Every once in a while I read something that someone else has written and I think to myself, "Damn, I wish I would have written that."
Today I share with you a recent blogpost from fellow blogger "milosboyisat," who in real life grew up in the same Northeast Iowa town and graduated from the same small-town high school that I did.
CLICK HERE TO READ HIS EXCELLENT BLOG.
What other things do I have in common with milosboyisat? Well, we both love writing, we both attribute much of that love to the high school tutelage and encouragement of a very smart woman named Marilyn, and we both had the same high school football coach -- my dad.
Anyway, milosboyisat and IowaScribe have stomped over much of the same ground in our lifetimes.
Oelwein, Iowa is a great place to be from.
And I wish I would have written this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m glad this song stayed in my mind
By milosboyisat
Published Oct. 16, 2013
Re-posted here with permission
Led home by royalty and sirens
Silence. Headlights approaching. Against the backdrop of a clear, cold autumn night, the yellow school bus rounded another curve in the road.
Hit it, boys. From inside the boom box, you could imagine Freddie Mercury looking at Brian May and Roger Taylor, his fellow British punkers from Queen, and saying, ‘These cats are in a party mood and want to hear us again. Let’s oblige them.”
We were pumped and must’ve played ‘Another One Bites The Dust ‘ at least 50 times on the trek home that night. Every time, the keeper of the music hit Play, the lyrics became more powerful.
Steve walks warily down the street
The brim pulled way down low
And ain’t no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go
For nearly 61 miles, Freddie and the lads entertained this collective group of high school football players and their coaches on a country highway in Iowa celebrating a special night.
Another opponent had bit the dust, but this one was truly special. This one was for glory on the gridiron, a coach’s historic win and a Northeast Iowa Conference championship trophy by defeating the Cresco Cadets on their home turf.
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
It was Oct. 24, 1980. A coach would earn the 100th victory of his coaching career in dramatic fashion. The high school football team, by eventually finishing the regular season undefeated the next week, would duplicate a local feat that hadn’t been accomplished in over 50 years.
The magical ride ended two weeks later in the first playoff game. Things changed soon after that night. Freddie left us in November of 1991. Our future images of him would be reduced to MTV videos.
As the years went by, we bid farewell to teammates Shawn, Butch and Adam, all key parts of that special team. There would be no football reunions to gather and look back at the season. Our school never formally recognized this special record, which has never been broken.
Are you ready hey, are you ready for this
Are you standing on the edge of your seat
Truth be told, I was one of the benchwarmers on the team, designated as the guy who chased assistant coach Ryan’s empty candy wrappers onto the field during windy games. As editor of the school paper, my contribution was my No. 2 pencil. I arrived on the team my junior year, knowing my senior year would be something historical.
Coach Grob, the head man, gave me a special shout out at the team banquet by singling me out as the best school newspaper reporter in the Northeast Iowa Conference. I doubt the coach scoured the other school newspapers in the conference for insight. However, it was a compliment that made me feel like a part of the team.
Yes, the whole town was pumped and listened to the game. Wilma, sensing the historic significance of the event, grabbed a blank cassette tape and stuck it in a tape player next to the radio in the kitchen to record the battle, including Adam’s game-winning kick-off return with 1:09 to play. We listened to to the tape the next night, and, in the background, there is a voice caught up in the moment. “Look at that sonuvab@#$% run,’ she yelled. Ya, that was my mom adding a blooper moment.
The British lads ended the bus concert in the high school parking lot as the local fire department escorted the team into town towards a large group of fans waiting to join in the celebration.
There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
Is he ready for you
I’m standing on my own two feet
Maybe at the time, it was a lame thought, but on that night, there were a lot of boys standing together on a mountaintop as one because the last opponent in the road to the conference crown had truly bit the dust.
Today I share with you a recent blogpost from fellow blogger "milosboyisat," who in real life grew up in the same Northeast Iowa town and graduated from the same small-town high school that I did.
CLICK HERE TO READ HIS EXCELLENT BLOG.
What other things do I have in common with milosboyisat? Well, we both love writing, we both attribute much of that love to the high school tutelage and encouragement of a very smart woman named Marilyn, and we both had the same high school football coach -- my dad.
Anyway, milosboyisat and IowaScribe have stomped over much of the same ground in our lifetimes.
Oelwein, Iowa is a great place to be from.
And I wish I would have written this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m glad this song stayed in my mind
By milosboyisat
Published Oct. 16, 2013
Re-posted here with permission
Led home by royalty and sirens
Silence. Headlights approaching. Against the backdrop of a clear, cold autumn night, the yellow school bus rounded another curve in the road.
Hit it, boys. From inside the boom box, you could imagine Freddie Mercury looking at Brian May and Roger Taylor, his fellow British punkers from Queen, and saying, ‘These cats are in a party mood and want to hear us again. Let’s oblige them.”
We were pumped and must’ve played ‘Another One Bites The Dust ‘ at least 50 times on the trek home that night. Every time, the keeper of the music hit Play, the lyrics became more powerful.
Steve walks warily down the street
The brim pulled way down low
And ain’t no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go
For nearly 61 miles, Freddie and the lads entertained this collective group of high school football players and their coaches on a country highway in Iowa celebrating a special night.
Another opponent had bit the dust, but this one was truly special. This one was for glory on the gridiron, a coach’s historic win and a Northeast Iowa Conference championship trophy by defeating the Cresco Cadets on their home turf.
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
It was Oct. 24, 1980. A coach would earn the 100th victory of his coaching career in dramatic fashion. The high school football team, by eventually finishing the regular season undefeated the next week, would duplicate a local feat that hadn’t been accomplished in over 50 years.
The magical ride ended two weeks later in the first playoff game. Things changed soon after that night. Freddie left us in November of 1991. Our future images of him would be reduced to MTV videos.
As the years went by, we bid farewell to teammates Shawn, Butch and Adam, all key parts of that special team. There would be no football reunions to gather and look back at the season. Our school never formally recognized this special record, which has never been broken.
Are you ready hey, are you ready for this
Are you standing on the edge of your seat
Truth be told, I was one of the benchwarmers on the team, designated as the guy who chased assistant coach Ryan’s empty candy wrappers onto the field during windy games. As editor of the school paper, my contribution was my No. 2 pencil. I arrived on the team my junior year, knowing my senior year would be something historical.
Coach Grob, the head man, gave me a special shout out at the team banquet by singling me out as the best school newspaper reporter in the Northeast Iowa Conference. I doubt the coach scoured the other school newspapers in the conference for insight. However, it was a compliment that made me feel like a part of the team.
Yes, the whole town was pumped and listened to the game. Wilma, sensing the historic significance of the event, grabbed a blank cassette tape and stuck it in a tape player next to the radio in the kitchen to record the battle, including Adam’s game-winning kick-off return with 1:09 to play. We listened to to the tape the next night, and, in the background, there is a voice caught up in the moment. “Look at that sonuvab@#$% run,’ she yelled. Ya, that was my mom adding a blooper moment.
The British lads ended the bus concert in the high school parking lot as the local fire department escorted the team into town towards a large group of fans waiting to join in the celebration.
There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
Is he ready for you
I’m standing on my own two feet
Maybe at the time, it was a lame thought, but on that night, there were a lot of boys standing together on a mountaintop as one because the last opponent in the road to the conference crown had truly bit the dust.
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