We Held a 2-1 lead, then...

It was 1964 and we were sophomores in college.  The only Modified Sports Competition (MSC) on TV was a black and white program called Home Run Derby.  Computers were primarily vacuum tube systems that occupied large rooms.   Information was input via ticker tapes or punch cards.  You had to know Fortran, Algol or some other weird language to communicate with them.  Therefore, Fantasy Football was nearly impossible with the use of a slide rule and steno pad.  It was about ten years before the TV show "Superstars" would be aired.   But, we had already invented our own version.

Bobby Katz and I had befriend Frank Stahl of Ohio and Mike Johnson from Nederland, Texas.  All of us had been high school athletes and still had the competitive juices flowing.  We developed our own version of superstars and picked teams to compete.  The competition would consist of 10 events, some modified (field goal kicking) and some regular sports (golf) and some track and field events among others.

Mike and I formed one team and Bobby and Frank, The Yank, the other.   After the first three events of golf, bowling and 2 on 2 basketball, Mike and I held a 2-1 lead.  The fourth event was the one that would make history and be talked about in the annals of MSC for years to come.

#4. HITCHHIKING:

The plan for the hitchhiking contest was designed such that each team would be dropped off in Winnie, Texas at a designated spot at 1:00pm on consecutive Sundays.   They had to get to Alice Keith Park in Beaumont.  A distance of 25 miles.  The team with the quickest time would win event #4.

The stage was set.  Bobby and Frank would go the first Sunday.  Mike and I would drop them off and drive back to South Park and await their arrival with stop watch in hand.  At exactly 1:00pm we left them on Hwy 146.  IH 10 was not complete and the shortest way back was a two lane highway, known then, as the Beach Road.  We were about five miles down 146 when a honking car passed with Bobby and Frank hanging out the windows waving at us.   They were waiting for us when we got back to the park.  Mike and I conceded the victory and didn't even take our turn.

The Superstar competition ended in a 2-2 tie.  The other events were never held.  I don't recall why.  I think Mike got a girl friend and the rest of us went bowling.

Bobby and Frank The Yank set a record that still stands.  It rivals the fetes of Cal Ripken, Nolan Ryan, Ernie Nevers, Richard Petty and Linda Lovelace.  The days of hitching a ride to the picture show are gone forever.