(I wonder if my father and his teammates could have been an honorary chapter of the Red Hat Society? Ha ha! Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)
Derf Here! Another great pre-Fall day in the Northeast. It seems that this week is about mid-September weather one month early. Great, great weather in the mid-70s. Beautiful! Yet to officially hit 90° this summer. Our summer weather has been very, very pleasant.
While our Illinois family was here we were all visiting one evening when I decided to tell a story rarely told. You see, I was never a great athlete. I played a little basketball in high school and even went out for baseball. Was a shortstop for a couple days before my decision to drop out. If I had to do it all over again I would try to play football, basketball, and baseball. Too late now. I did play all three sports through eighth-grade. I guess my band career as a trumpet player took over in high school. Sure did enjoy playing the horn.
After a year and a half at Northeastern University I decided to transfer to Gordon College. Didn't know quite what I'd do but knew it would be something in education. I would leave my ROTC career as Gordon didn't have the program. I still receive mail as a veteran, which I'm not.
At Gordon, I was still a person wanting to play sports. I played a lot of basketball in the student union pick-up games, sometimes to the detriment of my studies. A group of small colleges organized a six-man football league. I made the team and enjoyed the experience. Even caught a few passes. Also joined the baseball team. I threw a lot of batting practice. Wasn't a regular starter, but I did get into a few games. Even got a base hit! This brings me to basketball season that was between football and baseball. I did letter in all three sports. Not lettering was also a possibility.
Now to the highlight of my basketball career. (Family members were not aware of this experience.) I was a fringe player. I started some games but sometimes might not even play. I recall one game I hadn't played when called upon to play with a few minutes left in the game. You guessed it. I didn't respond to the coach's call. Probably the wrong thing to do, but I didn't think so at the time. Now to my highlight game....
Gordon College would occasionally play in the Boston Garden as a preliminary game to a Boston Celtics game. Sometimes there would be a pro doubleheader. We'd stay and watch the pro games. Well, one time in the garden I had the game of my life. I took 18 shots and connected on 11. That was the highlight of my basketball career at Gordon. Twenty-two points in the Boston Garden. It doesn't get any better. My highlight!
Now my family knows about my basketball prowess at Gordon. Finally it is out in the open. One other comment about this team. We belonged to the North Atlantic Christian Conference. (There were six schools involved.) Well, while in Johnson City, New York we noticed some red hats in a store. Eventually everyone on the team owned a red hat. We would take our warm-ups wearing our red hats the rest of the season. I think this unified our team. We finished our conference undefeated. All 10 of the conference games were in the win column. A great season for the team and myself. I miss my old basketball days. Sure did enjoy our conference winning jackets!
Well, by now you should be bored. Hope you read the whole story. Thanks!
Perhaps more stories of my college days, but not now. Sooo....
Until next time!
Toodle Pip!
Derf!
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