a child of Ohio experiences growing up. Milestones by which the passing of time is marked, even though it moved so much more slowly back then. The holiday season…Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. The first snow fall of the winter…and the first snowman and the first snow day off school. The dreariness of the cold winter drags on and on until Opening Day. Will the Reds do well this year? And spring progresses, school lets out. Summer blissfully progresses punctuated by the fireworks of the Fourth and the state and county fairs. The dreaded first day of school each fall. New school clothes. Football season starts…consuming most the populace. Then more often than not the disappointment of not watching the Reds go all the way. (though ’75 and ’76 were good years though I far was too young to remember them…and 1990 was nice as well) Autumn sets in, leaves fall, and festivals abound…for any good reason we can think of. And then sometime around the first frost the event that is the cornerstone for any God fearing Ohioan’s calender rolls by. And I don’t mean deer season…though I suppose that comes close. I can remember still, my father and grandfather sitting in the living room…focused intently on the screen. These were days before the digital effects wizardry, virtual stat and score boards. Instant replay was around to a point, but to truly know what was going on one had to actually pay attention. And I can remember the alternating triumphant cries and virulent curses hurled at Bruce and Cooper for their genius and their ineptitude. And I’m sure they both yelled at Woody when he lost (and he did his share of yelling too) They never got the chance to yell at Jim. They had no love for Bo, may they all rest in peace. And so its a small shame they aren’t around still…to see their favorite team beat its most hated rival for the fifth time in six years. They would have hooped and hollered and maybe even danced around a bit. Well…maybe not danced. But they would have been really, really happy.
There are many things….
