"I asked Jeff the other day whether we start the game at 8:30 or 9, and he said to me, 'I don't know, at my age, my memory is not so good,'" Kent said.
Then Kent moved in for the punch line, just like a blitzing linebacker moves in on the quarterback. "And then he said, 'You know what else I don't like about getting older? My memory is not so good.'"
Ba-da-boom.
Or maybe Kent was joking about something else. I really can't remember.
I know, I know. I'm not sure I have any business playing a football game these days, but I can't quit now. In 1975, our Turkey Bowl started in Franklin when a bunch of my friends and I (high school sophomores) got together just to have something to do. Who knew the tradition would continue? But every year, the game just kept going.
Jerry Collins, Dave 'Silk' Back and Danny Griffith (shown with me in 1999 for the 25th game) have long since come to their senses and retired. For the longest time after that, Mark Kennard, Chip Bonny, Kenny Haney and Ricky Chamberlain (and their boys) continued to play.
...
BUT NOW I have my daughter Chloe (shown in the top photo wearing her Jake Ballard jersey) and her friends and their dads who keep the game going. How can I say no? To do so would be to admit I am getting old, and I'm not ready to do that.
Instead of playing at the Franklin Pee Wee field, as was the case in the early years, we now play at Springboro's Ralph E. Wade Field. It's an absolute blast.
Baseball player Satchel Paige, who is rumored to have been over 50 before he stopped playing ball, once said, "How old would you be if you didn't know what age you are?" In other words, does a specific number dictate just how old we are supposed to act?
So for at least one morning a year, I pretend I am still a very young man.
I was out there last week with Tim Walker and three of his children (Sydney, Tawney and Timmy), Chloe's boyfriend Cole Blevins, Brooke Scheper and her sister Jordan, my nephews Chase and Kevin, and niece Sophie.
...
AND THEN THERE was the guy who called the cadence with a Thanksgiving theme. "Cranberry sauce...sliced turkey...dressing on the side...hut!"
He was also making jokes about getting older. He says to my nephew Connor, who is a Middletown policeman, "Officer, I was speeding because I have to get there before I forget where I'm going." Or maybe he didn't really say that. Maybe I just makes things up.
But he was a real funny guy.
I wish I could remember his name.
Or maybe Kent was joking about something else. I really can't remember.
I know, I know. I'm not sure I have any business playing a football game these days, but I can't quit now. In 1975, our Turkey Bowl started in Franklin when a bunch of my friends and I (high school sophomores) got together just to have something to do. Who knew the tradition would continue? But every year, the game just kept going.
Jerry Collins, Dave 'Silk' Back and Danny Griffith (shown with me in 1999 for the 25th game) have long since come to their senses and retired. For the longest time after that, Mark Kennard, Chip Bonny, Kenny Haney and Ricky Chamberlain (and their boys) continued to play.
...
BUT NOW I have my daughter Chloe (shown in the top photo wearing her Jake Ballard jersey) and her friends and their dads who keep the game going. How can I say no? To do so would be to admit I am getting old, and I'm not ready to do that.
Instead of playing at the Franklin Pee Wee field, as was the case in the early years, we now play at Springboro's Ralph E. Wade Field. It's an absolute blast.
Baseball player Satchel Paige, who is rumored to have been over 50 before he stopped playing ball, once said, "How old would you be if you didn't know what age you are?" In other words, does a specific number dictate just how old we are supposed to act?
So for at least one morning a year, I pretend I am still a very young man.
I was out there last week with Tim Walker and three of his children (Sydney, Tawney and Timmy), Chloe's boyfriend Cole Blevins, Brooke Scheper and her sister Jordan, my nephews Chase and Kevin, and niece Sophie.
...
AND THEN THERE was the guy who called the cadence with a Thanksgiving theme. "Cranberry sauce...sliced turkey...dressing on the side...hut!"
He was also making jokes about getting older. He says to my nephew Connor, who is a Middletown policeman, "Officer, I was speeding because I have to get there before I forget where I'm going." Or maybe he didn't really say that. Maybe I just makes things up.
But he was a real funny guy.
I wish I could remember his name.