Chapter 6: Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)

David’s Bistro, London, Ontario

8:22pm, Monday, October 8, 1979

Katie Labatt was actively engaged in a very animated conversation in Italian with Eda’s and Lisa’s parents at the head of one table at David’s Bistro. Her husband, William, the host of this get together knew to stay out of Katie’s way when she got on a roll and could use her Italian skills with true native speakers.

“Vi sono stati fin troppo gentili con la mia ragazza. Apprezzo l’aiuto che ti ha dato Eda con il suo francese. Lei mi ha detto che “aced” il suo esame oggi. Grazie!” Mrs. Masciotro said as she clasped Katie Labatt’s hand and gave Sammy’s step-mon a very sweet smile. (You have been too kind to my girls. I appreciate the help you gave Eda with her French. She told me she “aced” her exam today. Thank you!)

“È stato divertente aiutare lei. Lei è in grado di captare le diverse lingue abbastanza bene. (It was fun helping her. She’s able to pick up on different languages fairly well.)

They’re conversation got around to the Labatt’s indoor swimming pool and hot-tub room. Katie asked Mrs. Masciotro if it was alright for her girls to keep a swimsuit at their guest house, so they could go swimming or relax in the hot-tub after the Time Bandettes’ practiced.

“La mia ragazze, che sono come i pesci. Dovrò andare acquistare loro nuove tute poiché hanno solo bikini, che non sono le migliori per nuotare,” Mrs. Masciotro chuckled as she looked down the table at her two girls, who were engaged in conversation with my mother and father. (My girls, they are like fish. I’ll have to go buy them new suits since they just have bikinis, which aren’t the best to swim in.)

“Non hai bisogno di farlo. Entrambi Samantha e Lynette usura bikini a casa nostra, in modo Eda e Lisa andrà bene nella loro due-pezzo adatta,” Katie replied after chuckling lightly over hearing E and Lisa being like fish in the water. (You don’t need to do that. Both Samantha and Lynette wear bikinis at our house, so Eda and Lisa will be fine in their two-piece suits.)

“I wish I could speak another language like Italian or French,” my mother said as she looked down and saw Katie and Mr. and Mrs. Masciotro actively engaged in a spirited discussion.

“I think we’re going to be able to leave a bikini at your house, Sammy,” Brick said with a huge smile on her face.

“I thought that was what they were discussing but I couldn’t make it all out,” Sammy replied.

“So, Mom ... can I keep some swimming trunks at Sammy’s?” I asked with a grin on my face.

“You’ve got to be out of your ever-loving mind, if you think I’ll let you go swimming with these four beautiful girls,” my mom replied in a serious tone of voice.

“You’re kidding? Why?” I replied with a confused look on my face.

“If Cuda’s mom only knew,” Paul softly whispered in Sammy’s ear causing his former girlfriend to almost burst out laughing at his bang-on words.

“Because your mother said so, that’s reason enough,” my dad sternly said, which caused my jaw to drop in front of my band mates, as well as Paul, Cathy, and the other parents towards our end of the table.

After a moment or two of silence, my mother smiled and said, “It’s still so, so easy to get his goat.” My dad, as well as Lynette’s parents and Bertha McGregory, burst out laughing at my expense.

“Dang, Aileen, George, you almost had me thinking you weren’t gonna let Mike keep some swimming trunks at the William and Katie’s place,” Gary Robertson replied after calming down some.

“Your mom and dad just aren’t right, Cuda!” Brick stated as she gave my parents a thumb’s up gesture after she stopped laughing at my expense.

“Yuck it up, Lisa,” I chuckled while giving her a half-hearted evil stare.

Just then a ‘ting-ting-ting‘ of a glass sounded from the far end of the table and we saw Mr. Labatt standing there doing that well-known attention-getter. “I, as well as my wife, Katie would like to thank all of you for coming out, tonight.” Katie Labatt did her best to translate her husband’s words for Mr. and Mrs. Masciotro.

Mr. Labatt continued, “It is wonderful to finally put smiling faces and wonderful personalities to the voices we have talked to a few times over the telephone. I hate that your husband, Tom, wasn’t able to get off from his new job up in Timmins, Bertha. Additionally, I was hoping that Jennifer and her dad, Tim Rathje, could have come tonight. However, her gymnastics’ schedule wasn’t going to allow for them to join us. But we are extremely happy to have you, Bertha, and our kids’ good friends back in London for a few days. I also wanted everyone here to know that I heard from Mr. Jeffery, the owner of The Aeolian Hall this morning. He told me that he mailed off five recordings of your second set’s performance to his friends at some top-notch record companies. He believes he’ll hear back from them in a few days or by early next week.”

All of us kids darn near fell out of our seats at Mr. Labatt’s last couple of statements. I’m positive that if Mr. Labatt yelled ‘fire’ from his spot at the other end of our large gathering, none of us kids would have heard it or paid a lick of attention to it. We all immediately started jabbering about what Mr. Jeffery did for us, and possibly what it might mean down the road for Mike and the Time Bandettes.

“God, if you get some type of record deal out of that performance, I’m gonna want more than the five-spot you slipped me and Cathy,” Paul joked as he reached all over the table giving us high-fives. After he gave me one of those H-5s, I snaked my right hand in my right front pants pocket and dug out a quarter. I flipped it a few times, waiting for someone to ask me what I was doing.

As luck would have it, Cathy saw it and with a confused expression on her face, she took the bait. “What are you doing, Cuda?”

I caught the quarter in my right hand and held it up for Paul to see. With an eat shit grin on my face, I replied, “Hey bud, here’s a little present for you in case something like that happens to us.” I flipped the quarter to him and when he looked at it, I sang a particularly humorous verse from Travis Tritt’s 1991, hit country song, Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares:

“Well, I thought what we had, could never turn bad.
So your leavin’ caught us unaware.
But the fact is you’ve run, Dude that can’t be undone,
So here’s a quarter, call someone who cares!“

(Note: As usual, the words in bold are the slight changes I made to lyrics to fit with my story.)

“Michael Edward!” my mother cried and then broke out into a huge grin.

“Dang, Mike! That’s just not right! Its bang on hilarious, but man...” Mrs. Robertson said from a few spots down from me. She was seated directly across from Paul, who was shaking his head trying not to laugh at those lyrics.

“I tell you ... all these kids,” William Labatt chuckled as he pointed to us and Paul and Cathy. “They just never cease to amaze me as they instantly come up with beautiful phrases or lyrics and can sing them, just like that.” Sammy’s dad shook his head as he snapped his fingers for added emphasis.

“That was good, my man,” Paul added after the little buzz at our large table settled down.

“Didn’t you think that that had a little country rock sound to it, Paul?” Cathy added and I could immediately see the wheels turning in her head at this wonderful top-notch bistro.

“Do you have any more of that ‘bang-on’ hilarious song, Cuda?” Lynette asked including her mother’s accurate term for that song.

“Gina is always bugging me about coming up with a country rock type song, so if you’ve got something there, Cuda, share it with me,” Paul asked as he pointed to his head.

“Yeah, he can use all the brownie points he can get with Gina,” his mother chuckled and blew her son a kiss.

“Alrighty, give me a minute to, uh, replay those lyrics in my head, and I’ll see if I can come up with another verse ... maybe two.” I then shut my eyes to visualize the beginning and ending lyrics of this Travis Tritt song.

“Here, Lynette, you better write these down for Paul,” Ms. Dillon said as she handed her daughter a Bic pen and a small notepad.

“Did you know he was able to do this, you know, come up with fairly snappy words like that?” my dad asked my mom.

“Well, Lynette told me that Mike and the others have come up with some pretty good songs, but I thought that might have been them ... kind of bragging on themselves,” I heard my mom whisper in response to my dad’s question.

“Okay, here goes, but uh if you guys think of a better word or phrase...”

“We know, don’t be afraid to jump in with our three pennies’ worth of words,” Eda said as she rolled her eyes and head in a crazy pattern.

“Okay, let’s go with something about a guy or girl whose spouse, fiancé or whatever just runs off, and then, uh, later realizes that the person they left was right for them all along. So uh, here’s a start. I then switched into a little more ‘southern country boy’ mode and sang:

“You say you were wrong, to ever leave me alone.
Now you’re sorry, you’re lonely (lonesome) and scared.
And you say you’d be alright (happy), if you could just come back home.
Well, here’s a quarter, call someone who cares.“

(Note: The words in (parenthesis) are the actual words in these lyrics. I messed with them for this story.)

“I can’t believe Mikey, and the other’s just come up with stuff like that at the drop of a hat,” Bertha said after I stopped singing.

“Bertha detto, “Che non poteva credere a questi bambini provengono solo con roba, parole simili che alla caduta di un cappello,” Katie quickly translated Mrs. McGregory’s expression of surprise for the Masciotros. (Bertha said, “She couldn’t believe these kids just come up with stuff, words like that at the drop of a hat.”)

“I like that, Mike,” Lynette softly replied as she finished scrabbling down those lyrics. Then, she softly sang, “Now you’re sorry, you’re lonely – lonesome – deserted – desolate – and scared. Do any of those other choices fit better than ‘you’re lonely and scared?’”

“I kinda like the ‘desolate’ sound in there,” Brick replied and sang, “Now you’re sorry, you’re desolate and scared.”

“No, no, Brick, it’s gotta be either lonely like Cuda first sang or lonesome. Your desolate word just felt rushed ... like trying to fit a triple sound into a double syllable slot,” Sammy offered as she tapped her ear over that rushed sound.

“Des-o-late, lone-ly, des-o-late, lone-some, des-o-late definitely has a rushed, squashed sound, Sammy. Good call!” Brick sang those words to the rhythm I created for the song and came to agree with Sammy’s argument.

“Hearing Lynette and then Brick sing those words, I kinda like lonesome over lonely,” Cathy replied.

“I do too, now that I’ve heard them in a more feminine voice. I’m guessing that Gina will be singing this instead of you or, uh, Clarence, is it?” I responded to Cathy, and the other’s suggestions.

“We definitely need to change your ‘alright’ word to something like ‘happy’ before that final line,” Eda sharply stated as she nodded her head to the ‘mental’ lyrics in her head. “Alright has an ‘I’m just okay’ feeling to it, while ‘happy’ seems like a much better fit with the ‘if you could just come back home,’ ending before that BIG finishing line.”

“Good call, E! I like ‘happy’ and your reasoning for it a ton better than, alright!” Sammy replied and gave Lynette a little nudge to scratch out lonely and alright and replace them with lonesome and happy.

“Do I need to sing that verse with the changes in it or are we good to move on?” I asked.

“Give us something else to tinker with, Cuda,” Lynette said as she lifted the pen from the pad in anticipation of the next set of lyrics.

“This, I think would fit between that first verse and the one I sang to set this little writing session in motion,” I then took a lungful of air and sang:

“Call someone who’ll listen and might give a dang (damn).
Maybe, one of your torrid (sordid) affairs.
But don’t you come ‘round here handin’ me, none of your lines.
And, here’s a quarter, call someone who cares!“

“No, no, no! Even I know that that first line should end in ‘damn’ instead of dang. Don’t wimp out on this ‘in-your-face’ type song, Cuda!” Ms. Dillon called out as soon as I finished singing the chorus.

“‘Nuff said on that first line, if you ask me!” Brick replied as she gave Lynette’s mom a thumbs-up for that ‘in-your-face’ statement.

“Amen, Sis!” Eda replied with a gentle elbow to her younger sister’s exposed rib-cage.

“I don’t like torrid affairs,” Lynette simply said as she tapped her pen on the table.

“Would something like burning, scorching, may be sordid ... blazing or flaming fit?” Paul responded.

I ran through Paul’s options in my head and then said, “Burning may be, scorching affairs ... nope. Sordid, sleazy affairs kinda works, and uh, the last two don’t work for me.”

“What’s sordid mean?” Eda asked.

“Repugnant, disgusting, kind of just plain old stinky, grimy filth,” my mother chimed in with some good descriptors for sordid.

“I like it then ... for this song,” Sammy replied with a huge grin for my mom.

“Call someone who’ll listen, and might give a damn!
Maybe, one of your sordid affairs,” I quickly sang with that suggested word in the lyrics.

“I like how that sounds, Cuda,” Cathy confidently stated after hearing those two lyrics with ‘damn’ and ‘sordid’.

“If, uh, Gina’s gonna sing this up in Timmins, we’ll need to redo that lyrics slightly to switch it from my singing to her ... to something a girl would say-siing to her man,” I stated and then sang:

“Well I thought what we had, could never turn bad.
So your leavin’ caught ME unaware.
But the fact is you’ve run, dude (girl) that can’t be undone,
So here’s a quarter, call someone who cares!“

“Great, keep going!” Lynette said as she scribbled those lyrics down. I nodded and simply repeated the chorus and the main line one more time:

“Call someone who’ll listen and might give a damn
Maybe one of your sordid affairs
But don’t you come ‘round here handin’ me none of your lines
Here’s a quarter, call someone who cares!

Yeah! Here’s a quarter! Call someone who cares!“

I looked at Lynette and then scanned my friends’ faces to see what they thought of that short and sweet little ‘how-dare-you-cheat-on-me’ country rock tune. It wasn’t any of my friends or even Sammy’s or Lynette’s parents who commented on that song. I think all of us kids were floored when Mr. Masciotro said in his very broken English, “We justa shot da son-da-beacha, who cheats ona his woman. But thata song was semplicemente bellissimo ... simply be-utiful.”

“Sicuramente è stato semplicemente bellissimo, Mister Masciotro, Ben detto!” Katie Labatt said to Eda and Brick’s father as she nodded down to us at the other end of the table.

“Ms. Labatt said, ‘It definitely was simply beautiful, Mister Masciotro, well said!’” Brick translated for all of us at our end of the table.

“It really was a wonderful song ... about a not so wonderful subject,” my mother added as she ran her hand over my forearm.

“It started as a simple ‘slam’ of Paul and then, well, that’s where the words led me, Mom,” I replied.

“You did real well with that, Son,” my dad softly said and gave me a subtle nod, which made me feel like I was ten-feet tall and bullet proof. (Now that is another song for another situation.)

Outside in David Bistro’s parking lot, I gave Paul a strong handshake and pulled him in for a shoulder to shoulder bump and simply said, “Christmas.” With a nod, he and I didn’t need to say another thing.

With Cathy, it was another story. I could see the tears in her eyes, again when I stepped up to her and gave her a huge hug. “Coming back here was a bad idea,” she softly whispered in my ear, “it just made it all the more real that I’m NOT here. I hate it up there, Mike. I don’t have a boyfriend or any friends like here.”

“Just find the cutest guy around and ask him out. Don’t wait for guys to ask because they’re probably in awe of your looks and your musical ability. What about this Gina, chick. The lead singer in a band should have tons of guys around her. Ask her to set you up with a cute dude.”

“Yeah, I might. Still doesn’t change the fact that I hate it up there.”

“I wish I could do something for you, Cath, but that ... is beyond my abilities.”

“Give me a hug, Mikey!” my second mom exclaimed as Cathy lifted her head from my shoulder.

“Sure thing, Mom2!” I replied and stepped into her open arms.

“Keep up the good work in school, on the football field and with the Time Bandettes. Try to keep these beauties out of trouble, too.”

“I will to the first three, but Jesus, Himself couldn’t keep these four girls out of trouble!”

“And I’m sure you’ll be knee deep in it with them. We got to run. Our flight leaves fairly early and these two are NOT morning people,” Bertha said as she stepped back and waved her hand at her kids. “You and Sammy have a fun Halloween week. All of you play well at your Halloween dance,” she added with a laugh as she put her hands on Paul and Cathy’s necks to steer them towards her rental car.

“Okay, we will,” Sammy replied, “See ya, Cath, Paul.”

I was glad to see that Sammy was taking this separation a whole lot better than when they left last spring. I’m guessing her little chat with Paul on Saturday night went well and helped to set her mind and soul at ease.

When I turned to Lynette, I saw a slightly confused look on her face, and softly asked, “What’s up, Girl?”

“Why, uh, did Mrs. McG only mention you and Sammy right then? She didn’t say my name, or Brick and E in her ‘have a fun Halloween week’ reply.”

“I heard that, too, but ... I don’t know. Think she just slipped up or...”

“Mrs. McG doesn’t just slip up in her speech. Something ... I’m not sure what, but it’s something. It just bugs me ‘bout her purposeful use of just you and Sammy.”

“Bertha knows you’re not shy about asking stuff, so why don’t you run and ask about her remark?” I replied and nodded to where they were getting in the rental.

“Nah, its ... who knows. It’s not a big deal,” Lynette said as her mom waved us over to where all the parents were huddled.

“We were just talking about Halloween night, and since it’s on a Wednesday, we thought you could hold a little, and we mean little, a little party at either our place or at your practice space in the Labatt’s guest house,” Gary Robertson said as the five of us stood near our parents.

“We’re thinking no more than thirty friends, tops, and since it’s a school night, the party ends by ten-thirty ... sharp! That allows for travel time for an eleven o’clock curfew,” Ms. Dillon added, leaving no doubt about those little party’s conditions.

“I first thought you could have your friends over to swim, but then...” Katie Labatt said. Her smile turned to a frown when her husband added with a chuckle,

“Swimming and Halloween costumes ... and makeup probably wouldn’t mix to well.”

“If we told our friends to put their swimsuits on underneath their costumes, as well as tell them not to wear face-paint or makeup ... could we go swimming and use the hot-tub?” Sammy asked her parents.

“If they come in makeup, they could just wash or shower before getting in the pool, I guess,” Katie Labatt replied as she hugged her husband’s arm.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a Halloween pool party before, but I guess if you kids do your part in arranging it, it would be fine with me,” Mr. Labatt stated after he scanned the parents’ faces to make sure they were good with Sammy and Katie’s pool suggestions.

“You know this guy can’t swim, and sinks like a rock, don’t you?” my mother said as she put her hands around my left upper arm.

“There’ll be at least one certified lifeguard there to keep an eye on him,” Sammy said as she raised her hand to indicate that was her.

“Make that two lifeguards, Mrs. N,” Lynette added with a smile.

“How ‘bout four certified lifeguards!” Eda exclaimed as she and Brick both held up their hands with grins on their faces.

“Nope, Mike, you definitely can’t go, now!” my dad sternly said. No one took him seriously, though, because of what happened earlier in the restaurant. After a good three seconds, my dad chuckled, “With these four, beautiful girls there to save him, Mike will purposefully try to drown, so they’ll give him mouth-to-mouth!”

Everyone but Mr. and Mrs. Masciotro burst out laughing at my dad’s follow up statement. I then heard Brick’s Italian, “Mike è papà ha detto, ‘Con queste quattro, belle ragazze lì per salvare lui, sarà volutamente tenta di annegare in modo potranno dare lui bocca a bocca!’”

“Mike, lui è un ragazzo intelligente, quindi, sì!” Mr. Masciotro chuckled and then received a light punch in his arm from his wife for his words.

“Papa!” Eda screeched and then laughed at her dad.

Mr. Masciotro shrugged his shoulders and smiled at me when Lisa said, “My Papa said, ‘Mike, he’s a smart boy, then, yes!’”

“He’s not thaaat smart!” Lynette chuckled as she pointed her finger at me from between her mom and dad.

“I don’t need to be smart, now ... my dad just gave that plan to me!” I replied with a soft elbow to my dad’s arm.

“Samantha E Lynette può darvi la bocca a bocca, Mike. Il mio Eda e Lisa, no, no, no!” Mrs. Masciotro laughed, then did a ‘mouth-to-mouth’ breathing demonstration towards her girls. (Samantha and Lynette can give you mouth to mouth, Mike. My Eda and Lisa, no, no, no!)

“Mama!” Brick and E both cried out and started to blush.

“I think now’s a good time to call it an evening. It’s a school night, after all,” Katie Labatt said as she pulled Sammy into her side and kissed her forehead.

Eda, Lisa and Sammy walked with their parents to their cars, while Lynette and I, and our two sets of parents all headed to our own vehicles in David’s parking lot. “See you, Bandettes, tomorrow!,” Lynette called out to Sammy, Eda and Brick.

“Later, guys!” Sammy said before she got in the backseat of her dad’s BMW sedan.

“Drive home safe, Lynette,” I softly said as I held the driver’s door open for her.

“You, too, Cuda,” she replied and gave me a small peck on my cheek.

“I’m not gonna get your special ‘drive-away saying’, anymore?”

“I wasn’t sure you’d want me to say it to you ... now that we’re...” Lynette softly replied as she looked away from me to her car door.

“Because we may not be ‘going – going out’ anymore, I still love your little saying and I still ... love you, Lynette.”

“But you’ve stopped calling me, ‘Cano’ or ‘Lava-Lips’, so, uh, I just assumed,” Lynette replied.

“Those names are special because of ... and I wasn’t sure you’d be good with me calling you one of them anymore.” I softly said as I put my hands on her shoulders.

We both waved as Mr. Masciotro beeped his new Honda Accord’s horn as they drove past us onto Church Street.

“Everybody else still calls me, ‘Cano’, so I guess that name is still good. You’re kinda right on the Lava-Lips’ name being a little ... you know,” Lynette replied and I knew exactly what she meant as her statement ended.

“I’d be happy to keep calling you, Cano, Cano; just like I’d still like to hear my drive away line.”

“Fair deal, Cuda,” Lynette said as she got up on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

“Get a move on it, Lynette. We’ve got to stop by the Buck’s to get Jessie, and I expect you home before we get there,” Ms. R stated from the open passenger window of her husband’s navy blue Volvo.

“Leaving right now, Mom!” Lynette said as she dropped her tail in behind her Nova’s steering wheel. My cute semi-ex-girlfriend then smiled up at me and softly said, ““Drive smart in your ‘Purple-B-Cuda- Machine’, Cuda.”

“I will, and thanks for being ... just you, Cano,” I replied before I shut her car’s door.

Pinafore Park, St. Thomas, Ontario

8:05pm, Friday, October, 12, 1979

“Well, looks like you’re our quarterback for the rest of the season, Mike,” Coach St. Georges glumly said as he walked back to our sideline. He just returned to our bench area after helping the medical personnel tend to our starting quarterback, Kane Goodwin.

Me and my teammates watched as Kane’s parents were leading their son, our quarterback towards the end zone and the parking lot at St. Thomas’ Pinafore Park Stadium. Kane’s dad carried his son’s scissor cut red Medway jersey and shoulder pads as Kane slowly walked with his right throwing arm in a sling.

“Kane’s shoulder was completely out of the socket,” Coach said to us as the referee blew his whistle to call us back onto the field. “Okay, Chris, you need to move into Mike’s 80, split end spot. Play like your lives depended on it now, and play for Kane. Voaden’s a dirty bunch, and the officials aren’t calling their cheap shots out there. Let’s prove that playing the right way, the Cowboy way, is the best way to win this damn game! For Kane, on three, Matthew!”

“Ready! One, two, three! ‘For Kane!’” Matt Connell, our captain and fullback called out before the offense ran back onto the lighted field.

“Mike, give them a healthy dose of Brad and Matt, and then, if you see them cheating up, play-action a post pattern to Smythy or Ronnie, or possibly a halfback wheel to Brad. Got it!” Coach said to me as we slowly walked toward the playing field.

“Got it, Coach!” I said before I sprinted to the huddle when the ref signaled time was back in.

We ran a series of power and trap runs, with one quick slant pass to move from our 37-yard line to Arthur Voaden’s 29-yard line. In our huddle, I asked Matt if he thought the outside linebacker was cheating inside on our runs. “He has to be since he’s made two tackles on the quick hitters, Mike,” Matt replied.

“Okay. Let’s go, ‘31-tight right, “I”, fake yellow 23, halfback wheel right, on the ‘sound’. I’ll give you time to get set out wide, Ronnie. Got it? On the sound. Ready ... Break!” I purposely overloaded the left side of the field with three receivers (the ‘3’ in the ‘31’ call), and had Gary Dander, our tight end to the right (the ‘1- tight-right’ aspect) for extra protection as Brad needed to peel out to the right on this play and couldn’t help block their defensive end.

As I stood behind our center, I purposely stared a few times at the ‘3-hole’ area when I saw Voaden’s left outside linebacker staring at me. I then double checked to make sure Ronnie was set at his outside flanker’s position before I put my hands under Paul Smybarth’s butt. On my ‘Ready’ shout, Paul snapped the football and I reverse-pivoted back to give Matt my empty left hand as part of the play-action fake.

With the football hidden on my right hip, I saw that Voaden’s outside backer bit bigtime on that fake trap play and quickly turned my eyes to their left corner. When I saw that he took a couple of steps up to support against a possible the run, I immediately knew that if I hit Brad on run, we’d be up on them by ten or eleven points.

‘Turn up, now, Brad,’ I thought so I could gauge how far to lead him with the pass. Immediately, Brad turned up-field on the outside of that ‘cheating-corner’. I lofted an arching pass for a spot around the 10-yard line and watched at it clear the corner’s leaping hands. My pass hit Brad in full stride. With the football tucked into his right armpit, Brad sprinted, although he could have waltzed, the remaining ten yards into the Voaden end-zone.

As I jumped for joy at that touchdown catch, I heard Matt yell, “How do you like apples!” as he stood over the outside linebacker, who was struggling to catch his breath after the play was over.

“Great pass and catch, Cuda, Bradley!” Gary Dander yelled as he gave me a bear-hug.

As we moved into position to kick the extra point, the Voaden coaches and medic came on to attend the guy Matt demolished. “What did you do to that asshole, Matt?” I asked as I stood next to him where he would kick the extra point from.

“I simply drove my facemask into his chest-stomach area because I wasn’t worried about breaking a tackle. I think I may have broken one of his ribs ... I heard a ‘crunching’ sound right after I planted his ass into the ground,” Matt replied with a grin on his face.

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer SOB!” Ronnie Wood said, vocalizing my thoughts exactly.

After Matt kicked the extra point, we were up 21 to 10 with a minute left in the third quarter. At our bench, Coach said, “I’m putting Chris in for you at safety, Mike. You just need to think about QBing, now.”

“But they’re gonna be slinging it now, down by two or three scores. I need to be out there, Coach!” I exclaimed knowing my speed and range were far better than Chris’ or anyone’s on our team.

“Yes, but let’s just see how Chris does back there for a couple of series. Get you a drink and put a jacket on to keep warm.”