One great thing about being 75 years old is I can say whatever I want and there aren't too many folks alive today who can refute me or they're not interested so I can go on my merry way and tell people about the time I played in the Rose Bowl for the Univ. of Iowa.
I don't often talk about myself because of my humility but I'll go ahead anyway. It was on this January 1, 1968 day that I caught the winning touchdown against Stanford. It's something I'll never forget. Sports has always been important in my life. In high school I played football, basketball and baseball. With great humility I now announce I was first team all-state my senior year in each sport.
As I look back on my athletic career there is one particular game that stands out. A month after the Rose Bowl I'd picked up my catchers mitt and was on my way to baseball practice with the Hawkeye team. Unfortunately, on the way to the fieldhouse I was involved in a serious accident and suffered a compound fracture of my femur. Coach Schulz came to the hospital to visit me and sadly told me how much the team would miss me. I told him I'd be out on the field and I was. I played every game with a cast on my leg from my ankle to my upper thigh.
It was the last game of the season that is my most memorable moment. It was the bottom of the ninth and we were down to Wisconsin by a score of 5 to 2. We had loaded the bases with two outs and I came to the plate. On a 3 and 2 pitch I hit a long fly ball down the right field line and took off hopping. Believe it or not I hit an inside the park home run and we won the Big Ten Championship.
What a wonderful thrill for this kid from Boone, Iowa.
I was reading some stories about the guy who is occupying the Oval Office. Did you know, and I have to believe him, that he once had a job as an over the road truck driver with an 18 rigger delivering products across the country? He also finished in the top of his law school class. Some people say he actually graduated at the bottom of his class but who are you going to believe? Last week Joe Biden stated that he was a government liaison assigned to oversee negotiations between Egypt and Israel during the 1967 war. What a stud. This, in itself, should put him in the Bullshitters Hall of Fame. The truth is in 1967 Mr. Biden was in college. He didn't graduate until 1973. Well, no big deal. That's just 'Joe being Joe'.
I find it fascinating that when people lie, as did I and Joe, in this piece they still receive accolades for their perceived greatness.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "Once a liar always a liar?" For some reason politicians seem to have a monopoly on this statement. Where am I wrong?
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