The Last

By Uncle Hans

This blog is a series of pictures of things I'm doing or seeing for the last time in my football experience at Trinity.

The last class. Thurber's worldview theology.

Last test. This is my college mentor Kyle, who taught the college student from the 70s how to adapt to college in 2017.....

Last team film session.

Last practice schedule

Last practice. Yes, several guys decided to do it without shirts......

Last pregame team breakfast.

Last team meeting. This is room 150, where we had our first meeting at 8 a.m. on August 8th. how time flies!

The last Chapel.

Last big day of work for the team managers, Britney and Abrina.....

Last time at my humble abode. I am packing to leave.....

So, what happened to last game? I am still collecting those pictures and that blog, which is pretty interesting, will be posted in a few days.  Stay tuned........

Uncle Hans

Now you can go back to the beginning of the story and catch up on what you've missed so far including all the pictures. CLICK HERE

CLICK TO BUY THE BOOK

LAKE TAHOE

OFF ON VACATION TO LAKE TAHOE, IT’S BEEN EIGHT YEARS SINCE WE’VE BEEN HERE!

Volleyball

By Uncle Hans

Probably the most enjoyable part of my time at Trinity Bible College was participating in the intramural volleyball league. I saw the sign up sheet in the hall and boldly added my name to one team. I did it because the team appeared to be managed by one of our assistant football coaches who is a graduate student.

( editor's note:  What Hans fails to point out is that he has played volleyball for 4 to 6 hours a week for the last 35 years. He points out in his book that it is the number one reason that he is able to play college football at 65)

He seemed a little hesitant when I talked to him about being on the team. Who wouldn't be skeptical about a 65 year old who wants to be on your team when you won the championship last year and want to repeat?

But they let me play. You could see they were a little uncomfortable at first because they play a quite a different style from the way we play. We play with the net at regulation coed height, which is 7 ft 11 and 5/8 in. They use regulation girl's height. We also don't play the more advanced "position" volleyball that these girls have been taught. So I had to be taught where to stand, Etc.

I picked it up in time and began to contribute. I have a fairly steady overhand serve which was helpful. I also have a rather unusual Kareem Abdul-Jabbar "Skyhook" spike, which my colleagues at home have come to call "the windmill". It is unpredictable and hard to block. So I actually earned my place on the team, as opposed to football where I never got good enough to contribute.

In this picture, the big guy in the maroon shirt across from me at the net is about to become a victim of "the windmill". Because my cell phone camera is, well, a cell phone camera, you can just barely make out the ball as a blur in the edge of the blue sign just above the net on the far wall of the gym. The ball came down and hit him in the elbows, dribbling harmlessly down his front and onto the floor.

I am just returning to earth with a big smile on my face. These pictures are from the semifinals, which we won. We lost in the finals to the same team and had to settle for second place. What happened there is another story, which I might tell if I ever get on Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres.  LOL!

Uncle Hans

Now you can go back to the beginning of the story and catch up on what you've missed so far including all the pictures. CLICK HERE

Away Game

By Uncle Hans

Winter made a sudden appearance in the Midwest on Thursday.  We practiced Thursday afternoon at 28 degrees with a 50 mile an hour wind. Unforgettable. We left early Friday for a game with Olivet Nazarene University, located about an hour south of Chicago. We drove in snow all day. About halfway there, our bus engine blew, stranding us on the freeway in the snow. It took about 3 hours for the coaches to arrange to rent two 15 passenger vans so we could keep going.......

We arrived at Olivet and it was just starting a combination of sleet and snow. But then the sun came out a little and it stopped. The game was bone chilling cold with a nasty wind.

This was the schedule of the day's events. And, yes, we stood for the national anthem with our helmets off and our hands over our hearts.........

Everyone here is watching a coin in the air. We won the coin toss, but it turned out to be the highlight of the game....

This is our coach in blue personally greeting each and every TBC Lions fan, which didn't take him very long. I believe they were all parents of players.

We lost the first half of the game 49 to 6. The touchdown we scored may well have been the highlight of the season, even though the other team already had the second string in. We won the second half, 0 - 0.  22 healthy and eligible players participated in the game for Trinity. Three were injured. That could make the season's last game next week pretty interesting. We play against a team that is a good match for us, but we might be down to 19 players......

The 13 hour trip home was uneventful. I was happy because they asked me to drive the last half of the trip. It was fun to do something useful, for a change.  I found out later that the rental company policy was "25 years and older", for drivers. The coaches were all exhausted with what had happened in the previous 36 hours and I was the only one left over 25.  LOL!

     The guys took it all in stride, told each other the story of the touchdown we scored over and over, and passed around the bottle until 5 a.m. when we got back to Ellendale.

   I admit that I took a few myself. And I admit that I am starting to miss those guys already. They are Family with a capital "F"!!

Uncle Hans

Now you can go back to the beginning of the story and catch up on what you've missed so far including all the pictures. CLICK HERE

CATCH ALL

MY THANKS TO MARY FOR WRITING A BLOG YESTERDAY, IT’S BEEN AWHILE SINCE SHE’S WRITTEN.

SPENDING TIME IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN FELT GOOD WITH 90+ DEGREE WEATHER.

PACKING

THIS WEEK IT’S TIME TO PACK UP AND HEAD BACK TO THE LOWER MOHAVE DESERT AND THE MOHAVE VALLEY ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER. WE’VE MADE PROGRESS ON REDUCING THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH, BUT IT’S STILL COMPLICATED AS WE TRY TO PACK THE STUFF WE WILL NEED FOR OUR VACATION AT SOUTH LAKE TAHOE INTO THE CAR.

WE BOTH LIKE LIVING IN THE MOUNTAIN CABIN BETTER THAN THE CAMPER, BUT OUR QUEST FOR “SUNNY & 80” RETURNS US TO THE DESERT.

FOOTBALLAT65

UNCLE HANS IS WRAPPING UP THE FOOTBALLAT65 ADVENTURE WITH ONLY 10 DAYS REMAINING. THE BOOK IS FINISHED AND HAS BEEN SENT OUT TO PROOF READERS. NEXT WILL BE THE FORMATTING AND PUBLISHING AT AMAZON E-BOOKS FOR KINDLES. I’LL BE SURE TO PROVIDE A LINK TO THE KINDLE STORE AS SOON AS IT GOES LIVE.

IF YOU NEED TO CATCH UP ON THE STORY, HERE IS A LINK (CLICK HERE) TO THE INDEX OF THE BLOGS HE HAS WRITTEN FROM COLLEGE.

FITBIT

I’M TAKING A MONTH OFF FROM MY FITBIT AND DIETING, OCT.15 – NOV. 15. I STILL CARRY THE DEVICE DAILY SO MY STEPS ARE BEING RECORDED, BUT I’M NOT TRACKING FOOD, WEIGHING, OR PAYING ATTENTION TO THE NUMBERS.

OF COURSE BY THE END OF NOVEMBER I EXSPECT TO BE BACK TO #1 ON THE ABOVE FRIENDS LIST ONLY BECAUSE MARY WILL BE WORKING!

IF YOU USE A FITBIT, OR GET ONE FOR CHRISTMAS JUST E-MAIL ME AND WE CAN GET YOU ON MY FRIENDS LIST TOO.

SCOOTER

I FOUND A SCOOTER SHOP ON THE MOUNTAIN THAT ACTUALLY SPECIALIZES IN TRIKES AND HAD THE SCOOTER IN FOR IT’S ANNUAL MAINTAINENCE, TUNE-UP, NEW FRONT TIRE, AND A NEW BATTERY. THE SCOOTER IS READY FOR A FULL WINTER OF RIDING.

  “SUNNY & 72”