This is me..eating my words

Okay, so I talked shit all week about how Midwest power football was going to rule the day in Arizona. About how Ohio State was head and shoulders above the rest of the NCAA football teams. About how I didn't even realize they played football in Florida anymore, etc. Florida won. Not only did they win, they won good. So I am not going to become an overnight Florida fan, because would just be bad manners. I will however give the Gators and their coach a tip of the hat and say "well done boys."..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

That football in Florida joke is actually used by me all the time. It was given to my by the linebackers coach at the University of Oklahoma in about 1988. I was an aspiring star running back at my high school (goal realized), and was invited to participate in a summer football camp at the University of Oklahoma. Since I was in the Midwest & Oklahoma was fresh of a National Championship (1985 in the Orange Bowl, for my University of Miami fans LOL) AND both my high school and OU were running the wishbone at the time...it was an opportunity that couldn't be missed. So I was their as a halfback & a linebacker. We linebackers were running an agility exercise when the coach yelled out "WOODS. MOVE YOUR ASS. WHERE ARE YOU FROM ANYWAY?" I huffed out "Missouri Coach!". He replied "Missouri? I didn't even realize they still had football there!" Then the drill was over and we moved on. Oh the joys of being demeaned by coaches. I actually miss it a little bit!

On the running back side of the camp, I held my own but there were about 20 guys that were head and shoulders above the rest of us. Not only were these football camps an opportunity for us to learn, they were also a chance for the coaches to see what kind of players were coming out of high school. Like I said I held my own, but damn those guys were good.

In my home league, I was bigger and stronger than most players on the field at any time. What can I say? I grew early, ate alot, and started lifting weights every day when I was 12 years old. At that point, under the eyes of soon to be friends Jeff Thompson and Logan Dale I, as the new kid in town, accomplished my first bench press ever..a whopping 110 pounds LOL. But as I grew, I worked harder and was eventually to the point where I benched press 300 pounds and squatted about 600 pounds. Combined with the fact that when I was a senior I actually weighed a little more than I do now, albeit with a 31 inch waist and a 20 inch neck, when I was running full speed and laid a stiff arm on someone..they knew it!

So I guess I woke up feeling a little nostalgic today...why not share with you guys? At the expense of sounding like Al Bundy..I scored 4TDs in one game..not just any game but Homecoming! But I know it's all relative..high school was high school, but it was still fun. I accomplished many things in high school that may or may not have much to do with who I am today.

Like this for instance.....

Look I won a pie eating contest! ;-)

Wanna know an irony of life? The other guy in the picture, the one who lost this contest to me, ended up married to my high-school sweetheart. How crazy is that? I didn't even realize it. I just found this picture in between some football articles. It almost illustrates my point exactly. Sure I won the barnwarming pie eating contest, but some pie eating contests are more important than others. ;-)

Congrats to the Gators...and thanks for indulging my nostalgia.

~~Tiki