Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Decepticon
Sunday
October 29, 2006
It was a fun time in Nashville this past weekend. It's usually enjoyable up there, and this was no exception.
My cousin Patrick Pickney played very well in St. Henry's Parochial League championship win over St. Joseph's. It was great to get to see him play, and he impressed especially on defense playing safety. How good was he? The team ran a 4-4 defense, with two corners and Patrick at safety the entire game... and IT WORKED. Good times. Between that and him running back a punt into the 10 yard line to set up the go-ahead score, it was cool to see him do so well.
My Dad played on the one (and only) Parochial League championship team at St. Ann's in 1961. In a hilarious story, he told me how the team's jerseys and equipment in the 1960 season were kept in the priest's downstairs basement area and that the team ended up getting disbanded because of some "hanky panky" (his words, not mine.) I pressed him on it, and he told me that a couple of the boys went down to the basement, ostensibly to pick up the football stuff. However, they ended up getting into the wine that was down there. They got caught, and as punishment the entire team was disbanded for the season. Not even UConn coach Randy Edsall is that stiff with punishment.
The next year the team returned. To hear Dad tell it, the story of that 1961 St. Ann's team is the stuff of a movie script. With barely enough boys to make up the squad, it took a highly motivational coaching staff to get that "rag-tagged group" (as my Dad said it) to believe in themselves.
So what happened? St. Ann's not only went undefeated and won the championship, they shut out every opponent they faced.
By the time I came through the system in 1990, there was no St. Ann's team, as the school just didn't have the size to support it. In a bizarre turn of events, a few years ago a commemorative football from 1961 that was emblazoned with the team's unbeaten record was thrown out from the school, headed for the trash... when, somehow, my Uncle Bernard found it (in a Lost-esque twist.) The football is now in my Dad's possession.
Last night was a blast. Originally intended to be a surprise party for Dustin's girlfriend
Whitney, I think the surprise element out of it disappeared before I arrived... but it was great to see several friends, many of whom I hadn't seen in months. My bro Matt was out of town... but don't feel bad for him -- he went to New Orleans to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert. I haven't received a report on what happened as of this writing, but my bro was in Incoherent Matt mode when I talked with him. And that was before 10 PM! It's so easy in the Big Easy...
We headed down to 2nd Avenue in Nashville, which, unbeknownst to us going in, was much more packed than normal due to TSU's Homecoming. Traffic was a nightmare, to say the least.
Graham Central Station (which sounds like it should be "Grand Central" and annoys me as a result) was jumping. We hit the town in our usual club attire, but I'd say that 60-65% of the people there were in costume. The highlight was a guy who went as a Transformer (to be specific, as a Decepticon car.) Seeing him do his transforming bit on the dance floor was high comedy.
The highlight had to be the drunken antics of Jon, who had me busting up laughing with his approaches to women who were clearly there with a boyfriend. I was fully prepared to throw down in case a rumble started, which appeared imminent on more than one occasion. Luckily that never happened, though at one point Jon provoked something, the guy retaliated... and security got all up in that other guy's grill and gave him the business while ignoring Jon. It's like in the NFL when the retaliation is what draws a personal foul penalty.
There were some disappointments; Direct Connect had to leave early, and Becca was a no-show... but the people we had there had a blast.
In the interest of sober driving, we packed into one car. Only problem... there were SEVEN of us, and we took Dustin's relatively small car. I was one of four people crammed in the back seat. Snapper had the worst of it, and by the time we arrived back in Smyrna, he said that his legs were nearly numb. Brutal.
Today my Dad and I went to the Titans/Texans game. That was a good time; Rich Karg, aka Slick (who made a cameo last night), was there with his sister (his parents have two seats next to ours), and it was fun to see Vince Young lead the Titans offense.
In a total Todd MacCullough moment, Rich began berating Titans corner Adam "Pacman" Jones. Rich said that he was going to throw a party the day that the Titans cut Pacman. I could've explained the detailed problems that cutting him would cause to his pro-rated signing bonus, but I decided to let it go.
So what happened? Jones promptly made his first career interception, then returned a punt for a touchdown. "I don't care; I still want them to cut Pacman," retorted a bemused Rich after Jones' TD punt return.
One last thing: Oregon State's win over Southern Cal yesterday pleased me to no end. Take that, Trojans!
|
