Ole Pappy
Last week at the Minneota vs. Sleepy Eye football game I was walking the sidelines taking notes so I could right the story of the game for this week’s Mascot.
One of the members of the “chain gang,” the guys who move the chains up and down the field to keep track of the yardage and the downs, turned to me right after Sleepy Eye scored the first touchdown of the game to take an 8-0 lead. He smiled and said, “You guys aren’t used to that, are you?”
He was referring to the fact Minneota seems to always be ahead and always win — but there we were, behind! I politely replied, “No, we really aren’t!”
A little later we tied the game — then Thomas Hennen caught a 51-yard touchdown pass and Minneota was ahead, 16-8.
I was standing near the chain gang man so I said, “Now, that’s what we’re used to.” He saw it coming and waved me away saying, “Oh, go to the other side of the field.”
Then he laughed! It was a brief but funny moment in a game that turned sadly sour for the Vikings.
When our sophomore quarterback Jacob Hennen tried to stretch the ball into the end zone, he lost the ball — and much more than that.
A little later I turned to see him holding his wrist as a responder began to examine the wrist.
Jacob’s dad Brad, who gave me a ride to the game, walked off the field with Jacob and I knew they were going to the doctor. In a second, I got a message on my phone.
“Better get another ride home. Gotta take Jacob in for X-Rays.” I was able to flag a ride home.
But all the while my mind was on Jacob. I emailed Brad and got the answer that the wrist was broken. I felt so bad for the young man, and the team, which is defending their state title and was depending so much on Jacob.
It wasn’t until later that I was told Tanner Sterzinger also had his bad foot stepped on and he, too, was going to be out for awhile.
Monday, I watched the team practice, with Jacob’s brother Thomas running the team at quarterback, while Jacob watched with his arm in a sling and Tanner limping along on crutches.
There’s a life lesson here. And that is that things don’t always go as you planned. But you’ve got to pick yourself up and make the best of it!!
LAUGH A LITTLE: Thank Goodness! A boy broke an old vase at a rich uncle‘s house. The uncle gets extremely angry and yells: “Do you even know how old the vase was? Then he says, “It was from the 17th century!”
The boy sagged in relief and said: “Oh, good than it wasn’t new.”
Here’s another: Boy asks: How many gorillas can fit into a car? Second Boy: Eight. First Boy: How many chickens can fit into the car? Second Boy: None, the car is already full of gorillas.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “What is the difference between a wise man and a fool?
Ole Pappy added, “Wise men talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something!” Ole Pappy was no fool. But he sure knew one when he saw one! Thanks Ole Pappy!