-------Some people just
can't seem to stand on the curb and watch as the big parade passes
by them. They have to get in on the act while the getting is good.
You can't help but admire them for choosing action over idea - fulfillment
over wishes - life over nothingness! Homer "Bud" DeWolfe
is certainly one of them!
-------In the midst of a high school
intramural flag football season, my team found itself without the
service of Bud, our biggest and best lineman, due to a broken ankle
he received while playing basketball. With a plaster cast up to
his knee, he showed up at practice a few days before a big game.
He watched and coached from the sideline, wanting to play in the
worst way.
-------Before the practice was a half
hour old, he began to throw and catch the ball. My attention was
drawn his direction as I heard a powerful thud followed by uproarious
laughter from several of the players. He demonstrated again the
feat that had amused me teammates so, punting the football with
the cast. How he managed to swing his leg with such velocity is
a mystery to me, but I'd have been proud to have one of my healthy-legged
punts travel so far.
_____At practice the following day
he continued his antics, and by day's end had challenged us all
to a fifty-yard dash. We graciously spotted him a ten-yard head
start and some of us were able to barely edge him out at the finish
line.
-------Game day arrived! We showed
up in our jerseys a bit early and noticed an attractive lady jogging
around the public track that surrounded our playing field. Feeling
a whimsical urge, we decided to quietly fall in behind her as she
passed, running single file in her lane. We wondered how long we
could go unnoticed, and might have made an entire lap if not for
the laughter that was inevitable when we noticed Bud, on crutches,
keeping up the pace at the rear of the line.
-------When the game began, Bud was
on the sideline chomping at the bit. As the opposing team racked
up the points it was all he could take and he trotted into the game,
cast in tow. The look on the faces of all those on the field was
priceless. He took his place in the interior of the defensive line,
and did his best to reach the ball carrier on each play. Several
plays after he entered the game, the opposing running back made
his way through a hole in the line and was off to the races. He
met little opposition as all but one member of our defense was literally
rolling on the ground in laughter. I will never forget the sight
of their running back sprinting forty yards to the end zone in a
frenzy. Hot on his heels was a boy twice his size sporting a full
leg cast.
-------Bud's season ended the following
day when he had his routine doctor's office visit. Seeing the worn
out remains of a cast on the bottom of his foot, the doctor found
a creative way to shackle our fearless lineman with his new cast.
He might have put a muzzle on Bud's mobility, but there wasn't a
doctor alive who could quell his determination.
© 2004 - The Trill House
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