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by Lonnie Hodge
I was 42 in this pic'....Sheesh!
It is Memorial Day weekend and I have been nostaligic about times past. And one one of the things I have done is peruse the few remaining photos from my days in Japan. Most of them were lost to a fire subsequent to a 6.8 earthquake in my town. The one above is one of the handful left.
It was 1995 and time for the Red Feather Orphanage fund raiser and I was consumed with an idea: Get the Broncos organization to make good on a promise made almost thirty years earlier to a child who had suffered through his father being critically wounded in Vietnam and then lost a mother to grief and bewilderment shortly thereafter; it was the same young man who was sent to a State run home in Denver, Colorado while awaiting admission to Boys Town Nebraska. That teenager was me.
The Broncos made me their "Orphan of the Week" before an important game. They invited me to their Quaterback Club and promised me a cowboy hat and an autographed football as a souvenir. All I left with was chagrin for being such a fumbler with the fancy silverware and embarrassment at being ignored by everyone.
My anger subsided after a decade or two, but I never quit feeling cheated. When you have lost everything, the promise of something so priceless is itself immeasurable.
I never quit rooting for them and I threw Stupid Bowl parties for every one of their crushing defeats prior to their win in '98. Like any good fan, I was sure that my lack of cheering or visits to the toilet negatively influenced scores: I was partially to blame that they lost.
It turned out in 1995 that I would be returning from America and landing in Tokyo on the day of the American Bowl: an exhibition game meant to get the Japanese more interested in American Football. Hey, the Japanese will surrender Sumo and Baseball as top sports about the same time they elect a Gaijin to Parliament.
I wrote a letter to the Broncos in advance of the Bowl and asked them to make good on a promise nobody in their organization was left to even remember. And to my great delight they answered in the affirmative.
John Elway, Shannon Sharpe and the majority of the team signed am official ball and presented it to me prior to the game. I placed it gingerly in a plastic bag and held it near me like a child born prematurely; albeit, a thirty-year old premature child.
I rode home, after the Bronco's win, on a bus with other Americans who eyed the ball with great envy. I remember the smell ( I opened the bag MANY times) and feel of it even today.
My delight was to last for 48 hours: I donated the ball to the Red Feather auction for Japanese Orphans two days later. Nothing has ever pleased me more than to know that whatever money they raised would assist a child who might know circumstances not unlike my own.
I began cheering harder than ever after that and the Broncos won the Superbowl two years running.
Coincidence? I am open to offers from other teams!
Chinese Asia China Blog Memorial Day Lonnie Hodge Guangzhou WWII South China China Photos Japan China Denver Broncos The American Bowl John Elway Vietnam
Just to annoy the people who think I have too much time on my hands to take quizzes! :-) I found this one over at Pat Angello's site!
Have you ever been in a fantasy league? Yes...well, no...I guess it wasn't a real league. It was a bunch of people that my ex worked with and I was nominated to be the "secretary", the one who kept all the stats, because I was the only girl and guess what? I kicked all their asses and WON!!
What was the first sports jersey you ever owned? It was a Green Bay Packer Don Majkowski jersey. It didn't have his name on the back, just the 7 on each side. But I loved it!!!
10 favorite athletes:
Randy Gradishar
John Elway
Shannon Sharpe
Joe Sakic
Peter Forsberg
Stephane Yelle
Patrick Roy
Trevor Pryce
Rod Smith
Alex Tanguay
Three Athletes I secretly admire but am ashamed to admit it for fear of ridicule.
Sergei Fedorov
Ryan Smyth
Martin St Louis
Three people (outside family) you would pay to have coffee with:
Gwen Stefani
Kate Hudson
Rasputin
One Thing You Could Change if you Could:
My Dad's health - make it better.
So there you go. I liked this one because of the sports questions. So much fun!!!
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