MEMORIES:

In order to avoid going months between posts, more in an occasional series on Irvington Elementary

Sometimes we played soccer at recess, but that was only when no one remembered to bring a football to school that day. Usually, we'd divide up into teams and head around to the side of the school where we had staked out our football playing territory.

The field was essentially a large open cement area bordered on one side by a low wall, and by the street on the other side. There were strips of grass at either end that were designated the end zones. We played two-handed touch for the most part, but if the ball went into the endzone/grass area, it was game on for tackles. Last second hail mary passes usually involved more kicking and punching than football, but I guess that was sort of the point.

A kid named Derek used to play with us from time to time. He was mainly harmless, but sometimes he'd flip out and try to start fights, or try to throw you off your game with "yo mama" jokes. He wasn't actively liked or disliked, most people just sort of put up with him.

One day in 5th grade we were in the closing seconds of a barn burner of a game. The offenses of both teams were lighting it up, and yet again a deep ball was thrown into the endzone. Derek went up for the grab, and I layed a shoulder into him. Another 5 people piled on, and Derek went down hard, but he still made the catch.

Derek jumped up to celebrate, and that's when he felt something weird on the back of his head.

"Um...dude? You got something on your head, man." One of my friends informed Derek.

"What?" he asked, lifting his hand to feel the back of his head. He pulled his hand down to see what was clinging to his hair, and discovered that he had landed headfirst in maybe the hugest pile of dog crap ever.

He immediately started crying, and just took off running towards his house.

We didn't see him again until the next day, and nobody ever mentioned anything about it to him.

It wasn't too long after the poop incident, that Cameron went out for a pass near the sideline, and ended up running directly into the low wall at full speed. He flipped over the thing in a sort of agonized kung-fu maneuver, and ended up fracturing both his shins.

We'd all been watching first aid movies that week, and decided he was going into shock, so everyone around that side of the playground remembered the recommended procedure, and tried to keep him warm by piling our coats on top of him. By the time the school nurse got there we were all just milling around, wondering what to do, while Cameron cracked jokes from under a five foot high pile of coats.

I'm not sure why we never tried playing football on another part of the playground. You'd think we'd have learned our lesson.
- posted by Aaron @ 10:47 AM