MUD FOOTBALL BABY!

Rain, wind, rain and more rain. Yesterday, Fresno, and all of California was hit by a fierce storm. This storm dropped lots of rain and even more snow in the mountains. Very good news for the thirsty valley! I saw on the weather that this storm was equal to a category 3 hurricane when it was still off the central coast! On Friday the wind picked up and the rain fell in huge drops and brought back a feeling that I get every now and again. MUD FOOTBALL!!!! A few years (maybe more than a few) back a day like this would have stirred the phone lines in the old neighborhood into a frenzy! The gang would gather at Sierra Jr High and sides would be taken! The rain would bring out the pro bowl player in us! As if you were wearing a pair of Keds sneakers, the wind and rain would make us run faster, jump higher, and have no fear in diving for that pass! If you were to get tackled, you could expect to be piled on, but everybody loved it. We would play for hours, never really keeping score. I remember going home smelling like a five day old fish, and my mom stopping me at the door. She'd make me go into the garage and disrobe there, leaving my stinking clothes at the washer and head to the shower! How good that hot shower would feel! Once in a while, an outsider would join the game. Often this person would be "the target"! My sister used to date a bill rider, I believe his name was Mark. As many bull riders are, Mark wasn't the biggest guy in the world. Mark was used to taking his lumps and thought that playing a game of football with a bunch of "kids" was nothing. He didn't even last an hour. He limped the 2 blocks back to my house, my mom making him go to the garage, took a shower and when I got home hours later, he was still sleeping on the couch! wimp!
Now a days, the warm rain and windy day will still bring a smile and a wild hair! I'll call Yez and he'll answer the phone saying "I'M READY!" Then reality hits and we just laugh, knowing the best we could do now is hope to not break a hip as we walk carefully down the wet step! But ya know, I never thought I'd toss a baseball with Mike again either! Who knows, maybe there is one last bomb in this old arm, one last diving catch, one last shoe string tackle, one last time smelling like Mr. Limpet! "Ok, fake to Yez, Mike go long! on three! ready? BREAK!! "