Friday, February 22, 2013

I was the kid that was picked last

I wasn't much of a jock.  In fact, I was a complete spaz.  Nobody wanted me on their team and I really did not want to be on their team anyway.  The summer between junior high and high school, I actually told ALL my friends to go fuck themselves.  I did not want to play basketball with them.  All they did was play ball, and they did not want to play with me.  I figured I would make new friends in high school.

Then came freshman high school gym.  That sucked.   One day, in late September, the gym was full of tables.  The coaches from each team were there. I learned that if you got on any varsity team you did not have to go to gym. That would be sweet. No gym!  But who would have me? Not one of those ball sports, they all had try-outs; forgetaboutit..

Then I got to the Track Coach.
"What do I gotta do to get on the team?"
"Ya just gotta show up, kid."
"Dat, I can do!"    Ya see, in track, unlike most other sports, if you are not the best you don't hurt the team. There was no ball to drop.  In track, teams compete with their fastest runners.  All the rest a listed as "also ran".

As a sprinter I embarrassed myself, but no mater how long the race I finished.  So, I was a distance runner.  In 4 years of track I never scored in a race.  However, I gained the respect and friendship of my teammates, because I ran as fast and as far as I could.

Now fast forward 36 years from my freshman year at Sheepshead Bay High School.

There are some jocks back at Sheepshead that really deserve a knock in the head with this piece of wood. I might even go back to Shellbank to whack some people.

Who would think that I would ever be honored for my athletic ability?  But I had a crazy 2012

In early may I ran the Jersey Shore Marathon.



The best thing about the Prospect Park Awards Shindig was that my kids were there to see me get this.   Heck, they didn't even know I was Vice President of the club.

and to this day, running has brought me my best friendships
at

5 comments:

  1. joehFebruary 22, 2013 at 10:56:00 AM EST

    Anyone can run, not everyone can finish!

    Nice award.

    We got out of gym if we were on a team also. I threw the discus. Sometimes I even placed.

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  2. UnknownFebruary 22, 2013 at 11:40:00 AM EST

    Super duper post and story! And I love the plaque. Yay for you, Michael. Some of us are very later bloomers. We had something awesome cooking for our lives, but we threw it into the Crock Pot, not the microwave. :D

    I would have picked you for *my* high school team--but keep in mind that I wasn't too competitive. I also was a long distance runner in track with gobs of green ribbons (who even knows what place that is!).

    :-) Marion

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  3. Qaptain QwertyFebruary 22, 2013 at 11:59:00 AM EST

    Congrats, C.U.! Maybe I'll shoot for Ultra Runner of the Year for 2013 since I didn't make New Member of the year last night. I have always entertained the idea of doing the NYRR Knickerbocker 50K...

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  4. Rose ~ from OzFebruary 22, 2013 at 5:21:00 PM EST

    Good on you Mike!! Beautiful post from the heart and I know having the kids there to share your moment would have been the sweetest part!

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2013 at 8:05:00 PM EST

    My son, I am so very proud of you....
    and as Rose said it had to be
    awesome too have your kids there. xo

    ReplyDelete

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