FOOTBALL FOLLIES

In the early 90's , I was a fill-in reporter for the local newspaper's sports dept. Usually my job consisted of answering the phones on Friday nights and or covering games that needed to be covered, that no one else could handle. Coming down towards Christmas, The Bears had a home game that none of the regular reporters could attend, so I got to go. It just so happened that they were playing the Denver Broncos that day. My favorite team at the time with John Elway at QB. So I got to Soldier Field and went up into the main press box. It was very nice with big cushy seats and the whole bit..but unfortunitely I was supposed to be in the auxillary pressbox down in the corner of the stadium, so a nice security guard pointed the way down there for me. As I was walking down the narrow hallway behind the radio booths on the way out, a door flew open and a giant guy came barrelling out and plowed into me, almost knocking me down. "Oh, Sorry buddy ! Are you allright ? " he said as he grabbed me I looked up and it was one of my heroes, Dick Butkus ! I said sure.. and said great ! and he took off down the hall. Well I made it over to the other pressbox,watched the game and ate and generally had a good time. After the game I collected my stats and stuff and went downstairs to the field. With a working press pass I could go everywhere except out on the field and onto the bench area. So I walked around and saw what there was to see, and after the players went in they allowed us into the tunnel to the locker rooms. The players get 15-20 minutes after the games to get their stuff off and shower..etc and at this time Mike Ditka had his press conference to keep the press busy. Then he took a golf cart to the locker room. This was before he had his hips worked on so he had trouble getting around. He went right into his office at the back and never came back out. So while I was waiting I decided to go over to Denver's locker room to see if Elway had come in yet. He was just walking up surrounded by guards. As he was going in I stuck my hand out and said "Hey Elway, nice game !" He grinned ansd shook my hand on the way by and said, "hey ! Thanks buddy !" Needless to say I was impressed ! LOL So my thrill for the day overwith I went over to stand in the crowd of TV reporters waiting to get at the Bears after another loss. All of the Chicago broadcasters were there and I found myself shoulder to shoulder with Chet Coppock on one side and Tim Weigel from channel on the other. Chet Coppock bumped into me and says Oh hey, sorry buddy! This place is like a zoo! and did that laugh of his. Well eventually we got in to the lockerroom . It was pretty basic just lockers, benches and a shower room and a training room in the back. Several players were giving interviews, so I walked up behind Mike Singletary who was sitting on a bench talking to about a dozen reporters. He was so soft-spoken, I could barely hear him and I was kinda bending over his shoulder with my notebook. As I was listening I didnt see the guy sitting on the bench directly behind me about 3 feet away. All of a sudden I hear this giant roar "F---------------------------------CK THIS!!!!!" He yelled and threw his shoulderpads against the wall, naturally they bounced off and drilled me in the back. I flinched and almost fell .. It was Steve "Mongo" Mcmichael. Evidently he didnt want to answer any questions so he was acting like a nut so people would stay away. When the pads hit me he grabbed me and said "Are you ok, Buddy ?" For just a split second he looked worried but I squeaked yea, I'm fine. Ok,good ! he said and winked at me. Everyone else including Singletary stopped for a second, saw who it was kinda smirked and kept right on talking. Mcmichael loudly said "let that be a lesson to you !" He glanced up and winked again. His strategy worked , because while I was there noone else went near him  So my first Bears game as a fill-in was a pretty eventful one. One of my heroes, Dick Butkus, almost knocked me down, I shook hands with John Elway, Chet Coppock called me buddy, and Steve Mcmichael almost brained me with his shoulder pads. All-in-all it was an interesting day to say the least !

An Encounter

  I awoke  suddenly one late October night to a darkened room illuminated by the light of the light of the full moon. What had awakened me  I didn't really know. I was wrapped in my blanket and very reluctant to expose anything that didnt need to be exposed to te crisp night air streaming in through my slightly open window. So I peeked out and glanced around the room, just to satisly my curiosity. Nothing was amiss so I dismissed my waking up to a sound from outside. I glanced out of the window next to the bed, seeing nothing in the bright moonlight I again settled  in ander the covers. Suddenly there ws a soft creak from the far side of the room. My closet door had opened up a little, I knew I had shut it before, but I was in no mood for any open doors at 3am. So I got up shuffled over and shut thedoor, making sure that it had fully shut. Yawning, I returned to bed. Dozing off, I again  hear the closet door open. This time the door was wide open. Staring into the open closet I saw a pair of glowing red eyes. ZBlinking, I grabbed my glasses, and the eyes were indeed there ! Theey seemed to blink several times as I watched in a growing terror. Dismissing the entire incident as a twisted dream. After awhile I fell asleep. Severalminutes later I was awake again. Looking at the closet the eyes were gone. Settling back in. I heard a soft scratching noise on the carpet under the bed.  Looking over the side, I peeked under the bed. The eyes were there glowing brightly. I hurriedly pulled my self under the covers. Again the shuffling sounds. I kept my eyes tightly closed terrifiedMinutes passed and I peeked from the bed into the dloset, the eyes had returned. As I watched, the closet door slowly closed. Blaming the entire incident on spicy foods I fell fast asleep. I awoke in the morning the sun was shining brightly on October 31st. As I shuffled over to the closet to get my clothes, I reached for the doorknob to open the door. Just before I grabbed the knob it began to rattle as if something ws trying to open it. I didn't open it.

Who Is It ?

One October day I was walking and what did I see?
A little man in black sitting high in a tree.
Who is it ?
Would he jump, or would he fall ?
Who is it ?
I found I did not care at all.
Who is it ?
He stared at me with glowing eyes of red.
Who is it ?
It was an image that stuck in my head.
Who is it ?
As I walked in the fading light,
Who is it ?
To walk and not run took all of my might.
Who is it ?
I made it home and went to bed
Who is it ?
With those burning red eyes still lingering in my head.
Who is it ?
3am.. a knock at my door
Who is it ?
I really couldn't take much more.
Who is it ?
For in bed I had tossed and turned
Who is it?
Those glowing red eyes in my head still burned.
Who is it?
I went out on the porch and what did I see
Who is it?
Two burning red eyes far up in my tree !
Who is it ?
Who are you and why are you here ?
Who is it ?
But those eyes only stared, leaving me shaking with fear.
Who is it ?
With a flap of leathery wings, the eyes were gone
Who is it ?
As a shadow drifted across my lawn.
Who was it ?

By Bear  (9/7/2011) 3:30 am

First Watch

FIRST WATCH

I'm no probie now
Today I turned fourth grade
Tonight I stand my first
Full watch alone, the three to six
It's a lonely lonesome watch
And sometimes very quiet
Except for those funny noises
Coming from the rig.

The lieutenant said it's just
That the rig is settling
Nothing else !
Big Pat McDonough has
Another story. says he
It's the ghosts of firemen
Who've stood their last late
Watch long long ago
And come back and visit
In the wee hours of the morn
And cllimb up on the truck.


Bill Hyland, Fireman Fourth Grade
Ladder Company 10, FDNY, 3/1/1938

History, Gotta Love It !

A discussion I was in on Facebook today reminded me of when I was in graduate school attempting to earn a second degree, this one in history. I had finished all of te classes when all I needed to do was write a paper on a topic provided to me, and defend it before a panel of professors. (kinda like a doctorate but not quite that amount of work ) anyway I got sick, lost my first leg and never went back. Anyway we took a trip to the University of Illinois-Chicago Library for a tour. The class was taken into a temp. controlled room and you couldn't take anything with you. They had pencils and paper in the room to take notes if you wanted, but mostly we were there to SEE a small part of their collection. The only thing you couldnt actually pick up and look at was a book from te 1300's. It was called a book of hours. It was something a woman had carried to say her prayers. It was hand written and the pictures were painted with real gems and gold. Oh and the only other untouchable was one of Galileo's books which had his handwritten notes in the margins. Other that that you could pick stuff up and look at it. There were letters written by Albert Einstein talking about the atomic bomb and various presidents and historical figures and old books and relics. One I found particularly interesting was a hand written letter from Abe Lincoln to Sen. Douglas spelling out some rules about the first debate which took place in Ottawa, where I lived at the time. It was just so neat to be able to hold something written by Lincoln or Einstein. They have books on their shelves from the 1400's and 1500's that students can check out for research. And if they have someting you need (documents, etc.) you can request to see them and they let you examine them in one of the controlled rooms. I would love to go to the National Archives and look at stuff, or the Library of Congress. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but this stuff facinates me. I have spent months at the Streatorland Historical Society looking at old photos and things researching my book. They have file cabinets full of old photos that I have looked through. I have also read every page of every Streator newspaper from 1910-1949, looking for articles about the fire dept. They were often scattered throughout the paper, and stuck in where there was room, so I have to pay attention while I'm reading. At one time Streator had three daily newspapers, so thats a lot of reading. But over time I have developed a system of reading to save time, for example I dont read the classifieds, or I know to pay attention more on certain page numbers because the papers have a pattern on where things are printed, but not always, so I have to pay attention. When I find something I  write down the page and column number for my index, author of the story if any and a brief synopsis of the story. I am also putting together a run log for the fire dept, but not every run made the paper, so I only write down what I see. It does give them a general idea of what the dept did back in those days, but not EVERY run is in there so they get what I get. My book will have stories from 1868-1964 in it. I basically tell stories of what things were like or how things happened. I guess you could qualify it as historical, but obviously I wasnt around in 1874 to see half of Main Street burn down, so I have to rely on the newspapers to find out what went on. I may add details like "the men fought desperately to save the Oriental Building" now do I know they were desperate ? Well if half the town is burning and you have very little hose and no ladders,would you be desperate ? LOL So thats why I state right in the title thaat these are STORIES from the history of the Streator Fire Dept. I guess technically it is historical fiction. It is all researched and indexed and the stories are all true, they did happen in the way that I have written, its just that I didnt witness the events myself,so I am retelling the stories as they happened. I know that  may be nitpicky, but that's the way I have been taught, and that's the way it will be. I'm sure someone will end up bitching about something, but that's the way it goes, I guess. I would just like people to read and enjoy the stories and maybe learn a little about Streator's past. If you don't like it, don't read it, just like anything else.