ROBIEWANKENOBIE

the weather is brisk outside. perfect football weather. it is a fastpaced morning at the coffee shop. cheerleaders in curlers. fans in full regalia. outfits. credit cards. perhaps undies, but i didn't ask. i would think it a lovely morning to sit in the stands with a warm cuppa cheering on the team.

football always makes me nostalgic. not for my own school years, when i avoided anything relating to the sport. our team never won. even on homecoming when we would truck in the most tragic opponents we could find from a neighboring town. instead, it brings me back to the days that i spent playing under the bleachers back home.

to tell you the truth? i don't remember whether or not our team was a winning one. i suppose it was. i don't recall much nashing of teeth regarding lost games, but i didn't really pay attention. i think it was the pageantry that appealed to me.

my father was disturbed by the lack of a mascot, and had gotten a large red cape made. he also arranged for a horse, and someone to ride around the track on the outside of the field dressed as a trojan. years later he would wear that cape while capped in a colander, riding a broom...under the name "good night." he would burst into the room and harass me terribly until i said his name, after which he would saunter away on his ride.

the football field was down the hill from the high school. my dad was the ticket taker for most of the games. i would immediately, upon entry, start looking for my possee. we were super heros. and the stands? our gotham. mike s. was always batman, i was wonderwoman. or isis. usually isis, 'cause she was into archeology, yo! his father was a science teacher at the middle school and the football coach. he had a skeleton named george that he would dress up for various holidays, a deformed nostril, and a stuffed duck. mr.s. would give extra credit on exams that coincided with game day, if you could tell him which team we were playing against.

the only time we, the crime fighters, would emerge was during half time, when you could see the fire baton twirlers. well worth a break from fighting crime. the band was also quite exciting. they had those amazing old school band uniforms. red, white, and blue...cording across the chests, plumes from the hats. just like the band in the music man. one of my brothers was a flutist, my future sister-in-law, as well, and my other brother (her future husband) played the trumpet. he was also the quarterback, but that never really impressed me much.

i wonder if we'll end up being one of those families? i never really thought about that. we don't really do sports now...we've spent this miraculous fall weather playing in leaves in the park. but maybe, someday, i'll be the one grabbing coffee and heading out to the game.