Author: Eric Ephraim
Date: 08-09-02 06:08
Week 7 Friday:
This is the day most have circled on their calendar for years, RANGER FOOTBALL! Pick 'em up, put 'em down, stomp 'em in the ground, hey!
But first, super duper inspection. This is the last chance for camp to remove 7 weeks of accumulated sand from all your belongings before the long Coast to Coast truck ride home for your trunk and duffle. Remember, no cheering in the mess hall when they read the scores for each cabin and the points off. I'm still waiting for one of the squeakers to announce super inspection scores by shaving his head and getting an earing to be Mr. Clean. That is sacrifing for your art.
But the big block this afternoon is Ranger Football (all other campers have "practice for future events"). The annual human bone crunching where the losing team ussually has a game plan more complicated than the 1978 Dallas Cowboys. Hey, lookout for that play where after the timeout, the wide receiver walks over with the advisor and pretends he's standing on the sideline (he's going deep; deeper deeper, ooh ah). As I write this, I can feel the Horseshoe faux grass and a multitude of grasshoppers slapping my shins while I run down the sideline with a football tucked under my arm. You would be hard pressed to match that intensity anywhere. (Please see sidebar below)
This afternoon, there is no free period. Its time for Song and Cheer practice. Tonight is the final Council Horseshoe of the year. Please see Mitch W's subject for some great stuff from Council (by the way, Mitch was my counselor in Woodsman A in 1979). The following skits will be performed:
- If I weren't a camper (the inspiration for my subject line)
- Lift the pioneer on the bench, while the tall guy bends down and have him jump from what he thinks is a bench ten feet in the air
- Blowing ping pong balls in a mess hall tray full of water (you know how it ends)
- Spin in circles while looking up at a broom and try not to fall in the council fire
Take one last good look at the setting sun over the lake from Council. This one will have to last you till next summer (or longer). Even if you can't completely capture it in your mind's eye, treasure the feeling it gave you to have enjoyed that view. Hail to the Forest, taps, goodnight.
Sidebar:
We can all relate a small story that describes the essence of what Horseshoe competition is all about. Mine goes back to the Green Brown Ranger football game in 1985. Steve Farber and I were on opposite teams. During rest period before the game, we sat on my bed. One Walkman, two headphones, listening to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, getting psyched up for a game we would play against each other.
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