The George Bowl

I know it wasn’t the Rose Bowl or even the Bluebonnet Bowl (whatever happened to that one).  We, certainly,  never would have made it into the current NCAA Bowl Championship playoff. But wow did we have fun.

Some background. I come from a fairly large family. I had three older brothers and an older sister. They, and I, added fifteen to the next generation. That generation got married and added children of their own.  As a big family, we got together for the major holidays. One of those holidays was New Years Day.  There was food! There were games! There was football!! The George Bowl!

Think of the Kennedys and their famous touch football games. Now think of a less wealthy and less good looking version. That was us.

That holiday was always spent at my brother Gary’s Walnutport home. The venue added to the allure of our touch football game.  His back yard was our field. It was long like a football stadium rectangle. So far so good. It was on a fairly steep slant. Not so good.  After a few years of playing you knew to never position yourself at the bottom of the slant. No one wants to start a pass pattern running uphill!

We played no matter the weather. I remember games played in pouring rain. I remember playing during a snow storm. I remember playing when the field was mostly ice. Those bad weather games helped me perform better because it had the tendency to slow everyone down! I even had a football nickname. I was known as the Little Blind Boy. I was called that because of my glasses that turned dark in the sun.  I guess that was before lens changing glasses were common.

The George Bowl was played for at least a decade. I think my oldest living brother, Jim, was the first to drop out and not play at all. Soon after that my next oldest brother, Gary, started playing quarterback for both sides, to avoid having to run.  Soon we all got older and fatter and lazier and the George Bowl came to an end. But those memories remain, especially on New Years Day. Good times. Good times.

I hope you all have your own New Years Day traditions and that you continue them as long as you can.  Those traditions, and family, are what life is all about. Happy 2020 everyone!!!!