Sporting Event Memories

My buddy Dave Parks recently e-mailed a list of the ticket stubs he had saved from various games he attended with me and/or our good buds Forrest and Chris. It was treat to think about those good times with good friends and it got me to thinking about all the special sporting events that have been a part of in my life.

So to add to Dave’s list, I’ve noted a few of my own sporting event memories. The list isn’t as impressive as a sports writer’s might be, but it is special to me.

Unlike Dave, I’ve not been good about saving the ticket stubs, so exact dates (and in some cases, visiting teams) are a bit fuzzy. Good thing the memories aren’t!

Early 1980’s – Harlem Globtrotters v. Washington Generals – Wharton Fieldhouse, Moline, IL

Dad took me to see this game when I was just a little kid and we had good seats near the court. Here is what I remember… The big crowd, amazing ball-handling displays by Curly, the ‘ball on a string’ freethrow act and jumping out of my skin thinking one of the ‘Trotters was throwing a bucket of water on us only to find realize it was just confetti. I saved the confetti as a souvenir.

Summer 1984 – Chicago Cubs v. Philadelphia Phillies – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL

First-time to attend a Major League game. Cubs lost both games of the double header and remember thinking my brother Andy was a traitor for cheering for the Phillies and his hero, Mike Schmidt. At the end of the season, the Cubs went on to blow the NLCS vs. San Diego – breaking my heart in the process.

Spring 1992 – Chicago Bulls v. LA Clippers – Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL

Accomplished one my ‘lifetime goals’ of seeing Michael Jordan play in person. It was also the last season the Bulls played in the old stadium. Because of tickets were scarce, we had restricted view seats under the mezzanine but that didn’t matter. When MJ got the ball on a fast break, my heart stopped as I thought I was going to witness one of his signature dunks in person. Alas, he was hacked and I had to settle for watching my hero shoot free throws. Former Iowa Hawkeye B. J. Armstrong had a bigger game than Jordan so that was cool. The Bulls won and I had one less thing I ‘had to do before I died’.

Nov. 1992 – Iowa Hawkeyes v. Minnesota Gophers – Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA

The only Iowa football game I’ve been too. We got the tickets the day of the game, drove to Iowa City, watched the Hawkeyes win the battle for Floyd of Rosedale – the bronze pig trophy the schools play for each year and listened to a rowdy, mostly drunk student section sing the unoffical Iowa fight song “In Heaven There Ain’t No Beer! (That’s Why We Drink It All Here!)”

Dec. 1993 – Iowa Hawkeyes v. Duke Blue Devils – Carver Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA

I’d been to a couple of Hawk hoops games before, but those were games against the likes of Athletes in Action and Colgate. Dick Vitale and ESPN was in the house for this heavyweight fight and the crowd was pumped. Iowa led for awhile and kept it close to the end. But the Hawks were toast when Duke started to let future NBA all-star Grant Hill take his man 1-on-1. Even though the Hawks lost, it was a fun game to attend.

Summer 1995 – Chicago White Sox v. Cleveland Indians – Cominsky Park, Chicago, IL

Carter Davis and I drove up to Chicago to pick up Chris Williams. The three of us were to leave soon for a summer in Uganda, but not before eating brats with sauerkraut and watching some baseball! I think the Sox won, but more importantly, we survived the forray into Southside Chicago.

Well, that’s it for now. More to come later….

Uncle Rico’s Togo Comeback

For you Napoleon Dynamite fans out there!
Happy New Year’s everyone!
Go Hawks!
Crush those Gators in Tampa!

Passing on a Passion

“Dad, can I go shoot baskets?”

This is what Graham and Isaac were asking me after lunch one day at the MK sports camp we hosted here in Kara last week.

Now, if you know me, you know my answer to that question was an emphatic ‘YES’! I don’t think I thought to check their plates to see if they had eaten any of their food and I know I didn’t care about my kids starting a mass exodus from the kid’s table before other parents were ready.

“Let them shoot all they want,” I thought. “They can shoot until the sun goes down and still keep shooting.” Which is exactly what they did. (Check out Isaac’s follow through in the picture.) And, as I watched those two shoot (and make) baskets, I caught myself making the biggest, cheesiest grin I’d made in a long while. To me, that was pure joy and I knew for sure that if the boys show interest in my favorite sport, they’ll get about as much grace and help as one pop can muster, with pleasure.

Then, in a brief spiritual moment, I had the thought, “This is what God must feel like when we find pleasure in the things which he enjoys. Which may be why he heaps so much grace, love and mercy upon us… to help us find, and love, those things he loves. Pretty cool.” Well, I know I’m not that close to being God-like, but it was fun to find that connection to God with Ike, G, me and basketball.

So now I’m trying to find a way to get an adjustable hoop put in on our basketball court. (The boys still shoot on our 10-footer, but it was the 7-footer at the camp that really got them going.) After that, we could have some flood lights put up… just for the boys, of course!