. The games were only 7 innings long, but we battled back and tied it, so we went to extra innings. They ended up having to take me out because I had exceeded the max. number of innings you could pitch. So, they put me in RF for the bottom of the 10th inning. We got 2 guys out, and then a good friend of mine who was a great CF threw out a guy at the plate to end the game. It was one of the best games I've ever been a part of.
I never had overwhelming speed as a pitcher, but I had very good control and pretty good junk pitches. I kept the ball down and, in fact, never gave up a HR in about 11 years of pitching. I didn't strike a lot of guys out, but I got guys to pound the ball into the ground.
Another memory was just a couple years ago in my rec basketball league. We were playing a far superior team, but we played a great game and they played a horrible game. So, we're down by 3 with about 3 seconds left. I inbound the ball at half court, and the guy who gets it panics and throws it right back to me (I had stepped inbounds pretty much right at the half court line). I know that time is about to expire, so I just turn and wing it. Amazingly, it banks in to tie it and send it to OT. We ended up losing by 1 in OT, but it was really exciting to hit a half court shot when it meant something.
Man, so many to choose from ... too bad most of them are from rec-leagues and not like high school varsity.
In high school, I played tight-end (yes, all 170 pounds of me) I was pretty much a receiving tight-end ... I'd make Kellen Winslow look like an all-world blocker ... and was lined up next to a guy who ended up playing in the NFL as a RT for a few years. For whatever reason, the play called for me to stay in and block. The future pro got beat by the outside rush, and I squared up and blocked the guy cleanly. Probably my best pass block ever. The guy came back to the huddle and was like, "Wow! look at you out there blocking!" I was always hoping for him to become an all-pro, so I could tell everyone I used to clean up his missed blocks in High School.
As for rec-league football. There was this one game where we went into overtime. We were on offense first, and I caught a deep bomb to score on our possession. We went on defense, and I intercepted on a jumpball in the endzone to win the game.
Getting into rec-league softball, there's almost too many to choose. It seemed like I was gunning people out every other week at one point. One of the two best was probably the time someone hit a shallow liner to center field. I ran in and snared it off of my shoe-tops, and then in one motion, gunned it over to first to double up on the guy who had started running to second. The other time, I was playing third and whoever was up hit the equivilent of a short pop-up bunt. I ran in, caught it about 4 feet infront of the plate, and in one motion, doubled up the guy on first. That one was awesome, because I was probably running a 101 temperature at the time.
And there was the one time I hit 5 homeruns in a single game too. And not just, through-the-legs liners that rolled forever. These were blasts that went over the outfielders' heads.
Mine isn't so great,....but I learned a life's worth of lesson's as a result.
Got thrown out stealing third with two outs, ending any chance of a last inning rally, with the league's most dangerous home run hitter at the plate. Fast pitch softball, Afghanistan, 1974.
I was quite the jock as a young girl. Now, not so much. But, I excelled a few sports:
Swimming: In 1983, I was 9 years old and swimming against 15-18 year olds, and not losing. My coach awarded me the only Coach's Award that was ever given out at this particular swim club. I had hopes of being an Olympics Swimmer (breaststroke was my event), but Phil left coaching and the next coach just could not motivate me the same way.
Floor Hockey: 5th grade. We had 4 strings of players on our team. I was the starting string goalie and the 4th string goalie (because we only had 3 goalies on the team). My coach was so impressed with me that she asked me to join her youth ice hockey team. At that point, I just would not have had a way to practices/games etc, so I had to say so no. A really tough decision.
Neighborhood Football: I was one of the only girls to play football with the boys in my neighborhood. Not a darn one of them could tackle me. I was an excellent RB!
Soccer: Junior High. I was the middle defender, considered the last, best line of defense before the goalie.
I also played softball, volleyball and even basketball. I wasn't the greatest at those, but I enjoyed the hell out of them. What can I say, until I hit high school, I was a JOCK!
Though, in college I played Intramural Ultimate Frisbee and won a game for my team, but that was one of the few we one, the rest of the time we sucked.
3. Playing intermural basketball with my University Akron brother-in-law while in high school. We were awful! Our regular season record was 0-9 (10-team league). In the playoffs, we faced the best team in the league, the Bulls (9-0). They had beated us by 50 the previous time we played them. Well, I had my season high in points......6. And we lost 154 to 45. Ha ha ha ha....I know, doesn't really sound like a great sports story. It was just a game we went out and had fun. I hit a few banks shots and we all laughed a ton. Good memory.
2. While warming up at my first skateboard competition in Brunswick, my friend launched off a nearby jump and landed on my left hand. His front axel crushed my lower knuckle on my middle finger into 8-10 pieces (only known later in the day after we got it x-rayed). I refused to leave the tournament and ended up placing second. I might have won had I not fallen on the ONLY freaking move I tried with my left hand (method off a 4’ launch ramp). Two pins were inserted into my finger the following day. Most people would have gone to the hospital right away. I went 7-hours later.
1. I started a yearly tradition of playing flag football every Christmas morning with my in-laws. We haven’t skipped a year since we first began 7 years ago. Well, last year, our team was up 4 to 3 and the opposing team was on their last drive (6 downs….no firsts – you score or punt). So it’s 6th down, we’re on our own goal line and I’m covering my 6’ 4” cousin-in-law whom used to be a professional hockey player…..and this happens
Yes, I tipped the ball with my fingertips. I was voted MVP of the game (1 passing TD, 1 TD receiving, 1 INT TD and the defensive play of the game)!
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
Man, that opposing QB really needs work on hit footwork and mechanics.
I wasn't sure if he was shooting darts or throwing a football.
We had regular Turkeyday games growing up. Kids and adults alike, 2 hand touch. I was fast, so I often played receiver and would just get sent deep, I was also a pretty good passer.
One year we had a 4 or 5 score lead, so gave the opposing team 2 walk on players, making teams lopsided to give them a chance. My uncle called for a reverse with me and my younger cousin (I was about 13 or 14, he was like 12, both of us fast and agile)
We pulled the reverse fine, until I started to come around, and there were 2 defenders closing in on me quick, I looked and saw I hadn't crosses the LoS yet, and saw my younger cousin going up the far sideline. I stopped, actually slid and fell backward, rolled and got back on my feet, pulled back and heaved the ball to the far sideline. My younger cousin caught the ball in stride and just was gone to the endzone.
They still talk about that game and play at gatherings to this day almost 25 years later.
Last edited by FloridaFan; 03/09/0911:40 AM.
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
Ha ha ha, that's my 46-year old brother-in-law. He's got bad knees.
I guess there's no chance he'll get discovered by this video and end up being the Browns 3rd string QB in 2009. Heck, he couldn't be any worse than Dorsey was last season.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
I played QB and Safety on our Army post team. On one play we were on defense and the opponent was on our 5 yard line. My instinct told me that they were going to throw to their HB coming out of the backfield. At the snap I broke toward the HB and sure enough the QB threw to him and I leaped and picked it out of the air and took it to the house. I still see that play in slow motion to this day and stands out to me. I don't think it was the best play I ever made (I was a pretty good BB player) but it was my favorite.
I played junior-level hockey while in high school (Junior C back in the day -- don't know what they call it these days). I have lots of great stories from those years.
However, my most exciting sports moment came courtesy of the game of golf. In the 35 years I've played this game, I've never had an ace. I've come close a few times, but the ball never dropped. However, I have accomplished something that some think is even harder to do. Five summers ago I carded a double-eagle on the 10th at Hawk's Nest in Creston, Ohio. I pounded my drive down the left side of the fairway (about 300yds). I figured that I had about 200 to the pin and I pured a 5-iron that was right on the stick the whole way. One of my buddies who was further up the right side of the fairway after his lay-up threw his hands up in the air and screamed "Holy @$#%... I think it went IN!!" I just waived my hands at him and yelled back at him that he was nuts. Well, as I was strolling up the fairway, the rest of my buddies quickly hit their shots and, I'm not kidding you, RAN to the green to confirm (or not) my feat. By the time I reached the green they were all hooting and hollering and laughing like a pack of hyenas. Me, I was too stunned to say much of anything other than "Wow... how about that?" I know... how profound of me. Needless to say, it turned into an expensive afternoon/evening for all the celebration that followed.
i played in a tournament with a bunch of guys i knew, back in '04, over at the new rink in strongsville.
after a 12-0 win in our first game, we had asked to be placed in a higher bracket, (we had asked prior to the tournament but were denied)
so the next 2 games we won just as the first, complete laughers. one team was from michigan, total group of d-bags. spitting in guys' faces. name calling, cheap shotting. we had obliterated them. we had a really good team. some guys had experience at the pro level.
so sunday was the championship, saturday night in the the middle of a blowout, a guy from the michigan team (who was staying at the hotel next to the rink) had come to our bench and asked, since it was so obvious that we were going to kill them, if they wouldn't mind the championship being played at 8 am instead of noon, so they could get back to michigan. we said that was fine.
well that happened to be my last weekend in cleveland, before moving to chi-town. my buddy had thrown a party and i was literally out until about 4:30 am enjoying time with my friends. i was in no shape to play hockey, but being a goalie, i know that me not showing up screws people. so i did anyways.
only to walk into the locker room with 5 other guys. and that's it
we lost the game in overtime. and the other team acted like they had won the stanley cup.
still the only time i have ever walked off the ice without shaking the other team's hands. as soon as they scored i went right to the locker room.
When I was in college, my friends and I played broomball. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's played on the ice, but you wear your shoes instead of skates. It is a lot of fun.
Well, we took it pretty seriously and ended up going 44-3 throughout our college career (including 3 championships).
Perhaps the greatest was the last game we played, which happened to be a championship game against our biggest rivals. I had almost gotten in a fight with one of their players earlier in the season, so the two teams didn't like each other at all.
Knowing it was our last game, we left everything out on the ice. We ended up winning 2-1.
But, the best part of the game wasn't by anyone playing. We had a lot of support from our other friends who didn't play. As the clock is winding down and it's obvious we're going to win, we're all getting excited to run out on the ice to celebrate.
The next thing I know, I look across the ice, and one of my buddies who was there to cheer us on had opened one of the doors on the opposite side of the ice and was running on the ice screaming like a madman! The next thing I know, he's diving and sliding across the ice like he just won the Stanley Cup! We were all just dying. Here's a guy who isn't even on the team but was just as excited as the rest of us that we won.
We all went out that night and celebrated pretty hard. My one buddy popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate and the champagne went directly into one of my eyes. It hurt so bad but was so funny at the same time.
Long story.....lol...they are the only ones I know how to tell...lol
My Junior year in High school we had a pretty kick butt relay team. We probably could have been competitive(seriously) from anything from the 4x200m all the way up to the 4x2mile. But the focus of this story is the 4x800m.
Many of you know that High School sports run through tiers to get to the State level. First District’s, then Regional’s, then State. Depending how big the state is their might even be a Sectional’s thrown in before District’s but not here.
Our A-Team consisted of Fred, Mark, myself and Jeff. District’s were a joke to us and we substituted 2 guys for the race. Mike and another Jeff took the place of Fred and Jeff. We ran away from the competition regardless. I led off and Mike and substitute Jeff ran PR's and Mark brought it home. It was an easy day even though I didn't get the day off...lol.
Now is where the story takes a twist. Mark, in his infinite wisdom obtains a contusion in his leg while playing indoor soccer the next day and is not available to us for Regional’s. Coach is ticked. So Mike is pressed into duty in his stead.
Fred leads off. He gets a lead for Mike. Mike runs another PR but loses his lead however still hands off to me in first place. I take the baton and race out and get Jeff (A-Team) a 15 m lead, which is gargantuan in track terms. Jeff heads off only to have a tremendous effort by the 2nd place runner reel him in and pass him within the last 100 meters. We take 2nd place at Regional’s. We qualify for State, but the competition grows and we didn't even win our Region.
But there is good news....Mark is healthy for the State Meet. Well it was good news. Coach is still upset that Mark was so irresponsible and I think he is going to give him a lesson. Coach says Mike you are in, Mark you are the alternate. I remember that entire week. I think each and every one of use went up to Coach to try and get him to change his mind. We needed Mark. Mark was a good 4-6 seconds faster than Mike, an eternity in a half mile. But Coach wouldn't budge.
So here we are at State. We don't know what is going to happen. We have one of the slowest qualifying times. And I have the butterflies like you wouldn't believe.
To make things worse....I run with my contacts. Eye glasses bounce too much even with straps holding them. I had forgotten my contact case for the trip down...so I used the water glasses at the hotel to hold my contacts. That morning, I got up, put on my glasses, went to breakfast, and when I had gotten back...the maid had already cleaned our room and she mistakenly threw out my contacts....Now I have coke bottle lenses....I was a wreck, I was nervous as all get out...I have nothing to hold my glasses in place, I can see maybe 4 inches in front of my face clearly....Maybe Mark will get to run after all...lol
Coach to the rescue. They cut a finger off a latex glove to hold my glasses and they put vaseline on my eye sockets so my lenses wouldn't cut my face because they had to be so tight.
So we are warming up and as a general rule when they line you up and lead you to the line for starting...they want you to jog and look sporting...That was never us. I think we ran our best when we were cocky. So when everyone was jogging up to the line, there was one team, walking...almost strutting as if they knew something. But we didn't...we had no reason to be cocky. I think it was false bravado more than anything...I think we needed something to feel superior about.
The first legs all line up for the start. Bang, the gun sets them off and running. Fred doesn’t have great top end speed. But he can hold his speed consistent for a long time. The runners have to hold their lanes for 2 turns. As Fred comes down the last stretch of his first lap he is in last place. But here is where Fred shines. As everyone else slows down for their second lap, Fred stays steady. And by the time he comes down the stretch again, he is giving Mike a 10m lead.
Mike storms off running for his life. He knows that he is the slowest of the bunch and he knows that all of us would rather of had Mark in his place. He literally runs as fast as he can.
Now I don’t know about other people…but I ran my best when I was a jerk. (I am being polite…this is a family board after all) So I was doing my best to get into that mood. Mike hasn’t even run 200m yet and the line officials are calling me up to the line. That helped. I shot them a look. It angered me…I mean Mike hadn’t even finished 200 meters much less a single LAP and they are calling me up to the line.
So I get the last of my sweats off and I get to the line. I have to give the runners room to get past me as they still have ANOTHER LAP to run…But I use my position to my advantage. I start yelling at Mike. I tell him he had better kick. The guy is giving everything he has, running his best race ever, and this lunatic is yelling at him….
Mike hits the proverbial “wall” in the backstretch. He has given just about everything he has. And people are gaining. As he rounds the last bend he is passed. He is fighting with everything he has. I am screaming at him to get in. Another runner is coming up on him in the last stretch and he hands of to me JUST in 3rd place. It was the fastest half mile Mike had ever run.
I take the baton in 3rd a step behind, but not for long, I shoot out. I pay no attention to the runner beside me and focus ONLY on the runner in 1st. He is only 5 to 10 meters in front of me and I close the gap quickly. I use that momentum and I pass him in the backstretch of the first turn. It was at that point that reality set upon me.
I distinctly remember thinking…”OMG…I am in 1st place at the STATE MEET”. This was my first race ever in Track at this level. It was a little daunting. My fast start combined with my sudden realization took a little out of me…I lead through the backstretch but two people passed me at the end of it. I stayed in 3rd around the turn and I don’t mind being behind…in fact I prefer it. But what really woke me up was when in the straight an East Canton runner decided he was going to try and join the group just in front of me. East Canton was a rival of ours at the State level. There was NO WAY I was going to let that happen. My mind was exactly where it needed to be. I was now in my favorite position as a runner. I was a hunter and I stalked those anywhere near me at the end of a race.
One lap down, one lap to go. And that’s when the music starts. I think all athletes get it. The music starts up in their head and it just pumps them up and they are ready to go.
First Gear…I close the gap in front of me going around the bend.
Second Gear…Now’s the time to work. I make a move with the guy in front of me and we take a runner. Now I am in second.
Third Gear…Lets take this guy and get ready to bring it home. I start to pull up on the guy but I see I am not going to pass him before the turn. Running outside would take too long to pass him and just give him hope to hold on. So I hold back in 3rd gear and settle right behind him. I hated to hit the brakes a little but it was the right move.
We are at the top of the turn now and I now he is gassed, he gave too much too early in his kick…He’s MINE…About a quarter of the turn left I downshift and blow past him and when I hit the straight I kick it into…
High Gear…I am giving it everything I got. I know I am leaving them in the dust. But I need more. The only thought that is going through my head is the week before. I gave Jeff 15m and it wasn’t enough. I am using the whistle of the baton to make me go faster. I am willing it to go at a faster pace and faster pace.
I hand the baton off to Jeff with every last ounce of speed I had left. I went to a table to collapse while Jeff ran his first lap. I looked up and I noticed that I gave Jeff 15m to work with. Oh boy…here we go…
Jeff decides to go out HARD on his first lap. He figures that by doing this he can dissuade anyone from even thinking about trying to go after him and let them just concentrate on second place. It is the right strategy. However, just because you have a good strategy, it doesn’t guarantee you a win. And there was a runner that was determined to reel Jeff in.
Flashbacks galore were haunting me. I should have gotten him more. I should have passed him earlier. But, I knew I made the right decisions. One lap is over and I have caught my breath enough to stand and watch some. This is it, one last lap to the State Championship. Our school has had a VERY prestigious program but never a Championship in this event. The guys we grew up idolizing could best muster a second at State.
Jeff is all alone and it is very difficult to hold pace with no one there to set you nor any watch to time you. The 2nd place runner is slowly pulling him in. Jeff doesn’t know he is there. He is just running as best he can so as to not allow another disaster. I am repeating myself over and over…I believe in you Jeff, I believe in you Jeff. At the end of the backstretch the 2nd place guy is 5m back and closing. Jeff still doesn’t know he is there. The final turn is over, there is 100m left to the finish. Jeff is just about spent as the 2nd place guy pulls up beside him and for the first time makes his presence known to Jeff. The crowd at the Horseshoe in Columbus is going nuts. I am sticking to my mantra. The opponent edges ahead, but Jeff won’t have it. Its neck and neck. There is 50m left. Neither runner is giving in. 20 meters left. It is too close to call. Until with 10m to go Jeff breaks the other runner and is able to outlast his kick to win by literally a step.
That was the best race I have ever had the privilege to be a part of. The next year, I went to State for the 4th consecutive year in Cross Country. I was the first male athlete in my county to do so. I was given a small article in the paper concerning that. My Cross Country Coach(different person), who isn’t one to give out compliment’s lightly, was quoted in the article as saying that I was the “key” leg in that Championship. From him………..I’ll take it…but in all honesty, so many things came together that day, I am not so sure. I can honestly say that if Mark had run instead of Mike, we might not have won at all. I run better from behind. And I would have run a completely different race that wasn’t as suited to my style…That was a special race.
Sorry so long….I just don’t know how else to tell it…lol
I thought I was wrong once....but I was mistaken...
What's the use of wearing your lucky rocketship underpants if nobody wants to see them????
Nice post PA, especially since I am apparently feeling sentimental tonight (see my "Old Jeans" post ).
Little League...12 yo.....I was a decent ballplayer at that age, but only played the one year. I didn't try out, but a friend asked me if I wanted to join his team. Since they hadn't had a look at me they put me in right field to start out. I was amazed that both the center and left fielder fielded fly balls with their glove shielding their turned away face. ........
First at bat following an explanation of signals from the 3rd base coach. He signaled to swing away and I did. 3 pitches....3 strikes and I don't think any of them were within a foot of the strike zone. Afterwards the coach asked me if I realized that "swing away" did mean to take bad pitches. I said, "Oh yeah...suuure". ......
I ended up on the left side of the infield (made the All Star game as a 3rd baseman ). One game I took a one hopper to the throat....Dad always said to keep my body in front of the ball ......The friend that got me on the team was pitching and was screaming for me to get the ball to 1st base. I couldn't breath so I was a tad more concerned with my well being at the time. I woulda yelled back if it wasn't for the that whole oxygen thing.......
One game a spectator for the other team had it out for me. To this day I don't know what I did to upset her, but boy was she ranting. I finally had enough and flipped her off. I was a decent kid and didn't do that sort of thing, at least not to an adult. If there ever was a time for spontaneous human combustion, it was her moment following my salute to her. The umpire promptly ordered her away from the park and said nothing to me. Perhaps he wanted to do the same.
Our regular catcher takes a head first slide to the face (it was kinda like the whole Ray Fosse - Pete Rose thing). As he lay there with his legs trapped underneath him and a tooth missing the coach looks at me and says, "Hey, you wanna catch." "No coach, I don't". I'm all for the team and everything, but.....
We absolutely were the Bad News Bears, but somehow we made to our League's tournament finals. Perhaps it helped that by season's end our outfielders at least could face a fly ball as it flew past them. We faced a team that had pulverized us in every past meeting, but this was our moment in the sun. It was tooth and nail, down to the wire with everyone on our team contributing. I can remember our littlest guy spanking a double and the 3rd base coach challenging me with,."You can do better than that"! I promptly hit the ball harder than I think I ever had before and reluctantly ended up at 3rd. Man, I wanted the in the park HR so bad. So it's the bottom of the last inning with the score tied and their best player reaches first. This kid was big and fast and I knew the play on him was going to be at my base, 3rd. He steals 2nd as expected. If he reaches 3rd then this is likely over as there were no outs. He releases and I scream at our catcher, "COM'N"!!!!! My glove placement happened to be right at his foot and likely blocked the umpire from a clear view of his foot to the bag. "OUT", the umpire yells. This was a fairly bang - bang play, but after thinking about it later I do think he was safe. I believe that the umpire was just caught in the moment. This big kid now tries to argue that he was safe and, being caught up in the moment and all, I tell him, "Your out and go sit down". OMG, what that hell was I thinking. He tells me that he is going to get me after the game. We end up winning and the big kid attempts to follow up on his promise, but ALL my teammates step in front (and yes, that includes the catcher who I would not replace ). There are moments that team means something and that game was it for me.
I also had the pleasure of coaching my son through most of his Little League. There were some great moments there as well.
But I do have two sports moments that were cool (to me at least). In baseball the summer after 7th grade, I went 4-4 with 4 RBI's against the best pitcher we faced all year. We scored 6 runs total and won when I hit a double to the wall in the bottom of the 7th with two outs, while down one. 
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Thanks NaTaS
sorry my friend,....![[Linked Image from i75.photobucket.com]](http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i302/lrhinkle/d5eaf0b9-e429-4211-b53f-b843bfcf6aa9_zps2ac17420.jpg)
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I know... how profound of me. 
......The friend that got me on the team was pitching and was screaming for me to get the ball to 1st base. I couldn't breath so I was a tad more concerned with my well being at the time. I woulda yelled back if it wasn't for the that whole oxygen thing.......![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/Maddog/PDVD_000Z.jpg)