Looking Out For Me

I probably should have left the unedited version of this photo. Unfortunately, it was a bit blurry and covered with little dust particles. In the lower part of the photo, you would see that Tammie had her fist clinched and looked as if she were about to take a swing at me. Fortunately for her little bro, she was just trying to scare me.

I love sports and used to spend all of my free time practicing them. Years ago, ABC's Wide World of Sports made every sport seem so exciting and I was certain that I would play professionally in something. Back then, the most prominent ones for me were basketball and baseball and I was constantly dribbling, shooting, hitting or pitching.

Although my father was a big football fan and played some in college, I was never that enamored with it. I was always kind of skinny and frankly, it seemed a bit risky to me. Of all the sports, however, I picked up football the quickest. My Dad taught me how to throw a spiral at a very young age and I really thought that I could catch just about anything thrown to me. I just didn't like to get hit and getting hit was something that is part and parcel to the game.

There were plenty of opportunites for me to play baseball, as Camillus had two organizations (West Genesee Athletic Club and the Optimist Club) that offered youth leagues. There was great word of mouth for these leagues and as I recall applications were passed out at school. This was not the case for basketball, however, and Tammie helped me get started with that.

During this time, she was a cheerleader for a team in the Optimist Club's basketball league. The kids on the team were her age, except for this tiny little kid who was the same age as me. Teams used to play an additional quarter and this guy would get in and really light things up. His father was the coach and Tammie talked to him about giving me a chance. I was so excited to get an opportunity to play with these big kids. Unfortunately, when I showed up with my black socks and scrawny self, I quickly realized that I was overmatched. The coach was great, however, and told me about this Saturday morning league and I had a ball playing there. In fact, I still think of myself as the greatest eleven-year-old shot blocker of 1976.

Ultimately, my basketball career didn't pan out and I "retired" at sixteen after my team was robbed in a playoff game. There was very little need for 5' 11" centers and I decided to concentrate on other things. I remain very grateful to Tammie for getting me started in basketball and appreciate how she took the time to encourage her shy and lonely little brother. Even though she has moved on from this life, I still believe that she helps me each and every day.