Page 6
The Blue Banner
Decembers, 1996
SLAPSHOTS
Sportsjunkie
columnist survives
a Thanksgiving
without football
Brian Castle
Columnist
This Thanksgiving Day was very different
for me. For the first time in the 25-year
history of my life, I didn’t watch the two
traditional Thanksgiving NFL offerings, not
even the compelling Cowboys-Redskins
matchup. And you know what? I came out
just fine. I had such a good Thanksgiving
holiday that I didn’t even bother to watch the
highlights.
You see, this was my first Thanksgiving at
my girlfriend’s house. Her mother had sched
uled dinner for 1:30, so I arrived!reasonably
at 1:15. When I arrived, the lovely Mrs. H
(we’ll call her that since her last name begins
with an FI) ushered me into the den, where
my girlfriend’s father and uncle were thor
oughly enthralled by the Chiefs-Lions game.
Yes, I thought, FOOTBALL! But before I
could even check the score, I was summoned
to my girlfriend’s room.
Once downstairs, my girlfriend, M (since
her name begins with an M), gave me a
tender kiss and background information on
the people who would be joining us for
dinner, while she put on her makeup and did
her hair. Armed with this information, I
could be even more charming and engaging
than usual.
And I was. Dinner was great, and everyone
got along famously. M’s grandparents took a
particular interest in me because I’m from
Mississippi and Granddaddy S had been
stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.
Uncle J began to talk about photography, and
my mind drifted to the Pontiac Silverdome—
who could be winning the Chiefs-Lions
game? In short, everyone laughed and learned
and ate.
After coffee and more conversation, M took
me for a drive to a place where we could be
alone for a while—Buzzard rock (now I love
to be alone with M, but I didn’t think that
Buzzard Rock would have a TV with the
game on. I resigned myself to missing the
Skins-Cowboys game.) As we soaked in the
romantic view of Asheville’s wild mountain
countryside, M told me how Buzzard rock
was famous for homicides, suicides, and drug-
trafficking. I wondered aloud if Quentin
Tarantino could make Buzzard Rock—The
Movie,
We got back from Buzzard Rock just in time
to miss the last of the late game, so we joined
Mr. and Mrs. H and Sister C for wine and
conversation. We talked about my two favor
ite subjects: religion and politics. Like most
U.S. citizens, we determined that we all had
mixed feelings about the recent elections.
Then we discussed the differences between
Baptists and Methodists.
While everybody else made the mad dash for
leftovers, M and I went to the video store and
rented Fargo. What an absolutely superb
movie that was, by far the Coen brothers’ best
effort—I was never a big Raising Arizona fan.
It had everything I like in a movie: witty
dialogue, dark comedy, loads of violence—
but no football. After the movie ended, we
snuggled and cuddled—and the rest is none
of your business.
The point is, friends, that there is more to
life than football. There are girlfriends,
relatives, politics, religion. Buzzard Rock,
Fargo, snuggling, and cuddling, just to name
a few alternatives to the old pigskin pastime.
Despite a severe lack of football, which made
my hormones crazy, I had the best Thanks
giving of all time.
Oh, the Chiefs and Cowboysiwon, by the
way. I couldn’t help but notice the highlights
on “SportsCenter” the next morning.
UNCA hosts second Race Across Campus
m
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O O O
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UNCA "Psycho-Cross" Race
The UNCA Cycling Club hosted last week's Race Across Campus.
There were more tnan 100 participants, including many UNCA
students. $700 in cash and $1700 v/orth of merchandise from
race sponsors were given away as prizes. The race is now a semi
annual event at UNCA.
Above, in the relay race, UNCA student Willow Koerber hands the
baton to Catharine Sutherland. Their relay team came in sixth
place behind the third-place finishers, UNCA cross country
runners.
Bottom left, in the first race of the day, Georgia native and pro
biker Eric Lamaire jumps the obstacle to win me expert men's race.
UNCA student Ken Lee finished in 13th place.
Bottom right, two local high school students compete in the
beginner's race. UNCA students Max Keller finished first in that
race, as well as Chris Bach in sixth. UNCA professor Chris Bell
finished eighth, and literature professor Ed Katz finished fifteenth.
Bucky the Badger tries to
beat body passing rap
(CPS) - The University of Wisconsin’s
mascot, Bucky the Badger, was arrested
for body passing during the fourth
quarter of the Wisconsin-Minnesota
football game Oct. 9.
It all started when Bucky tried to rile
up fans in the vicinity of sections O
and P, row 33, as the Badgers’ team
entered the final moments of their 45-
28 triumph over the Golden Gophers.
An overzealous fan lifted Bucky and
passed him toward the top of the sta
dium.
“What scared me the most was that
people were starting to say ‘ Over! Over!
Over.” said James Keefe, the man in
side the Bucky Badger suit, who
changed into a green
shirt and tan vest for
a television appear-
By the time he
reached row 48, po
lice officers had
pulled Keefe down.
Town of Madison
Police Sergeant Burt Boldebuck said
he tried to yell commands to Keefe
through the bulky Bucky Badger head
dress.
Keefe, however, ignored the officer
and started slapping high-fives with
the fans.
According to the police report,
Boldebuck and another officer escorted
Keefe to the police booth, where he
reiterated time and again he did not
hear Boldebuck’s commands.
Nevertheless, Keefe was issued a $ 141
citation for body passing.
“When we got in there, I still couldn’t
believe it,” Keefe said. “I was cracking
jokes left and right. And then he asked
"That's B-A-D-G-E-R."
James Keefe, the man
inside the Bucky the
Badger suit, when asked
how to spell his last
name by a cop.
me for my last name and I told him
Badger, that’s B-A-D-G-E-R,’ and he
was really upset about it.”
Finally, Keefe, who had played Bad
ger for his final game, was escorted
out of the stadium.
However, the Bucky Badger show
did not stop there. Keefe handed his
costume over to a fellow Bucky squad
member who played mascot for the
overtime period.
Keefe’s court date is set for 9 a.m. on
Dec. 6. Although he could simply pay
the $141 fine and have the incident
over with, Keefe plans to contest it.
“If I write out that check, that’s
saying that I planned to do a body
pass, and that’s some
thing I didn’t plan on,
and that’s something
I need to prove,” Keefe
said.
Hosts of the morn
ing show on Z104,
Marc Anthony and
Vicki McKenna, have
supported Keefe with their “Pass the
Buck for Bucky” programs.
They ask listeners to call in and
pledge $1 to “The Bucky Defense
Fund” to help Keefe with his legal
fees.
“The groundswell of support has
been awesome,” Anthony said the
night after the first fundraiser, where
he helped pull in about $25.
“What the great thing about it is, is
that they didn’t even call me. I got the
support like that,” Keefe said as he
snapped his fingers.
This story was written by Paul Alongi
and originally appeared in The Daily
Cardinal, the University of Wisconsin’s
student newspaper.
The Climbmax Sport Climbing Center is
hosting the 2nd Annual Foil Flashfest Com
petition this Sat,, Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. at 43
Wall Street, downtown. Climbers of all
interest and ability levels are welcome to
compete. For more info, coll 252-9996
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