Turkey Bowl 2013

What a great day!

Today was Turkey Bowl 2013! For those of you who don't know the Turkey Bowl is a charity flag football tournament in Pinckney. They raise money and collect canned good to donate meals to needy families. I have helped with this tournament for 3 years. The first year I officiated, last year I did a lot of different things (I was coming off knee surgery and couldn't officiate), and this year I was the football coordinator. I am not sure why they asked me to do it but they did. I must have had sucker written across my head or something. So I had a lot of pressure this year to handle this since I live almost 2 hours from Pinckney and couldn't be at meetings or look at things in person. There were a lot of phone and email conversations the past couple of months and one meeting at a kids playscape place call the Treehouse before this week to try and get things organized and planned. Things were going good until we got the forecast for the week. Rain, rain and more rain was predicted. So, now we needed a plan B. Thanks to the athletic director at Pinckney High School, which won their first ever playoff came last night (Congratulations Pirates!), we were able to use their fabulous stadium and practice field instead of the soccer fields we have usually used. The rain was annoying all day but not terrible. It was cold and windy for the majority of the day too. In spite of the rain, cold, and wind the tournament went great. I think everyone had fun and there were only minor issues throughout the day and only minor injuries. The amazing thing today though was the 65 year old man playing with a bunch of guys that were basically his grand kids ages. He was their QB and he was actually really good. His team ended up finishing second in the adult male division. I give that man props for what he was doing today. He was unbelievable. We had a good turnout and I am very pleased with how things went. I do want to give a shout out to the two ladies who have got me involved in this, Melissa Bolen and Tricia Richardson. These two ladies have done so much with the Turkey Bowl and putting it on every year. They are a great team to work with. Tricia is the head honcho basically. She just does an amazing job running this event!! Thank you Tricia for letting me heave a part in this great event. And then there is Melissa. She is probably my best friend that I am not married to. We have known each other since high school, when we met at a summer camp program at Kentucky Christian College. We discovered we were both from Michigan and became friends and stayed in touch for all of these years. It was her idea for me to come down 2 years ago and help officiate the games. Little did I know that I would be getting roped into a yearly thing when I said okay. Of course, I don't think she did either. I love it though. I look forward now to coming down for the weekend and camping out on Melissa and her husband Ralph's couch, hanging out with them and their 2 sweet girls, and working the Turkey Bowl with a great team of volunteers. So Tricia and Melissa, props to you for your dedication to this awesome event and thank you for your letting me be a part of it and finally I would prefer larger doses, these small ones are just not enough! (inside joke)