Something unexpected happened to me five years ago, right before my
daughter Chloe's last year of high school. She was a Springboro football
and basketball cheerleader, and I knew I would be at all of the
varsity games.
I decided I wanted to be more involved, because
sitting in the stands did not cut it for me. So in July of 2012, a month
before football started, I started thinking. Maybe I could keep stats.
Or maybe I would help with the equipment. I didn't know. Anything would
do.
But another thought kept occurring to me. Way back in the
1980s, when I was in college and law school, I was a sportswriter for
The Star Free Press, a weekly newspaper that covered Franklin, Carlisle
and Springboro. It was something I enjoyed, in part because it made me
feel part of the game, but also because it was a perfect diversion.
Watch a game. Talk to everyone involved. And tell a story. It was awesome.
Among the thousands of stories I told back then, I recounted all the
excitement surrounding Springboro's undefeated football team in 1982 and
Franklin's 10-0 team in '85. I smile when people tell me they have
entire scrapbooks filled with the stories I have written and photographs
I have taken.
...
...
SO WHY NOT DO that again? I would later
joke, "I don't coach, and for reasons I don't understand, they won't let
me play. But like any good lawyer, I can certainly tell a story. This
is what I do."
I remember sending an email to Ryan Wilhite,
Springboro's excellent head coach, and telling him what I had in mind. I
didn't have credentials for a major newspaper, and I feared I might
just be a waste of his time.
But he agreed to give me full access
to the sidelines, the locker room and team meetings, and I wrote what
came my way just on the Internet. To say it was a pleasure is the
understatement of the century.
The Panthers went 10-0 and made
the playoffs. And like those teams from so many years ago, I felt like I
was practically a participant. The stories received a lot of attention,
plus I was with Chloe the whole time. At the team banquet at the end of
the season, I was given a game ball that was signed by every player,
coach and cheerleader. It's on display in my office to this day.
A
few months later, I was at the basketball games, following a Springboro
team that advanced all the way to the Division I Regionals, giving me
more and more stories, which made it all even better. It was a great way
to spend Chloe's senior year.
But I figured it only a temporary
assignment, and in time I would go back to cutting grass and cleaning
the garage when I was away from the courtroom. After all, I figured if
Chloe was done, then so was I.
...
...
THEN, SHORTLY BEFORE the
2013 football season started, I remember looking at Kim one night in a
way that told her exactly what I was thinking. Everyone needs a hobby,
you know. And a game only lasts a couple of hours. And it makes me
happy. And...and ...
"Sure," she said. She's such a sweetheart.
Because Chloe had graduated, I was now free to also go to some Franklin
games, which is my alma mater. When I was a kid, my family lived in
Springboro until I was in eighth grade, but then we moved to Franklin.
I'm like a dual citizen.
I could go to both games, hang with even
more people I know, and tell even more stories. That made it doubly
fun, because not only was Springboro still good, but Franklin was also
creating a buzz everywhere it went. Luke Kennard, now a player for the
Detroit Pistons, was a junior that year, becoming Ohio player of the
year in both football and baskeball.
"Kim, do you mind?"
"I understand." And she still does.
Even though Chloe is now in law school, and we don't have any children
in high school, I still enjoy going to the games on Friday nights. It's
my way to get out into the community and give something back. Plus it is
a still a great diversion, the best $8.00 I ever spend.
...
...
WHEN I WAS TWELVE, my dream was to be a big-time player someday, with my
name announced on the overhead speakers and my achievements chronicled
in the newspaper. I just knew it would happen, and when it did, I was
going to have a really good story to tell.
But God had other plans for me and made me a writer instead.
So I don't have that one really good story to tell.
I have a million of them.