Rained Out

By Uncle Hans

Yesterday we traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota for the game with the University of Northwestern JV team discussed in the last blog. This much-anticipated game came after three other games had been cancelled off our schedule. Game cancellations are normally very rare.

      So we were shocked and dismayed when we arrived at school to prepare for the trip and learned that our quarterback had undergone appendectomy the night before. Our backup quarterback is suffering from a leg injury. We immediately went to the gym for an emergency "offensive walkthrough", so we could teach three new guys how to be a quarterback............... in an hour.

     I took this picture approximately from my position as outside linebacker. I did have to take a few steps back in order to include the coach on the left side calmly walking the new guys systemically through about a dozen plays to make the game possible. A team typically has about 40, so this will be interesting.

Since it's not an overnight trip, we pack lighter.  Once on the bus the guys start talking about what football players like to talk about........ lunch. The coaches had contacted a Subway and orders had been faxed for 30 sandwiches. That's when I found out that the subway was in, of all places Melrose Minnesota. That's where I graduated from high school! I got on the phone and called my 87 year old ex-father-in-law, Dick, so he could come out and have lunch with me.

Of course the faxed order got all screwed up and Dick and I had an hour or more to visit while rest of the team played catch in the parking lot......

..... some of the guys chose to use the time doing their homework.

Oh, wait!   Maybe they're coloring!

We got to St Paul came upon the campus, dressed and went out on the field to warm up. It started to rain, and more importantly, there was some lightning. The NCAA has established firm rules about avoiding lightning. The area must be lightning free for 30 minutes before any outdoor play can occur. The referees have an app on their phones to monitor this. We were sent to the softball dugout to wait.

Given the open field, some guys couldn't resist throwing the ball around.

Then there was a lightning strike, they made us go totally indoors to the men's soccer locker room.

Then the storm arrived, it was torrential with a lot of lightning strikes and they canceled the game.

The coach of the other team felt so bad that he bought us all pizza. Which, of course, took an hour and 15 minutes to arrive. It was just that kind of day. We got on the bus and rode home, arriving at 12:30 p.m.

BTW, the small player in the center of the picture is smallest college football player I have ever met at 115 lb. He is a freshman, his size belies his ability, and he plays some in every game........

Uncle Hans