Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage,
This I tell ya brother, you can't have one without the other.
It all starts with Pee Wee football... Little League... U12 Soccer. Girls? Where? Who cares? Oh sure, I see Susie over there on the sidelines with her pom poms.. She lives down the street, younger sister of Huey, our starting center. The only reason I know her is, 'cause if we gotta odd number in any kinda game we're playing in the cul-de-sac, she fills in. Really, she ain't got too bad'a arm, dare I say, "For a .." NO, don't you dare say it. K, won't, but, you know.
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage,
It's an institute you can't disparage,
Ask the local gentry, and they will say is element'ry.
Well.. . not really Elementary, scroll to that paragraph up thar, girls ain't been discovered yet, ya hear? I mean (Please, PLEASE don't start sentences with "I mean", drives me batty).. I mean, now that we're on the JV and playing on Monday nights... well... mebbe we KINDA peek at girls every now and then, but hey, SPORTS be #1. Say, I'm gonna get my haircut like Chuck. I want some jeans like Tommy, he looks cool. I seen Julie staring at his butt.. I want that too. OH YEAH COACH, I'm paying attention, I know, I know, I did a down-and-out when I shoulda done a down-and out and-up, my bad, never happen again... gee whiz, I never noticed she's only three lockers away from me.
Try, try, try to separate them,
It's an illusion.
Try, try, try and you will only come
to this conclusion.
Varsity baby. Hell to the yeah. Friday night lights. I be somebody now. Think she'll notice? My voice is getting deeper. I ain't afeared to sing the songs on the radio now when we drive around. Well, except that AC DC dude... He sounds like he never got outta 9th grade, jiminy, thunderstruck. Carla, ya wanna go the the bowling alley and split a 300 burger and fries?
"And now, the starting lineups... at guard, #22......" That be me (the HS guy).. Jenny, we've been datin' like three weeks now. What if I was ta giveya my class ring and you could spin some yarn around it, wear it, and who knows, mebbe love me til the end of time? Let me think on it......
And now.. College. Decisions, decisions. All these friends, classmates, sitting in the bleachers.. Infronta me an MU hat, KU and K-State hats. And then, I know Becky, Amy and Sally are watching too, better get me a hat for each onea them. I mean, I've done had pizza with all of 'em. I reach for the Sally hat... pick it up.. nah, put it back down over here.. then.. Becky.. should I try it on? Nope, I'm going with the Amy hat.. Yessir, if the hat fits, wear it! (Amy runs up, hugs the HS guy, it's a deal, he ain't even gotta do a prom-vite, fairy tale ending, happily ever after.)
WHAT? You're decommitting? Yeah, I know.. we had 'this thing'.. but then.. we aren't officially engaged or anything.. .I feel really lucky, being showered with all this attention. I'm leaning this-a-way now, sorry.... Ahhh chihuahua.......
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage,
Dad was told by mother
You can't have one
You can't have none
You can't have one without the other.
All better. Pride is hard to swallow but it will go down..... Saweeeeeet! I'm back in the saddle again! Parties with bonfires.. s'mores.. studying together, NoDoz all-nighters. Coffee at Denny's before exams. This is getting comfy, baby yawn.
HUH?..., whadda ya mean you're entering the transfer portal? Yeah, I'm sorry.... it's just a feeling I get. In the backa my mind I always wondered "what if?".. you know, back in our hometown, and I figured I'd better go home while I've still got some eligibility left. (I wonder deep down, was it.. NIL money.. like, 'back home' is upper-middle class, a better life? I get it... damnit darnit.)
TO THE PRO's BABY! Made it! Sure, only the 12th round, but hey.. we gots enough bucks now for a 4 bedroom, 3 bath house! The years, they pile up. Wins, losses. Some years better than others. Occasional trips to the IR. Two rugrats. Kiddygarten. PTA meetings. Road trips. Big game comin' up, we'll play catch later, promise.
Whaddaya mean it's over? We gotta contract ain'twe?
Coach? My outright release? REALLY?
Dayum. I detect some latent hostility in this blog.
Eh mebbe. Trust me, I see the good. I see them two happily ever after that live at Green Acres. Them two that have navigated the paths around that one lake, bowl with hedge apples for goin' on fitty years. More power to 'em, and CONGRATS.
Sadly, everything ends. Some ever so beautifully, witness Jimmy and Ros. Just look at Patrick and Brittany, way back when to the yarn was wrapped on that class ring, now, two gems, Sterling and Bronze. Perfect. That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it. Some end yucky. Ne'er the same. New towns, new schools. Mixed families. Inlaws, outlaws. This Christmas with this family, Thanksgiving with that family. Love, I think, is forever. Sleeping, living arrangements, not so much.
Op-ed. Victor, this is a blog, be for real. Well, OK, but Google tells me an Op-ed is "a short column that represents the strong opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted audience." You mean like Cupid bow and arrow targets? Eh, I dunno, kinda I guess.
Mebbe I didn't get enough sleep. Color me a grumpy old man. Mebbe I just don't like change. Sports are different now. What usedta be "I can't wait for our American Legion Ballgame Friday night.. hey, it's football season, hand me them shoulder pads.. Swish, basketball Jones is next."............. is now:
127 baseball games a year. Gotta play just one sport. Mom, where we playin' today? Pack lunch and dinner, we've got five games today. No soup, or football, for you.
Then, ya get to college. The coach leaves the next year, what's-a-college has better lockerrooms, facilities, NIL, all maybe fancy for I ain't playin' enough, I'm outta here. Ain't no penalty, I can play at State this upcoming year.
Marriage. Some, not all. All too often, transfer portal, decommitment. NIL (as in 'nil, no money' happens.) Be eligible right away though. Yes, but what about the kids.. their schools.. where they live.. Setting an example for them?
Sure, it takes two to tango. Play catch. I think 'give up' happens all too easily.
I think I'll sit on the sidelines from here on out. But... but... but.. (starting a sentence with but is so aggravating, burns my butt so to speak.) MAN, you really are grumpy! Hey, you've got some eligibility left. Besides that, you'll now never getta use that infamous pickup line. Yeah? Which? You know, you walkup to the lady, say "You look just like my 6th wife." Aghast, she replies "Goodness gracias man, how many times you been married?" "Five."
Nah, I'm don e. But, but, but.. er, I mean (new sentence).. You've still got your Covid year of eligibility left?
I DO find comfort the vast majority stay four years (or, a lifetime). Sacrifice, togetherness, counseling (if needed, happens). Kids go to the same schools. Games are won and lost, always cheered though (Root root root for the 'home' team). Life is never perfect, but, it's perfect for us all.
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage,
Somewhere amongst these dadgum almost 3,000 blogs, I know I've toldya I should be rich. Me, with hella NIL money. Back in the dinosaur days, family before me owned the biggest buggy-making outfit West of the Mississippi. Then......... they invented the dadgum car.
Baby you can drive my car. Wanna play catch? Me and Al played high school football. You still here Peg?
Love, Victurd
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