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PART II, continued
April 10th to April 16th
April 10, 2005
Well, it’s official.
(My mistake. Allow me to redo that lead.)
HOLY SHIT! IT’S OFFICIAL! THE FUCKING BULLS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!
Ah. Much better.
Yes, that’s correct: the 2004-05 Chicago Bulls are heading to the playoffs.
The Bulls clinched a playoff spot tonight, beating the Raptors 110-97 in front of the home crowd. They’ve been in the top eight for the past three months or so, and as they’ve played excellent basketball since the 0-9/4-15 start, it’s been clear that they were going to end up in the postseason. Still, until you can open the paper and see…
x-Chicago Bulls
…it’s really not a playoff season. Now it is.
Oh how I love that little “x.” We took it for granted during the dynasty years, partially because we were always in the playoffs, and partially because it was often not an “x” but rather a “z,” signifying a team that has clinched home-court, and since we got that “z” somewhere around the All-Star break, it just wasn’t a big deal. But to see it now…
GODDAMN-is-this-exciting! Man, what a truly great feeling. This is it! A huge step forward in a season that has been one itself. The Bulls’s last playoff game was “Jordan’s Last Shot,” and then six long, agonizing years, and now this. Just thinking about these Bulls taking the floor in Game 1 of their first round series against whoever…man, I’m smiling uncontrollably just thinking about it.
With the large availability of the internet, a displaced fan is never without information on his favorite teams. I’ve been able to follow the Bulls lo these past two months without much trouble. But being away from home does affect the sports fan in one very crucial area: the excitement wave.
OH MY FREAKIN’ LORDY! THE BULLS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS! YIPPEEEE!!!
When your team is in the midst of an exciting season, the momentum builds with the fans just as much as with the players. This is particulary true in a season in which the team exceeds expectations. When Northwestern was building towards a Rose Bowl berth during the fall of 1995, Evanston (and Chicago) was abuzz. The team’s popularlity grew, and by the end of the season there was purple in every store front and restaurant on the North Shore. There’s an incredible feeling of community and connection during these times, as the people of a city or town are all being taken along for the same joy ride. Our lives, emotions, and schedules are all being affected by the same sports team, and thus we are more intimately connected to each other than we are otherwise.
Alas, this feeling is all but lost when you’re thousands of miles away. Along with not being able to watch the team on a regular basis, not being able to take part in milestones like the one that was reached tonight, the hardest part of being on the road is missing that wave of excitement and watching the fan momentum meter move up and up and up.
April 14, 2005
Today is Meghan’s birthday, and I am grateful that she has agreed to spend it with me.
Of course, she really did not have much of a choice at this point, but the fact that she embarked upon this road trip knowing full well that she would probably be spending her birthday without the rest of her friends and family speaks a lot to her dedication to the mission. And to that end, as the boyfriend, I have taken it upon myself to give her a wonderful day.
After finally clearing the storm and getting to Denver, Meg and I were treated to a great gathering of North Star folk. We spent a night at the home of Steve and Corrie Hitchens, Steve being another camp guy such as myself whose nickname has usurped his real name, so much so that Corrie, who met him at camp, calls him “Hitch.” So it was dinner at Hitch and Corrie’s, with Jeff and Kim McCormack coming as well, and bringing their newborn son Lake, who will soon experience his first summer at North Star. Musch was also around, as he attends the University of Denver, and so the eight of us had a wonderful meal together and a great night of talk.
After that it was back onto 70, going east, until we arrived back in Lawrence, our unofficial home. It had been over two months since we first set foot on KU’s campus, and returned. MJ was thrilled to have us, as was Mankameyer. As it turns out, MJ left this morning to go to Bloomington for the Little 500, the famous bike race immortalized in the 1979 film Braking Away. So Mike’s going out to hang with some of his buddies, and we have decided to join him…
…though not yet, as today is Meghan’s birthday, and as such we did not want to be on the road. Instead, we stayed in Lawrence; I made dinner, a big pot of spaghetti, and Meghan made her wonderful garlic bread, and we sat together and watched the new episode of The O.C., which is fantastically vapid and addictive like Pixie Stix. As a new-aged soap, it has all of the superficial aspects of a sports team, with lots of Updates and Power Plays and Surprising Developments, not to mention a myriad of chicks who are balls-out hotties, including a very hot lesbian who is hooking up with Marissa in her latest attempt to rebel against her mother. What a tramp.
April 16, 2005
“That’s such bullshit!”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean what do I mean? I mean it’s bullshit! You know it’s bullshit. I know it’s bullshit. Just admit that it’s bullshit.”
I smile. “I admit nothing.”
…though I really should, because as Luke and I both know, me hitting a home run with Jon Lieber into the wind at Wrigley is absolute gar-bage…but that’s the fun of video games.
It is Saturday, the day of the famous Little 500 bike race, (which headlines the nearly as famous Little 500 crazy party weekend), and Luke and I are taking a break from the endless partying and general collegiate debauchery of the day for a game of High Heat Baseball 2003. We got hooked on this game when it came out, and the three of us—me, Luke, and Ric—played pretty much non-stop, even as much as Madden.
Meghan is in Indy. She and I popped up there last night, saying hey to my buddy Robby Dennis and his girlfriend Karoline, and Meghan’s friend Danny. Robby and Karoline started dating around the same time that Meghan and I did, and they’ve been living together since January, when Karoline moved up to Indy for school. They’re pretty much inseperable, have been since they got together, and it’s nice to know that even as Meg and I move along at a fairly excelerated pace, there’s always Robby and Kay a few steps ahead, leading the way. They’ve even gotten over the whole Jewish-Catholic hump. We’ve got a bit of a pool going among our friends as to when It will finally happen. Won’t be long now. Creepy…
As for Danny, he is Meghan’s friend from Camp Echo, and she did not get to see him much last night, so this morning she asked if I would be offended if she went to hang with him for the day, and as I knew that I would be fully submerged in all kinds of male-dominated activities, I hugged her and kissed her and wished her well.
And that means one thing: it’s video game time.
Our fathers had baseball cards; we had video games. And that’s not to say that we did not have cards as well. We did. They were fun, and we were dedicated to them, but I suspect that they held a greater value to my father and those of his generation, because they were a more tangible connection with their heroes. When you’ve got an Ernie Banks card and a Stan Musial card and a Mickey Mantle card and a Bob Gibson card, you can imagine forming a little team, your cards vs. your buddy’s cards. We could do that as well, but for purposes of childhood ownership fantasies, video games are to us what cards were to my dad.
Of course, fantasy has now begun to overtake video games. Sure we still play Madden—everybody does—but the thrill of drafting a team of real people and pitting them against your friend’s hand picked group of real people is too appealing to pass up, and video games have now, in some respects, been pushed to the back of the closet…
Still, video games are a delight, as they are simultaneously forms of direct competition and of fantasy. And of course there is always the joy of turning your real-life, struggling, down-in-the-dumps team into a power house. Turning Rex, Train, and Terrell into Pro Bowlers…gotta love it.
But that’s in the Franchise mode, which makes up only half of the video game junkie’s experience. The other half is the single game experience, one that can be enjoyed at any moment with little preparation apart from a bit of warmup, which is necessary if you haven’t picked up a controller in a while, or if you get sha-lacked in your first game back.[1]
“What! What?!! Now that’s bullshit!”
Luke laughs. “What are you talking about? That was totally realistic.”
“Totally realistic? You digging out an infield single with Frank Thomas is totally realistic?”
“He can move, buddy. Don’t be fooled.”
“The man runs like he has a piano strapped to his back.”
“Grand piano or regular?”
“You’re a dick.”
“So are you.”
Video games, baby. Video games.
******
And later…
In the night time, walking campus with my camp buddy Zach Slovin. It’s my first time back to Bloomington since nearly graduating last May,[2] and now the two of us are out seeing the sights. Slovin’s a freshman, and we have similar sensibilities, so I’m pointing out all of the bars that he will probably like, and as I do I’m amazed at how excited I’m getting at seeing some of these spots. I mean, I liked Bloomington. Liked it a lot. But it was never mine. So now, a year later, walking around and recommending places, seeing all these spots again on a warm and beautiful night, and on Little 5…well, it’s all very cool, much more exciting than I would have guessed. It’s all seeped into me…
And then we get to it:
“So, you’re definitely not coming back this summer?”
He sighs. “Definitely.”
“What’s up?”
“Gotta get a Job.” He laughs. “You know, a job-job.”
“But we need you man! We need your horn!”
“Can’t do it.”
“But the play!”
“I know.”
But that’s jokey-selfishness. And so I switch. “Well, we’ll miss you.”
“I’ll visit.”
“You’d better.”
“Where do you think you’ll be this year?”
“Don’t know. Probably back on the Ridge. I’d really like Pine Manor, though I guess you can say that about anyone.”
“Sure.”
“Lots of kids, though, so if ever there’s a year to get me off the R-I-D-G-E, it’s now. Not that I don’t love it there, but you know.”
“I do.”
Camp is divided into three villages: the Juniors, Intermediates, and Seniors. When leaving the town of Hayward and heading towards camp, you take highway 77 east to Muphy Boulevard, Murphy north to Boys Camp Road, and Boys Camp east under the totem pole arches and into camp. Once through the arches, you are on Villa Road and in the Senior Village, nicknamed “The Villa.” Hence the road. You then continue in, with Mike Hall and the tennis courts on your left and the lake on your right. Up ahead is the Lodge, and as Villa Road curves to the left, you stay along the lake to your right, and as you pass the Lodge you get to the Junior Village. Walk through there, and you reach the J-Village washhouse, which sits just at the base of a long esker known as “The Ridge.” The six cabins of the Intermediate Village sit atop the Ridge in a single-file manner, and indeed the I-Village is commonly referred to as the Ridge. Juniors, Intermediates, Seniors…J-Village, Ridge, Villa.
There are five cabins in the Villa: S-4, S-3, S-2, S-1, and Pine Manor. The PM kids are 15, the J-1 kids are nine, and everything works into the middle from there. Sometimes there are two cabins of 15-year-olds, in which case S-4 is dropped and we get cabin Pine and cabin Manor. Rarely there are three, with S-4 and S-3 being dropped and a third group called McCabin, because the S-3 cabin has a large McDonald’s ‘M’ hanging outside the front door. This summer, we are actually slated to have an unprecedented fourth PM cabin, and I have zero idea as to what that will be called. We shall see.
For returning counselors, Pine Manor is the dream gig. These are the oldest kids, which means that your job as a counselor is vastly different than when you are dealing with 12 or 13-year-olds. These kids are a year away from being counselors; they know what they’re doing at camp, so it’s not like you’re spending a lot of time trying to motivate them to shower or use proper table manners. You’re hanging out, having good conversations, and being more of a guide than a babysitter. But camaraderie is hardly the only appealing aspect to being with the oldest kids. Like being the mother of a living god, there are lots of perks to being a Pine Manor counselor, including the three day Duluth trip during the last week of the summer. But perhaps the biggest deal of all is the Canadian.
Each cabin at camp takes a camping trip. These trips are geared towards team building and respect for the outdoors, and of course they go a long way towards making campers feel like North Star is home. Just as returning home to the coziness of YOUR bed is a huge thrill at the end of the summer, there is a great enjoyment and satisfaction in returning to your cabin after sleeping in a tent in the woods. The trips grow in length and in difficulty as campers get older. They breakdown as follows:
All of the trips are fun, but like the Rose Bowl, the Canadian is the Granddaddy Of Them All. Most of us did it as campers; my Canadian experience was tremendously fulfilling despite the fact that, as one of the two smallest campers in my cabin, I was forced into the deadweight gig quite often due to our uneven numbers. Still, it was a powerful experience, and I find great motivation in the possibility of going back to Canada as a counselor and taking on the challenge once more, albeit with a bit more personal action…
But even with four PM cabins this summer, it is no guarantee that I will get a spot. In fact, there’s probably more interest this summer than in most, since everybody knows that there are two more groups than usual. Additionally, the four cabins are filled with great kids; I’m really excited to see this group lead camp, because so many of them are true North Star guys, guys who love camp and, more importantly, love being a part of the North Star community. This is a huge selling point: Pine Manor is always a heavily sought-after spot, but this group in particular is the kind that makes returners excited to be involved. I am just one of many returners who will be angling for Pine Manor; I’d have to guess that Ari, Heldman, Glick, Hamer, A.J., Shmerling, and Byron will all be going for it, and in all likelihood there are only two lead counselor spots left, since Dan will take one and Jacob, in all likelihood, will take the other. These are all my best friends, and no matter which one of us ends up there I will be happy. But there’s no point in saying otherwise: I desperately want to be a Pine Manor counselor this summer.