Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and we can still play just as good as we used to…

This is a true story. The names of the teams, the place and date have been intentionally left out to preclude the possibility of our team trophy being taken away because of the negligible contribution of two old men.

For years I had this recurring dream. It was always the same. I am in my college locker room at half-time when my Coach comes up and grabs me by the shoulder and says, “Boy, am I glad to see you. We need you to suit up and help us out tonight!” He pulls me over to a locker with my name on it and says, “We have your old gear all ready for you!” I look and there is my old number 85 hanging up with all my equipment. After all these years the Coach needs me to suit up!

Each dream was identical. There was never any variation. I start suiting up, get taped, strap on my pads and pull on my jersey. The Coach fires us up with a last minute Knute Rockne speech. We lock hands as a team and shout our battle cry together. Then everybody is yelling, jumping up and down, banging the lockers with their forearms and helmets, hitting each others shoulder pads and storming out the door. Outside it is a crisp, clear, cold night with halos around the bright lights shining on the field. You can see your breath in the air. The crowd is screaming and stomping in the stands as we come running on to the grass. We run through our warm ups and drills in preparation for the coming sixty minute contest.

I run out and line up with the kickoff team. I am unbelievably pumped up and ready for battle. The Ref holds his hand up and we all lean forward in anticipation. The whistle blows and we charge off the line. Then at the moment the kicker makes contact with the ball I suddenly wake up!

I used to lie in bed with eyes closed tight, still as death, trying to fall back asleep. Desperately attempting to get back to the dream – back into the game, dying to make it past the kickoff, but it was no use. It was always the same. The Coach tells me he needs me, I get taped and dressed, run out under the lights, do warm-ups, line up for the kickoff, the game starts and I am wide awake. No matter what I did or how hard I tried – as soon as the ball was kicked I was awake for good. Nothing would bring back the game.