College Calls

Another autumn gem of a weekend here in PinFland. An all day beach excursion with Sophie on Saturday that included the Juno Beach Art and Crafts Festival was followed by our main event, Villanova-Northwood. This event became more exciting the closer to tip-off we got. Sophia, worldly as she is for an eight year-old, lacks completely the experience of sporting events with which to compare. There was a palpable buzz on campus as we made our way to the brand new Countess de Hoernle field house. About the size of a typical high school gymnasium, it was a real treat to see a Division 1 basketball team this close. Throughout the game Sophia screamed, hooted, and hollered for "her" Wildcats. She had tried to get me to buy her a posterboard to make signs supporting her 'Cats. I declined. She of course had other plans. She brought along her pad and markers and made "Go Wildcats!!" signs, and "Boo Seahawks", waving them throughout the game. Funny stuff.

The "game" in of itself really wasn't about winning or losing, rather it was more a story of recognition, and in this way Northwood did just that. In attendance were rollie Massimino's long time friends and almost his entire championship squad from 1985. Really neat. Villanova's team seemed like giants sitting as close as we did, not to mention next to the Northwood team. One of the nicest touches were some of the Hall of Famers in attendance, Chuck Daley, Billy Cunningham, and even hockey great Bobby Orr(seated coutside in photo to left). Incredibly many in attendance either didn't know of this, or were too young to know who they were. We happened to be making our way to the concession stand and I came face to face with NBA great Billy Cunningham. I asked if I could have a photo of Sophia and him, and he was most obliging, bending down low so that I could fit his 6 7" frame into the photo with Sophia. I didn't realize my camera was set to video though, so I got a mini video instead.

While walking back to the car we passed the student housing, which in this case are cute townhouses. Sophia asked who lived in these and I told her the students. She was surprised and asked where their parents lived. At home I told her, and that college was a special time that you got to live in a little house with other girls while you studied. She warmed to the idea and said she'd like to attend Northwood, that way she could be close to her mami and me.

For Sophia college must seem like light years away. For me it looms just beyond tomorrow's horizon. I can only hope that she'll feel this way when she's 19. My heart hopes she's close, but my mind tells me she's going to go far, from home and in her life. Either way, I'm sure she'll remember this, her first "college visit".