First off let me a thank you to all the Spartans maggers who who kind enough to send me well wishes. I am home with Bonnie and recovery will be slow...but steady. Finally a special shout out to Skow, Ray ODonnall and last but not least Ric 80. Friends to took the time to reach out. And finally to Rick a great friend and better man.
Even though the first game is Friday on the road. I am printing the orginal.
Like they say......Tuck coming.
On Saturday the 11th of September MSU will take the field for the start of another year at Spartan Stadium. This year will be like so many years with fans debating about the coach, the team, the players. It is a right of passage that begins every fall.
For me it probably began in the fall of 1965. As a 12 year old Boy Scout my troop as did many others used to work the MSU home games for free and help folks find their seats. Every once in a while some of the scouts would be able to go down on the field during pregame warm-up and meet some of the players and coaches. It was one of these times when I got my turn to go on the sidelines and meet Duffy Daugherty. My Dad was the troop master and I can remember standing there with a few other kids watching Duffy place his hand on my Dad's shoulder and shake his hand. He then shook the hand of each of us and when he got to me he smiled at all of us and had that wink in his eye and said, Boys we are gonna have some fun today!
And Boy did we have fun! It was 1965 a time when Giants walked the earth. And they held high court at Spartan Stadium. We called them Bubba or Washington or Webster or Mad Dog. When they ran out of the North tunnel the ground shook and the crowd roared. Many teams were afraid to face these giants and rightly so as they turned out to be one of the greatest teams in College to play the game. My Dad would sit with me during the games and teach me about the game. What a Safety blitz was, how a QB checks off, how a middle linebacker reads thru the guards and backfield to follow the flow of the play. Things that fathers and sons have done since the game first started.
I was hooked. From that day forward I have always loved and followed MSU football. When I wasn't here in Michigan I followed thru the papers or TV. Every Sept when autumn would approach my thoughts always turned to football at Michigan State. It seemed that some of my happiest times were spent at Spartan Stadium. And every fall my dad and I would talk MSU football and try to catch a few games together.
Then came that day a few years ago when I was stationed as a medic in the Air Force and was called and told to come home. My dad had been battling Cancer and the end was coming soon. When I got to the hospital my mom and brother were exhausted and went home to get some much needed rest. I took the night shift. My dad was in and out of it, not really knowing who was there. After a few hours he woke up, sat straight up in bed and said Hi Kid, when did you get in? He was experiencing that surge of energy that terminal patients sometimes do. Like a light bulb that burns its brightest before it flickers out dad began to talk to me and share stories of past adventures long forgotten by myself. I had snuck in a bottle of his favorite whiskey, (the Doctor had said OK) and we drank and laughed and talked for hours. The time when I was a kid and hooked a large bass and in the excitement my dad kicked the net over the side of the boat. The first time we went deer hunting together and I got a bad case of buck fever when a good size buck came over the hill not 25 yards from me and I put my gun down and jumped up and yelled Buck!....Dad it's a Buck!. My dad sitting about 20 yards from me bent over and laughing until he cried. And of course we talked Spartan Football. We spoke of great players and teams and coaches. It was all good. After a while my dad looked me dead in the eyes and asked...kid I'm not gonna whip this thing am I? To this day it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I swallowed the lump in my throat, looked at him thru watery eyes and said...no dad you're not but I love you and we are gonna ride it out together.
Looking back at that night I now realize that my father was doing more than sharing stories of my past. He was imparting to me his wisdom, his courage, his sense of humor and his love. Things that a young person hopes to achieve when he becomes a man. Things that since I have tried to give my children.
On Saturday the 11th my wife and I will go to the Stadium. We will smell the food cooking, the flags flying, the music playing, people laughing. You all know what it is like.
About an hour and an half before kickoff they will open the gates to the stadium. The excitement will be starting to build. I always walk down to the bottom row of seats by the field and watch the team warm up, comparing notes with other fans.
As the teams leave the field one can feel the excitement. As the time gets closer to kickoff the sound of drums come from the north entrance of the field. 300 strong the MSU marching band takes the field. You cant help but come to you feet and hear the roar of the crowd. Sparty is introduced to the crowd and tune Thunderstruck starts to play.
And then it happens.....all eyes are focused at the north entrance of the stadium as the team explodes onto the field. they run to the sideline with the coaches and are going crazy jumping up and down on each other.
Thru all the pregame the crowd has been cheering and having fun. But now as the team comes onto the field the cheering is different. It is a ROAR! It is a loud continuing sound that builds from the throats of everyone who is there. It is if the curtain of time is being parted and the giants of years long past are being told to awaken from their slumber and to inspire the team as they inspired many of us so long ago.
As the teams line up for the kickoff I will look around the stadium at all the colors and sights and sounds. I will look at my wife and think of my son and daughters and realize how much I love them and just how lucky I am. I will say a silent prayer to God thanking him for giving me much more than I deserve.
As I pan back to the field for an instant time will stop. I know that the spirit of my dad will be with me and I will thank him for what he taught me. As the father passes on to the son so the son passes on to his children. The good things in life are worth more than riches or position.
And finally my mind will flashback to a day in 1965 when a skinny 12 year old kid was looking up at Duffy Daugherty and remembers Duffy smiling at him and saying....Boys we are gonna have some fun today.
Yes Duffy we are gonna have fun today. Because today is the start of a new season....of new hope. Today
is the first home game of the year at Spartan Stadium.....and there is no place on earth I would rather be.
Orion
Even though the first game is Friday on the road. I am printing the orginal.
Like they say......Tuck coming.
On Saturday the 11th of September MSU will take the field for the start of another year at Spartan Stadium. This year will be like so many years with fans debating about the coach, the team, the players. It is a right of passage that begins every fall.
For me it probably began in the fall of 1965. As a 12 year old Boy Scout my troop as did many others used to work the MSU home games for free and help folks find their seats. Every once in a while some of the scouts would be able to go down on the field during pregame warm-up and meet some of the players and coaches. It was one of these times when I got my turn to go on the sidelines and meet Duffy Daugherty. My Dad was the troop master and I can remember standing there with a few other kids watching Duffy place his hand on my Dad's shoulder and shake his hand. He then shook the hand of each of us and when he got to me he smiled at all of us and had that wink in his eye and said, Boys we are gonna have some fun today!
And Boy did we have fun! It was 1965 a time when Giants walked the earth. And they held high court at Spartan Stadium. We called them Bubba or Washington or Webster or Mad Dog. When they ran out of the North tunnel the ground shook and the crowd roared. Many teams were afraid to face these giants and rightly so as they turned out to be one of the greatest teams in College to play the game. My Dad would sit with me during the games and teach me about the game. What a Safety blitz was, how a QB checks off, how a middle linebacker reads thru the guards and backfield to follow the flow of the play. Things that fathers and sons have done since the game first started.
I was hooked. From that day forward I have always loved and followed MSU football. When I wasn't here in Michigan I followed thru the papers or TV. Every Sept when autumn would approach my thoughts always turned to football at Michigan State. It seemed that some of my happiest times were spent at Spartan Stadium. And every fall my dad and I would talk MSU football and try to catch a few games together.
Then came that day a few years ago when I was stationed as a medic in the Air Force and was called and told to come home. My dad had been battling Cancer and the end was coming soon. When I got to the hospital my mom and brother were exhausted and went home to get some much needed rest. I took the night shift. My dad was in and out of it, not really knowing who was there. After a few hours he woke up, sat straight up in bed and said Hi Kid, when did you get in? He was experiencing that surge of energy that terminal patients sometimes do. Like a light bulb that burns its brightest before it flickers out dad began to talk to me and share stories of past adventures long forgotten by myself. I had snuck in a bottle of his favorite whiskey, (the Doctor had said OK) and we drank and laughed and talked for hours. The time when I was a kid and hooked a large bass and in the excitement my dad kicked the net over the side of the boat. The first time we went deer hunting together and I got a bad case of buck fever when a good size buck came over the hill not 25 yards from me and I put my gun down and jumped up and yelled Buck!....Dad it's a Buck!. My dad sitting about 20 yards from me bent over and laughing until he cried. And of course we talked Spartan Football. We spoke of great players and teams and coaches. It was all good. After a while my dad looked me dead in the eyes and asked...kid I'm not gonna whip this thing am I? To this day it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I swallowed the lump in my throat, looked at him thru watery eyes and said...no dad you're not but I love you and we are gonna ride it out together.
Looking back at that night I now realize that my father was doing more than sharing stories of my past. He was imparting to me his wisdom, his courage, his sense of humor and his love. Things that a young person hopes to achieve when he becomes a man. Things that since I have tried to give my children.
On Saturday the 11th my wife and I will go to the Stadium. We will smell the food cooking, the flags flying, the music playing, people laughing. You all know what it is like.
About an hour and an half before kickoff they will open the gates to the stadium. The excitement will be starting to build. I always walk down to the bottom row of seats by the field and watch the team warm up, comparing notes with other fans.
As the teams leave the field one can feel the excitement. As the time gets closer to kickoff the sound of drums come from the north entrance of the field. 300 strong the MSU marching band takes the field. You cant help but come to you feet and hear the roar of the crowd. Sparty is introduced to the crowd and tune Thunderstruck starts to play.
And then it happens.....all eyes are focused at the north entrance of the stadium as the team explodes onto the field. they run to the sideline with the coaches and are going crazy jumping up and down on each other.
Thru all the pregame the crowd has been cheering and having fun. But now as the team comes onto the field the cheering is different. It is a ROAR! It is a loud continuing sound that builds from the throats of everyone who is there. It is if the curtain of time is being parted and the giants of years long past are being told to awaken from their slumber and to inspire the team as they inspired many of us so long ago.
As the teams line up for the kickoff I will look around the stadium at all the colors and sights and sounds. I will look at my wife and think of my son and daughters and realize how much I love them and just how lucky I am. I will say a silent prayer to God thanking him for giving me much more than I deserve.
As I pan back to the field for an instant time will stop. I know that the spirit of my dad will be with me and I will thank him for what he taught me. As the father passes on to the son so the son passes on to his children. The good things in life are worth more than riches or position.
And finally my mind will flashback to a day in 1965 when a skinny 12 year old kid was looking up at Duffy Daugherty and remembers Duffy smiling at him and saying....Boys we are gonna have some fun today.
Yes Duffy we are gonna have fun today. Because today is the start of a new season....of new hope. Today
is the first home game of the year at Spartan Stadium.....and there is no place on earth I would rather be.
Orion
