tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68517062024-03-08T14:17:56.626-08:00Legend of the Hog CallerEarly one morning, the quiet neighborhoods of southwest Fort Worth were rocked by multiple explosions and a crumbling roar. Eighty years of history were physically reduced to a pile of rubble. Photographs and video of the demolition revealed a vague apparition of a man standing under the stadium during the implosion. The figure stood firm facing the crumbling structure and did not flinch as it was engulfed in the cloud of dust. The legend begins.clevelandjabbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03813061673656733664noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6851706.post-77307936251525570592011-08-21T06:12:00.000-07:002011-08-21T06:12:24.204-07:00<span style="font-family: Courier;">Summer 1930, a tall brawny young man hugged his father goodbye and began walking from the Jack County Courthouse south on Highway 199.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier;">The sun beat down on his dark hair and tanned skin. Sweat stains circled under the arms of his light blue shirt. His khaki pants were cinched up with a brown leather belt. A suitcase hung from his left hand and a beige duffle bag was draped on his right shoulder.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As several cars passed by, he held out a thumb as he continued his walk.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Just before he got to the bridge at Lost Creek, a truck pulled over. The young man climbed inside and thanked the driver in a deep, loud voice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">"Where you headed, son?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">"Fort Worth, Sir. Going to college… actually going to play football... at college."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The truck gear shift grinded and the cab shimmied under the weight of the load it was hauling as it pulled back onto the highway.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The young man stared out of the side window at the barren Jack County hills, rocks and Mesquite Trees as the town faded behind him in the distance. He rested his arm in the side window and noticed how the sun sparkled on his gold class ring. His parents had given it to him as a graduation present.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Two hours later, the young man found himself walking into downtown Fort Worth from where the truck driver had let him out. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">He hopped a trolley that went to the extreme southwesterly part of town. It followed and crossed the Trinity River, skirted under a railroad tressel and climbed a long low hill. As the trolley topped the hill, he could see several stately buildings lined along the roadway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The buildings were three or four stories tall, had white columns and some had ivy growing on their facades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Several hundred yards west of the buildings was activity that got his attention. A grandstand and attached building were almost hidden among a fortress of wooden scaffolding. This grandstand was much larger than any he had seen before. Trucks were hauling dirt around the structure while three teams of mules pulled grading blades across the ground. A steam shovel sculpted part of a bowl in front of the structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crews of men were busy working on the upper portions of the structure, whitewashing the exterior of the attached building and framing-out what looked like a long narrow attached building along the the top of the structure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As he got off the trolley, the young man walked between the stately buildings, past a library, reflecting pool and headed for the construction site in the distance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">**********</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Flash forward to a pile of rubble some eighty years later. A young engineer inspecting the demolition site of a stadium notices a faint yellow sparkle between two large pieces of crumbled concrete that had dug into the ground. With the toe of his boot, he digs the shiny object from the earth and picks it up. Wiping away the caked dirt and dust, he realizes it is some sort of ring. He rubbed it on his blue jeans, and then blew on it a couple of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a tarnished old class ring with a "J" inscribed on the face.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Local news outlets covered the early morning implosion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 80 year old stadium was to be replaced by a new, modern, state-of-the-art facility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The implosion got much air time across the country through the day and during a college football bowl selection show later in the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the local team being projected to be Rose Bowl bound, every college football show used video of the implosion to highlight their coverage of the team’s success.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As the aerial view of the implosion was shown in slow motion and studied further, it was discovered that a figure or some sort of apparition was slightly visible on almost every video and photograph of the falling structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The figure appeared to be standing in a previously demolished portion of the middle rows of the grandstand seating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quickly engulfed by the dust cloud created by the implosion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">News anchors and reporters joked about the apparition to be an old football ghost that was mourning the loss of the stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The demolition contractor rationalized the angle of the sun, smoke and flashes caused by the explosives under the lower grandstand resulted in a shadowing effect that caused the apparition.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">However, one journalism student from the university found much more interest in the ghostly image that was engulfed by the dust and debris cloud of the falling stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This student was working in the sports information department, and she had stowed away in an office in the athletic building that was adjacent to the stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her secret observation perch allowed her to gain an advantageous perspective of the implosion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was obviously disobeying all safety rules associated with the demolition project, not to mention the rare possibility of endangering herself if a mishap had occurred with the implosion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">A single loud blast of an air horn shook the morning silence to signify the final minute of existence for the grand old structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Realizing eighty years of history was about to be removed before her eyes, the student raised her camera and began photographing the west grandstand and upper deck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Initial explosions of the lower structural members of the grandstand made the student jump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Numerous bright flashes synchronized with explosions could be seen through the previously demolished portion of the grandstand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The student’s intended continuous shutter flash of the entire event was distracted by what looked like the vague presence of a man standing in the shadows under the original grandstand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The student didn’t notice the figure until the explosions began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the flashes went through each portion of the understructure, the figure seemed to materialize before her eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appeared to be a tall, muscular man wearing a white shirt, tan or light brown pants… and holding something between his right hand and hip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t appear to be afraid of the impending doom of the collapsing stadium, but seemed to observe in a fashion that was more or less fascinated by the whole event.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The demolition sectioned the lower deck, upper deck and press box from north to south in three separate stages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dust cloud and debris began to expand below the lower deck as the first section came down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apparition of the man became more visible to the student as the initial cloud began to overtake him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her heart was audible in her chest as she realized the man definitely looked to be a physical being. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">A chill ran through the student’s body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What had she just witnessed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could anyone have gotten into the stadium during the implosion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely this person was killed by the falling debris?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had she just been a witness to a possible suicide?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">She thought… there is no way someone could get that close to the implosion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, here she was hidden in an office that was off limits during the event.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The student thought it to be important to share what she had seen, but knew it could mean losing her job in the athletic department and/or possibly even receiving disciplinary action from the university if anyone learned that she had stowed away in the building.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Like any good journalist, although distracted, she kept photographing the event well into the dispersing of the cloud of dust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the prevailing north wind, it only took about ten minutes before the air was clear enough to see the entire collapsed west side of the stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The upper deck constructed in the mid-50’s laid on top of the disintegrated lower deck like large, warped slabs of concrete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The aluminum bleachers were mostly still attached and mangled from the fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small pockets of dust still exited portions of the settling heap. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">What had happened to the man she had seen in the implosion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was nowhere to be seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her eyes welled with tears while her heart pulsed in her neck… there was no way he had survived the mountain of concrete, rebar and mangled pipe that laid smoldering in the morning sunlight.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">*****************************</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As he neared the construction site, the young man encountered a short, compact man who introduced himself as “Dutch”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dutch was an assistant coach at the university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The young man extended his hand, and in a deep-toned voice said, “I’m Wallace”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dutch was expecting Wallace to play football the upcoming season, but didn’t expect him to arrive this early in the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Dutch helped Wallace get settled into a room in a nearby boarding house until the residence halls opened for the Fall Semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also helped him get a job working at the new stadium as a construction worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The days were hot and long and the work was hard, but Wallace didn’t mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had been raised on a farm in western Jack County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was used to doing hard work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As the great structure was taking final shape, the work crews began to focus on getting the surrounding grounds graded, grass planted and fencing put up for the upcoming season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wallace worked on a crew that transported manure from the north side stock yards to the new field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They spread manure all over that field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stench was almost more than anyone could handle, especially during a hot Texas summer.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Working the long summer days was excellent conditioning for Wallace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He ate well at the boarding house and in the evenings he would walk back over the new stadium construction site and run up and down the grandstand multiple times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t know it, but Dutch was noticing his work ethic, and Dutch approved.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As the stadium neared completion, many of the workers were let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was getting close to the time for the Fall Semester to begin and Wallace spent his days hanging out at the athletic offices and running errands for coaches and instructors at the university.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">One day near the beginning of the semester, Dutch sent Wallace up to the road to wait for a new student at the trolley stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hot, and at that time there weren’t many trees on the campus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wallace found shelter from the sun in the shade of a small oak tree.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The trolley was soon visible off in the distance through the heat waves that radiated off the old road bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed to take forever to get to the stop in front of the university.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace got up, dusted himself off and stood near the trolley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several people exited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A large bear of a man could be seen gathering his belongings inside and moving toward the trolley door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace was astonished at the size of this man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He appeared seven feet tall… and to have shoulders three feet wide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the biggest human being Wallace had ever seen.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As the giant stepped out into the daylight, Wallace realized his perception was distorted by the man’s clothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was tall, probably 6’ 5”, but he was wearing a thick shaggy light brown coat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wallace wondered… “Why would anybody be wearing a coat in August?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace put out his hand and introduced himself.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The tall man took his hat off, wiped his brow with a white handkerchief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shucked off the coat and introduced himself, saying… “They call me, Slim.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revealing a frame that was 6’5” and only weighing about 140 lbs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace thought to himself… “I have never seen such a bag of bones before in my life.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace asked, “Why are you wearing that coat?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“Well… I had to bring it with me for the winter and I had nothing big enough to carry it in, so I just put it on.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“What kind of hide is it made of?” Wallace asked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“Its imitation camel hair”, Slim proclaimed proudly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace smiled and looked Slim in the eye and said, “Imitation, Hell!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It smells like the real thing!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">**********</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The journalism student had to stay hidden in the athletic office for about another hour until the demolition site was declared safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Tucked under a desk, she continuously scanned through the viewer on the back of her camera, going over about one hundred photographs she had taken of the event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say, the first exposures of the man standing under the grandstand were studied the most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As she enlarged his photograph on the viewer she could see more detail about him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smoky image became more realistic and seemed to solidify with each exposure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had dark hair and a tan complexion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The white shirt he wore was a thick, three-quarter length sleeved football jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His pants appeared to be khaki or light in color, with a dark wide stripe running from the belt line, down the back of each leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of the angle of her position, she could only partially see the number on his shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appeared to be the number 39.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looked like he held a leather football helmet between his right hand and hip.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">She kept scanning through the exposures that showed the debris cloud getting closer and closer to the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t flinch at all, but just seemed to be studying the whole event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Finally she scanned the other photographs she had taken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most revealed the falling structure, debris and the expanding dust cloud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The grand old west grandstand and upper deck had come down just as the contractor said it would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It now baked in the early morning sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">While examining photographs taken of the dissipating dust cloud she held her breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her heart began to pound in her chest again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tears welled in her eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There he was!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was him!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man in the earlier photos!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was standing in the dissipating dust cloud just under the edge of the collapsed upper deck!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How had she not noticed him while taking these last photographs?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could only see his upper torso.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His lower body was still hidden by part of the settling dust cloud.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">She zoomed in on the clearest of these newly discovered photographs of the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was positioned between the middle of the collapsed upper deck and a line of large metal dumpster bins that had been put in place near the lower bowl of the stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was facing her direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could now clearly make out the number 39 on his shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The zoom feature on the viewer lost his image in her initial attempt to get a good look at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she scanned the enlarged view, she gasped and dropped the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her hands were shaking and she began to sweat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a moment she could not catch her breath, and she felt a strange fear she had never felt before.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Trembling, she picked up her camera and dared to look at the zoomed photograph on the viewer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could see the man’s weathered face… his facial features… and piercing eyes… and he was looking directly at her!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As soon as the student heard doors closing and voices in the hall of the athletic building, she waiting until all was clear and slipped out of the empty office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hurried outside and across campus toward her residence hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had to get these images on her computer so she could see them in more detail.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">**********</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace helped Slim get his belongings to the residence hall where they would be living during the Fall Semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns up they were to be roommates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both were planning on playing freshman sports… football, basketball and baseball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their friendship just seemed to be a natural thing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Afterward Wallace and Slim headed down to the athletic offices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There they talked to Dutch a while, then Coach Schmidt came in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He studied the tall, lanky Slim with a skeptical look on his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no denying Slim would play basketball, but he was pretty lean for the football team.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“What position do you play, Slim?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coach Schmidt asked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“Tackle.” Slim stated positively.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Now… even more skeptical, Coach Schmidt countered… “I don’t think we’ve ever had a 140 pound tackle here, maybe you’re more of a safety.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Not too sure about Coach Schmidt’s comment, Slim said, “Well… they tried to play me at safety in high school, but I was so fast, that I kept running into the punter.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Coach Schmidt, Dutch, Wallace and Slim all got a good laugh out of Slim’s response.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Dutch was coach of the freshman teams in all three sports at the university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t take him long to realize that he had a really good group of athletes to work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were all fast, strong and big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This group would go on to win Southwest Conference Titles in all three sports during their college careers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">In her dorm room, the journalism student linked her camera to her computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a hundred or so photographs and it took a while for all to download.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">She stood in her bathroom looking into the mirror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running cold water into her hands, she washed her face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had she really seen that happen today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The camera was finished downloading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She sat down and began looking at the first batch of photos of the demolition and the materializing of the apparition in each frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like he appeared from out of thin air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With each flash of the explosives he became more visible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Then she took a deep breath and clicked on the photographs of him near the end of the event… the photograph where he was looking at her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her hand shook as she double-clicked on the photo that had made her drop the camera earlier.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">His face was looking right at her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no doubt in her mind that he could see her photographing him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like he knew she was hidden in the empty office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She realized that she shared a common thread with this apparition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They both had seen each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What did this mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who was he?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was he?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Final exams were taking place over the next week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The student had to pull herself away from her new found obsession of studying the man in the photographs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She so badly wanted to share what she had discovered with her class mates and friends, but knew she could not risk it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anybody seeing her photographs would immediately realize she had taken them from an unauthorized area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">She would not go home until just before Christmas because of her job in the sports information office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The break between Fall and Spring Semesters was almost five weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of that time she would be working, helping on a publication the university was putting together about the history of the original stadium and the new stadium to be constructed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">This publication became an eye-opening experience for the journalism student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gave her access to many old photographs taken over the years of the stadium, football games, half time ceremonies and construction photographs of when the stadium was expanded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She joked with co-workers about how she planned to write a thesis for graduate school about the history of the 80 year old structure.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">One day while going through numerous photographs, she came across a photograph that made her stop and take notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was taken during a half time ceremony in 1932 and was taken from the hill on the south end of the football field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This location was about the same perspective of the office from where she took her photographs of the demolition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the players in the photograph was wearing number 39 and looked much like the apparition she had photographed during the demolition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Chapter 2</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Complete removal of the imploded stadium took several weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A webcam was made available on the university website so fans could monitor the status of the new stadium project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Daily many people would check-in to watch construction equipment pick away at the fallen structure like crabs picking at a carcass on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little by little demolition efforts eroded away the remains of the west side of the stadium.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleveland Jabb was a fan that checked the webcam on a daily basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve was a business man in East Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had always been a fan of the university teams, and an admirer of the old stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Sometimes, Cleve would check the webcam at night during bouts of insomnia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would watch the live stream, sometimes noticing a security vehicle or campus police driving by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One night, however… something else caught Cleve’s eye while checking in on the webcam site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">It was just after midnight on the Tuesday, two weeks after the implosion of the stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve had found himself awake earlier than normal this night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His dogs decided they needed to go outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he spent some time at the computer while waiting for them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The only lights visible on the webcam were surrounding parking lots and security lights, which left the field and demolished stadium barely visible at night online. The quality of the picture was also not very good. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While checking the site during the daytime hours, it was not uncommon to notice people using parts of the east grandstand for exercise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Occasionally a student could be seen running or hiking up and down the stadium steps. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">However, this evening, Cleve noticed what looked to be a man in a white shirt running on the football field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He figured it to be some student or maybe even a scavenging memorabilia collector sneaking into the stadium to hopefully find any kind of treasure amongst the demolished west grandstand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The man would stand, pause... go into a three-point stance then fire upward as if he were playing football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only, he moved different than football players of this era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His movements were more mechanical and deliberate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As Cleve became intrigued by the image and its antics, something even stranger happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He began to notice the man was not alone on the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other players were out there, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The longer Cleve watched, the more he could see two football teams playing a game on the field in the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were even some players standing on the sidelines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleve found himself delighted at these students who dared to play football in a restricted area in the middle of the night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The students were very organized for a pick-up football game, wearing what appeared to be uniforms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve figured these had to be some kind of campus intramural football teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their actions were much different than he had witnessed in his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They primarily did running plays and passed very little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the pick-up an intramural games Cleve had participated in during his younger days involved almost 100% passing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also noticed that some of these players looked to be pretty good athletes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Before Cleve realized it, three hours had gone by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he checked the clock on the corner of his computer screen, he thought to himself, “I have never played a pick-up football game that lasted over an hour or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys are serious about their football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve been going at it at least three hours and show no signs of stopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And… it is the middle of the night!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">In the background of the webcam view, a security vehicle could be seen spotlighting the remains of the west grandstand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve sat up and took extra interest to see how fast the students would scatter when they saw the security vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The vehicle circled behind the south end zone bleachers and pointed the spotlight out onto the football field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The players stopped their game and starred at the security detail as if annoyed by its interruption of their game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve thought to himself, “These kids are not even going to run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is probably going to get good, now.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Something strange happened as the light scanned across the football field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The players were gone in an instant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve felt cheated that he was so focused on the security vehicle that he missed the students running away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How did they hide so fast?” he thought to himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The security vehicle drove on and out of sight of the webcam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve was tired and had to get some sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He logged off the webcam site and went to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next day he shared with his wife about what he had witnessed on the webcam site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She thought he liked football way too much to be watching some kind of amateur game on a webcam in the middle of the night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">**********</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Wallace and Slim seemed to be inseparable buddies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They roomed together during their freshman year and two other years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They both were education majors and shared many of the same classes at the university. Both played football, basketball and baseball together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slim ran track, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was tall and lanky, but his long strides got him down the track really fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basketball was their best sport, but as Wallace told a local sports writer, “Football is my favorite sport in the Fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basketball is my favorite sport in the Winter, and baseball is my favorite sport in the Spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Track… well, track just helps me stay in shape between basketball and baseball.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wallace and Slim had big personalities… were pranksters, and were well known and respected on campus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">During the 1930 football season, the freshman team completed its season beating John Tarleton College 12 to 0, North Texas Agricultural College 7 to 0 and tied with Terril Prep, 0 to 0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Basketball also showed promise for the freshman team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They again beat John Tarleton College, winner of its conference and Terril Prep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The freshman team also was co-champions of a local city league in Fort Worth that year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The freshman baseball team had victories over Weatherford Junior College, Decatur Baptist College, and North Texas Agricultural College.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hillsboro Junior College was the only team to beat the frosh team.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">During the 1930 Varsity Football Season, the Horned Frogs won 9 games, lost 2 and tied 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They challenged for the Southwest Conference Championship, but two late season losses to Texas and Baylor left them in third place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Football in the 1930’s was played very different than today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few realize it, but the 1930 football season began with a double-header on the weekend of September 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the Saturday opener, TCU beat North Texas Teachers College in Denton, 47 to 0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following Sunday afternoon, the Frogs beat East Texas Teachers College in Fort Worth, 40 to 0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The third game of the season and final game at old Clark Field resulted in TCU beating Coach Cecil Griggs’ Austin College Kangaroos, 33 to 7.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The Simmons Cowboys and TCU Horned Frogs met at Breckridge, Texas in a rain-soaked mud bath the next week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With terrible conditions, neither team could get their running attacks going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game became a punting duel and ended in a 0 to 0 tie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simmons College did not gain one first down, but utilized the mud to thwart the Frogs attempts to move the ball.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">October 11, 1930, approximately 15,000 fans came out and witnessed the grand opening of the new football stadium against the Arkansas Razorbacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grassy Hinton scored six touchdowns as the Christians marched all over the Porkers in the dedication of the new football home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Additional victories were recorded at the new stadium over Texas Technological College and Abilene Christian College that first year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The final two home games were losses to Texas, 0 to 7, and Baylor University, 14 to 35.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An overflow homecoming crowd of 20,000 attended the Texas game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An injury to Cy Leland and Grassy Hinton missing the game left the Frogs on the short end of the stick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Baylor game, All-American Boche Koch lead the Bears to a 35 to 0 score before TCU knew what hit them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">These losses left TCU short on their attempt to be SWC Football Champions two years in a row.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The season was closed-out with a satisfying 13 to 0 victory over arch rival, Southern Methodist University in Dallas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This game was played at Ownby Stadium after it had endured 20 hours of rain prior to game time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time the game was over, it was difficult to tell which team was which.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The first season of football was in the books for the new stadium in Fort Worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">*********</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleve’s obsession with the webcam hit a new level as he found the midnight football games to be a nightly event he became addicted to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was crazy these kids would be out all night playing football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted to go Fort Worth and witness a game himself just to say he had been a part of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">He got his chance two weeks later. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve and his wife, Tina visited Fort Worth on a business trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After spending time at the Stockyards, downtown and dining at the Petroleum Club, they retired to their hotel room in the Worthington Hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the clock neared midnight, Cleve and Tina drove over to the stadium construction site to see if they could catch the game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Most of the stadium gates were closed, but one gate on the west side near the athletic offices was open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve and Nina quietly snuck inside, not making a sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they walked around the southerly end of the construction barricades, they could hear the game going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The students were there!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe now Cleve would find out why these late night games were taking place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">When Cleve and Tina got within view of the field they didn’t see anybody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The field was empty and they could no longer hear the game going on. As they stood there in confusion, Cleve noticed a young lady sitting alone in the bleachers on the east side of the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They made their way over to her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The young lady looked like death warmed over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Cleve and Tina approached her, they first figured this person to be homeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lady was not afraid of them, but watched them both approach as if she was glad to see them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As they got closer, the young lady touched her finger to her lips, shushing them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She patted the bench where she was sitting, inviting them both to sit down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Cleve attempted an introduction, the young lady made a greater exaggerated shushing motion towards him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Be quiet and still!” she said. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">So they did as she asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tina and Cleve made eye contact with each other, shaking their heads in disbelief that they were sitting in the stadium with some kind of homeless lady in the middle of the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was probably crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They weren’t feeling too sane at this time, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">However… as they sat there, a faint sound could be heard coming from the football field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounded like a grunting and hitting sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It almost sounded like a radio was playing softly on the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then a faint whistle could be heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve looked at Tina and wondered if he was going crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tina put her hand on Cleve’s arm and pointed toward the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Cleve looked where she was pointing he began to see vague images. It was the team!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same team he had been watching for the past two weeks on the stadium webcam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were there!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But how did they get out there without him seeing them enter the field.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“Oh my God!” Tina said out loud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The young lady immediately shushed her, saying, “If you are quiet and be still, they won’t go away.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“What is going on?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve asked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Again the young lady shushed in an exaggerated whisper… “Quiet!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she faintly whispered, “I’ve been out here every night for the past two weeks watching them play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When security comes around, shining a spot light on the field they disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes they come back, though.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The young lady seemed to be in a trance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She couldn’t take her eyes off the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had a note pad and used a dim reading book light to jot down notes from time to time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve realized she was not a homeless person, but a student.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The longer Cleve and Tina sat there, the more distinct some of the voices became.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleve didn’t realize it, but his eyes were watering extremely heavily, almost like he was crying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tina’s eyes were doing the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was happening?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What were they witnessing?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">After sitting for an extended period of time completely still and silent, the view of the field and football players became vivid and looked to be real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole scene took on a vague gray color to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like watching an old movie in 3D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">“See… if you are still and quiet, you can hear what they say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can see their faces when they get close” the young lady said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleve and Tina said nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They moved nothing but their eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They both had goose bumps on their arms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">One player in particular could be heard over the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was tall and had dark hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice was loud and very distinctive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hey!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hoooiee!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haw!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seemed to use some kind of language that only cattle or barnyard animals would understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounded like he was driving a team of mules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he chased, caught and tackled, he continuously made loud calls and shouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His antics seemed to unnerve the opposing team and several fights almost broke out during the time Cleve and Tina watched.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">A tall thin player in the defensive backfield called to the loud player, saying “Hog… left!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coming left!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As the ball snapped and the ball carrier pushed around his right side, the loud player on defense quickly moved to his left, cut through a block and hit the ball carrier yelling a loud “Whoowah!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The loud player tackled the ball carrier very hard and drove him into the ground with a vengeance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">As the pile dispersed, a shoving match broke out between the ball carrier and the loud player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The loud player didn’t care, but only broke-out into loud laughter and smiled at the ball carrier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another fight almost broke out as the players got up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleve couldn’t make out what the loud player had said, but it had something to do with where the tackled player was from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleve and Tina soon found themselves also in a trance, watching the game before them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hours passed in what seemed like mere minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The team wearing white jerseys and the loud player were manhandling the team in the dark uniforms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Then… in an instant the field was cleared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The young lady jumped up and quietly encouraged Cleve and Tina to follow her quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they hid inside a portal in the east side grandstand, a large campus police officer could be seen walking along the other side of the football field, scanning the area with a flashlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Cleve, Tina and the young lady stayed out of sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The police officer could be heard talking on his radio, saying… “Well… I haven’t found anybody out here, but judging by the condition of the field someone has been out here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or…maybe we have some wild hogs coming into the stadium from the creek down the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This field is all chewed up.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">The officer scanned the east grandstand with is flashlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then made his way behind the construction site and drove away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">**********</span>clevelandjabbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03813061673656733664noreply@blogger.com