The Way They Were

We went to the basketball game last night. It was the first game of we’ve gone to this year. Quite different than when we were teaching and went to all the home games or when the kids were playing and we went to every game. It was snowing like crazy when we left home and usually we wouldn’t have ventured out. But last night was the big game honoring McKenzie and the 1989 team that won third place in the state that year. They were the first Clark County team to make it to state and it was a big deal then and last night proved it is still a big deal...at least to those of us who remember.

To honor the team, the game was played in the middle school gym. Which was nice for us old folks who remember games there. It’s much smaller than the present high school gym. But it’s also much louder and more exciting. The fans are right there on the court. The players sit on the first row of the bleachers and the fans are right behind them on the second row. They can hear what the fans are saying–both good and bad. I want to talk to some of the players and see what they thought. Whitney played her first three years in that gym and then played her senior year at the present gym. About midway through the season, she said that the fans just don’t care anymore. I told her we still care; the gym is just bigger and they are physically removed and it’s just different.

Anyway. Coach John McKenzie was back. He’s pretty much the same talking a mile a minute and joking one minute and serious the next. The biggest change is his hair, what he has left, is totally white.



He and Betty are divorced-five years ago- and he’s remarried. Betty, Emily, Johnny and Sarah were there too. Betty is in the KC area working an administrator in charge of special programs in a school there. Emily works in Overland Park, KS with a staffing company. Johnny and his wife and little girl live in Liberty, MO. He works in a bank. It was the first basketball game his 2 year old had ever been to! Wonder how many Johnny had been to by the time he was 2? Sarah and her husband and 4 year old daughter were there too. I can’t remember where they are. It was the first time the kids had been back since they left in 1990. Emily said Kahoka was much smaller than she remembered! It was great to see all of them and get caught up. We spent a lot of time together at each other’s houses while they were here.

Between the games they introduced the team, the coaches, Johnny the ball boy, the statistician, Chief Stomp ‘Em, and the administrators. Players there were Jason Church, Jason Harper, Todd Saxton, Travis Riney, Matt Nimmo, Roger Daniels, Bill Bryant, Daniel Boatman. Emmett St. Clair has died and was represented by his sister and mother. Megan Church Karr and Harper stood in for her dad. The team had a lot less hair over all. Todd Saxton looked just like he did 20 years ago. For some reason the cheerleaders weren’t represented.

In the commons were photos and newspaper articles and a video tape of the games and the medal ceremony. One of the comments heard was how short the uniforms were! This was back in the day when basketball uniforms were form fitting and short instead of baggy and knee length.

The game was in Springfield, MO. A major trip for us at the time. David and Jackie kept our kids and we stayed on Laura Derrick’s floor for the weekend. And that’s about all I remember from the event.

I had several former students come up and introduce their spouses and children during the evening. I had just told a new teacher, who is having a hard time this year, that she’s reaching more students than she thinks is this year. And that she may not find out about it this year or even next year. And last night proved that when I had a former student come up and tell me I had been her favorite teacher. And I’d had no idea then or any time since.

Clark County has had three teams go to state. The 1989 boys team, the 1995 girls team and the 2008 football team. And since high school sports and band are big deals at Clark County, I’m sure the girls will be honored in a few years too. So get ready Whitney.

Pizza at 3 AM

We spent three days and nights with Whitney last week in Ann Arbor. People gave me flak about going to Michigan where it’s so cold. But we were in a cold spell here and the temps were the same–cold, damn cold. But Michigan was much prettier as they have about a foot of snow on the ground and it snowed all three days we were there. Ahh... heaven for me, being with my daughter and having snow falling.

We did what we do with our kids-- Monte fixed a cold air leak with rags, a trash bag and painter’s tape. I did laundry going down three sets of stairs into the creepy basement where the washer and dryer are. We also did a bit of shopping and opened all the forwards we received because we had access to high speed internet rather than slow dial up.

Whitney gave a tour to prospective students and we tagged along. Ross, Michigan’s business school, has a new building that just opened. Quite a nice facility. And, though we may be prejudiced, we thought Whitney gave a great tour, pointing out not only the educational aspects, but also the after hours networking possibilities.

We went out on Thursday night and met some of her friends. All Whit’s male friends seemed to be named Mark, Joe or Mike, but it may have been the pitchers of beer we drank at happy hour. Thursday was also the coldest night we had and we walked quickly the half mile to the Sportsman Bar and Grill. It’s the main hangout of the grad students in the early part of the evening. By 10 or so, the grad students leave as the undergrads invade. You can tell the undergrad females because they are all in high heels and skimpy tops. The grad females are in sweaters and boots. Another difference between grad and undergrad students is that grad students look at you when you talk. Undergrads look over your shoulder when they speak to you, searching for someone else... someone more interesting, someone better, some future friend or date.

On Friday night Whitney cooked dinner for us and a couple of her friends and then we went to a Michigan hockey game. While we don’t know a lot about hockey, it was fun to sit in the student section. The cheers have definitely gotten more explicit. After the game we headed back to Whitney’s for more "antifreeze," talk, and laughter. About midnight, when I thought we should probably head to bed, we took off for a house party, meeting more friends. We ended up at Happy Pizza chowing down on pizza and bread sticks at 3:30 AM! That’s right, Monte and Jane with no dozing in front of the TV before hand were out enjoying pizza and drunken laughter at 3:30 AM, keeping up with the kids.

I want to take this time to apologize to Whitney for outing her. She is a great cook and I jumped in when Mark was praising her meal, and said "She’s a great cook. She’s been cooking since she was 6 and did all the cooking when she was at home." The look that she gave me let me know that I’d let the cat out of the bag about her cooking. Then the next day, the high cost of home repairs came up, I again outed her, "Has Whitney told you about her tools?" She informed us that she’d kept her cooking and tools a secret, but yes, she did have a wide selection of tools in storage. So I apologize to you, Whit. But at least I didn’t have any pictures with me.