{"id":25846,"date":"2023-11-20T11:47:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25846"},"modified":"2023-11-20T11:48:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:48:37","slug":"episode-916-football-days-eric-got-spikeddeep-hole-in-his-leg-filled-with-mud-terrible-thing-to-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25846","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 916 ; FOOTBALL DAYS\u2026. ERIC GOT SPIKED\u2026DEEP HOLE IN HIS LEG FILLED WITH MUD\u2026.TERRIBLE THING TO SEE"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE  916 ; FOOTBALL DAYS\u2026. ERIC GOT SPIKED\u2026DEEP HOLE IN HIS LEG FILLED WITH MUD\u2026.TERRIBLE THING TO SEE<\/p>\n

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alanskeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 18, 2023<\/div>\n
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This is my brother Eri\u202614 months younger than me\u2026we are close , like twins,\u2026did things together.  He was right handed though<\/div>\n
which made a hell a of difference in life.<\/div>\n

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Eric\u2019s 1955 Football jacket\u2026his number was 29, right end.  which meant he could catch afoootball pass from the quarterback while<\/div>\n
my job was to bash the guy opposite me, the defensive guard.  Quite a different job. No glory<\/div>\n

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MUD GAME AGAINST RIVERDALE\u2026TURNS TO HORROR<\/div>\n

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It was a mud game.  Late October at Millen Field in East end against Riverdale C. I.   THE Riverdale boys were tough. We expected<\/div>\n
the game to be very physical the moment our team arrived at the ramshackle changing room bisected into<\/div>\n
two parts by a flimsy sawdust board dividing wall.  Big hot in the wall where a Riverdale guy poked his head ans yelled, <\/div>\n
“\u2019We will knock the shit out of you Pansies,\u201d or some comment like that.  We were no better as we were determined to<\/div>\n
 \u2018Get Banana nose,’ the less than flattering term for their quarterback.  Enemies ar war\u2026with one big difference in weaponry.<\/div>\n
Mud spike.<\/div>\n

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\u201cBoys, I want you to wear mud spikes today, better traction in Millen Field.\u201d<\/div>\n

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And so we hsdto unscrew our normal spikes which were about an inchi long and replace them<\/div>\n
with 2 inch mud spikes.  Better traction for sure.  Like running with studded tractor tires. <\/div>\n

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It was  still raining and had been doing do for a couple of days.  Ugly day.<\/div>\n
I remember the mud slurry went over my boots in places.     Mud did not bother me much.  Getting dirty<\/div>\n
was expected of football players.  We were not pansies.<\/div>\n

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The game was tough   Body against body.   Most plays were ground plays.   Very little passing.  Lots of <\/div>\n
body contact.  I read somewhere that the impact of an offensive Guard like me against my opposing defensive guard<\/div>\n
was the same as the impact of an astronaut breaking the gravity barrier into outer space.  Heroic effort.<\/div>\n

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My brother Eric must have been a defensive right end in that game.  His job was to ‘Get Banana Nose’ or the ball carrier.<\/div>\n
He had to charge full speed into the mayhem after the ball was snapped.  The Riverdale quarterbacks nose did not look <\/div>\n
as long as I expected.  But he did look tough.<\/div>\n

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Something unusual happened.  Eric was helped off the field\u2026.Limping.<\/div>\n
A couple of mudslpikes had cut the calf of his leg.  Hard to tell how deep because the<\/div>\n
exposed flesh was covered in mud and the dirty white powdered chalk used mark the field into five yard intervals.<\/div>\n
He  limped to the bench.  \u201cI am OK\u2026just a scratch\u2019  LIKE HELL IT WAS A SCRATCH.<\/div>\n

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This was no scratch\u2026Could see the mud handing from the hole.<\/div>\n
As for me I was suddenly overcome with a feeing of weakness.  My brother was hurt and I felt the pain.<\/div>\n
It was hard for me to go on the field with ouroffenive squad. I was not looking for revenge.<\/div>\n
 I think that is why brothers are separated in wartime.   They might look after each other.  Lose their concentration.<\/div>\n
 Maybe the separation is so that one might be lost but not all would be lost.<\/div>\n

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I got over the shock next play when I saw Eric coming back on the field as defensive end.  Must just be a scratch\u2026not serious.<\/div>\n
So we finished the game.  I am quit sure we won.   As Burf said, \u201cWhen the going gets tough, the tough get going.\u201d,   Foptball was not just s game,<\/div>\n
it was war.<\/div>\n

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The terror set in after the game\u2026after our team shower.  No!  There was no shower. And  Eric\u2019s wound was not superficial.  It was deep\u2026perhaps an inch or more into<\/div>\n
the calf of his leg.  The hole had filed up with mud\u2026stopped the bleeding.  Mud mixed with blood becomes mud.  Why was he not in<\/div>\n
pain?  Adrenalin.  <\/div>\n

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\u201cGet your mom or dad to take Eric to the doctor,,,this wound could be bad.\u201d  <\/div>\n

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Mom took control immediately. <\/div>\n
  Dad was on night shift\u2026gone to work.   Mom ran our house anyway. <\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, you come along.  We will see Dr. Greenaway right now.\u201d  Family doctors were accessible in the 1950\u2019s.<\/div>\n
Doctor Greenawy cleaned the wound, applied some alcohol in the wound, stopped the bleeding.   D.r Greenaway<\/div>\n
was concerned.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWho willl watch Eric tonight?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201clan will\u2026.The boys sleep in the same bed.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThen, Alan, I want you to take this syringe..this needle.   If Eric begins to act strangely\u2026to have a convulsion<\/div>\n
tonight, I want you to give him this needle.  It is very important.  Can you do that?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYe,sir,,,I think I can.\u201d knowing full well I would get mom fast.  She slept in the couch in our<\/div>\n
one bedroom house.  Dad sept in our bed when he was on day shift at Dunlop Tire Corporation. All<\/div>\n
very efficient.  All very close.  All very natural to us.  Doesn\u2019t everybody live that way? We lived on top<\/div>\n
of each other.  My boyfriends each had their own rooms. Soft life for them. I rarely did homework\u2026no room.<\/div>\n

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It was a long night for mom and I.    Maybe for Eric too.   But morning came and no odd behaviour.<\/div>\n
Eric was alive.   I think he e ven played football later in  the season.  We were not pansies.<\/div>\n

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Grea chsnce for a cruel joke on mom.<\/div>\n

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“ERIC\u2019S HELMET IS SMASHED , MOM\u201d<\/div>\n

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7)  The next football season, 1956, we played a cruel joke on Mom.  It realy was not  funny.  <\/div>\n
but to us it was a hoot\u2026really funny.  <\/div>\n

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 Mom loved<\/div>\n
us and did not want to see us hurt.  Dad was the same.   Touch my kid then answer to me.  Physical world we lived in.<\/div>\n
Eric and I played cruel jokes on them both.  Careful with dad because he might overreact.  But mom was fair game.<\/div>\n

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Mom has been gone a long time butI often Eri and I remember this joke.   It is not funny but we thought it so.<\/div>\n

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We returned form a football game in Russ Vanstone’s Chev.   He dropped us at the door.    We lived on<\/div>\n
the second floor and there was a long staircase upward.   The plan was cruel.  I knew mom would<\/div>\n
ask about the game and sure enough as soon as I started up the stairs the asked, \u201cHow did the game go?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cEric got hurt mom,\u201d and I threw his crushed footbsllhelmet up the stairs.<\/div>\n

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Russ had accidentally back the Chev over the helmet.    Very funny, don\u2019t you think?<\/div>\n
I came up the stairs alone but Eric was not far behind.   I think mom laughed when she<\/div>\n
got over the shock.  zoo hugs and kisses.  The joke was not so funny to mom.<\/div>\n

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 alan<\/div>\n

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Post script:  Much more to come\u2026Wrong Way Cush and Jarring Jach Osmond and<\/div>\n
my operation at St. Joseph hospital where people go to die.<\/div>\n

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POS SCRPT:  I remember when the scab and hardened puss came out of Eric\u2019s leg\u2026.not<\/div>\n
pretty.<\/div>\n

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Here are some family pics that might sue your  Mom made all our winter clothes out of old coats.<\/div>\n

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Eric, our farm cousin Ted Freeman, Alan\u2026.much later in life.<\/div>\n

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Mom with her two boys wearing cut don costs<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  916 ; FOOTBALL DAYS\u2026. ERIC GOT SPIKED\u2026DEEP HOLE IN HIS LEG FILLED WITH MUD\u2026.TERRIBLE THING TO SEE alanskeoch Nov. 18, 2023 This is my brother Eri\u202614 months younger than me\u2026we are close , like twins,\u2026did things together.  He was right handed though which made a hell a of difference in life. Eric\u2019s 1955 Football […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}