I have an older brother named Bill. He and I are not even 13 months apart-we are not true Irish Twins born within a 12 month period-but 12.5 months apart is pretty darned close.
My brother was always a bruiser when we were little kids. He was always getting into stuff. Somewhere out there is a picture of my brother as a toddler in the back of hour house in Richfield, Minnesota-he had a harness with a chain on it that was attached to the clothes line so that he could run-but not run away. Like most brothers we were close, but we fought quite a bit, too. He was always much bigger and stronger than me when we were growing up. I was a skinny little kid who was always happiest reading a book or playing with my little stick-men.(yeah, pathetic, I know) When we fought-and we fought a lot as kids-I got stomped on quite a bit. Having a tough older brother was a good thing when I had to fight me own fights, he would make sure that the fight stayed fair. On one occasion, when I was about 5 and getting harassed by much bigger kids-they must have been about 8 or 9, my brother did what amounted to a Judo throw on the kid and just planted him on the asphalt. I never got harrassed again.
Bill was always the more natural athlete. When we got into high school, he set the 9th and 10th grade pole vault records, and was captain of our Football and wrestling teams.
Tomorrow marks the start of the 2008 Minnesota State Wrestling tournament. 30 Years ago, my brother Bill qualified for the State Wrestling Tournament at 185 pounds. He ended up finishing 4th in State at his weight class in the AA competition.
Years later, when I was in the Air Force and working out like a madman and was in really, really good shape (190 pounds with a 32 inch waist at 5′10), I was going to be back in Minnesota over Christmas Break. As luck would have it, my friend Bob Smith was coaching the Cooper Wrestling team, so I arranged for me and my brother to go to wrestling practice to work with the upper weight kids. I had as my motive to show my brother how much tougher I had gotten since high school. When we all separated to do a 6 minute match, I was all set for some serious payback…that never came. Bill just waxed me. It was the stuff of Christians versus the Lions or almost anybody wiping out the French military…In a word,it was not a pretty sight.
So, I’d like to give a shout out to my brother on this week marking 30 years since he took 4th in State. I was never as good an althete as he is… Then, as now, I’m still proud of you, big brother.
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