Good Monday morning to you. After a weekend of fishing for speckled trout and enjoying the sun in the Florida Gulf, the realities of Monday morning are hitting home fast. I hope you are muddling through successfully.
Over the weekend, there was a story that flew somewhat under the sports radar nationally. It's one of the more intriguing things I've seen in my life - maybe you saw some coverage of it.
Back in 1993 in Eastern Pennsylvania, two schools, Phillipsburg High School and Easton Area High School battled to a 7-7 tie on Thanksgiving weekend in one of the most heated high school rivalries in all of America. Back in those days there was no overtime rule in effect. For years the two close-knit communities have argued over the contest, disputing who really had the better team.
Late last year, a group from both schools got the idea to stage a rematch - more than 15 years later. Gatorade heard about it and decided to sponsor the event. They enlisted the Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli to serve as honorary captains and suddenly we had a football game. How hyped were the communities? They sold more than 10,000 tickets in the first 90 minutes.
The schools had 12 weeks to round up former players and get in game shape. Could you get ready in 12 weeks? I'd probably need 12 months. Watching the video (see link below), you have to be impressed with how in shape many of these guys are to be 15 years removed from their last game. For the last 12 weeks this has been the talk of the town and it culminated with the game yesterday.
For the record, Phillipsburg defeated Easton 27-12 to claim bragging rights. You may remember the movie, Best of Times where they did this exact thing. Only in real life, the story is always better. How many times do you get a second chance in life?