Ahhhh…the memories I have of this area as a wee child. After visiting this little plaza to do some shopping last week, my mind drifted back…way back to my childhood when the land was just a barren field. Every Saturday afternoon, us kids would meet here and play our favourite game….football. We’d all want to be one of our heroes from our home team in the CFL, and thanks to a bunch of ten year old imaginations, we’d each transform into one of those boatmen.
I remember it like yesterday. VWVW1122 would always be the first at the field. He was a great punter and had a personal best, 43 yard field goal. As he kicked that ball he pictured himself as the great Alexandre Dupuis. Aside from his punts, his kickoffs were amazing. Almost without fail, he’d pin the opposition way down deep in their own zone to start their possession.
When our quarterback came on the field, the imagined crowd cheered. After all, this was the reason they came….. to get a glimpse of the marvel, Geob.o.b., who managed to accumulate an average of 34 points in each quarter, all the while pretending to be her favourite player Aaron Berry. While in the huddle, QTEEEE transformed herself as the flashy player Shane Williams-Rhodes. She loved to play with Kenny Shaw (who was actually, simply in the mind of the wide receiver DougyB). Together the two of them typically combined for 19 catches per game.
QTEEEE and DougyB snagged catch after catch from the cannon arm of Geob.o.b. Only 8 times in the entire summer did they fail to get a first down.
We had fantastic times down here in the old makeshift football field. In our minds, the crowds cheered us on and the big band played every time we made a big time play. Whenever Whyteman showed up for our Saturday game, he’d always be wearing Corrigall on the back of his blue and white sweater. During our time on the field he insisted that we call him Jim, completely wrapped up in our collective fantasy. “Jim” was a fierce competitor standing on the line, nose to nose with either of the Mississauga Misfits who came to play. He always played at the top of his game, no matter how cold or hot it was. Even during the extreme heat back in the summer of 79, “Jim” dug his cleats in and never held back on delivering the heavy hits.
Us kids could always count on flinhi showing up to play every weekend. In fact, he’d be there an hour early, every single time with the game ball tucked under his arm. He’d inevitably be pacing back and forth with VWVW1122, anxiously waiting for the rest of the team to show up. Once everyone arrived, flinhi would open up his backpack and pull out his sweater that had been lovingly washed and pressed after last week’s extravaganza. Pulling it over his head, the transformation was complete as he proudly sported the name Williams on his back. I’m sure if Trevardo Williams had been able to see the little scrawny kid wearing his jersey, he would have got quite a chuckle out of it.
Dancer Man wasn’t allowed to play on the home team for a long time, because he didn’t have a uniform. Although his heart was with the boatmen, he had to play against them. After saving up his allowance for almost a year, he was finally able to run out to the local sporting store and get an authentic jersey of our beloved home team. When old man Porter at the counter asked him what name he wanted on the back of the Jersey, Dancer man didn’t hesitate and quickly answered, quite matter of factly, with “Michael Carter……who else?”
Most Saturday’s Chris Baker convinced his parents to drive him down for the big game in our makeshift arena. Golly…. he was a fast sprinter and probably the best wide receiver among any of us. His speed made him quite deserving and justified to have Brian Jones’ name printed on the back of his uniform.
Those days were magical. Somehow the blue and white home team always managed to win. That’s not to say that the kids that came dressed in green weren’t competitive. In fact they had a phenomenal quarterback in CuDees. She could toss a ball 46 yards without even getting her foot planted. Her favourite receiver of course was RunGraigRun who did just that! You could pretty well rely on him getting at least a couple of major scores each Saturday.
When the Robson Family played defense against us, my gosh….we were in for a battle. Especially when they filled the full back position with Water Wisp. They covered us pretty tightly, but we eventually managed to solve the dilemma that they presented. There was 1 time that they even sacked our quarterback.
We were always a little puzzled on how to detain the very very speedy tandum of aimoniisi and nickjonh. They were perpetually waiting for the ball on kickoffs and even ran one back once for an 84 yard return! It didn’t matter though because as I said, the home team heroes always managed to somehow prevail and win the Saturday game in front of that roaring crowd….at least in our vivid imaginations.
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