Names and Games Remembered: Step Seven

Grantosa Drive will always hold a special place in my heart. Being part of the first class of students to matriculate from kindergarten through the sixth grade gave me an opportunity to make as much of an impression upon its fabric as it did upon mine. In order to protect the privacy of individuals in my past that may not want to be associated with my rendering of events I will only use first names or nicknames. In instances where I cannot recall or there is a duplicate name I will just fabricate a name to maintain continuity. This, of course, is not to say we did not have some great surnames. Quite the contrary, it is hard to imagine a finer assortment of family names. So, fortunate for you, I have decided to disclose a list of these without divulging the first names with which they are associated. Families having children at Grantosa Drive during its first years of existence included: Alioto, Badini, Bollman, Capizzi, Domnitz, Durocher, Eichman, Felde, Giese, Hodel, Hucstef, Johnson, Keller, Kunde, Loppata, Mahaffey, Medina, Nadolsky, Nathanson, Plevack, Rickun, Rushing, Schroeder, Simpson, Suckow, Valone, Vandenheuvel, Waldinger, Wambach and Ziebell. From this point forward you’ll have to rely on your intuitive sense to determine which first names in the stories already told and soon to be told go with this list. One of the unique features of Grantosa was it was built into the side of a hill. So, you could actually leave your first floor classroom with its towering windows looking out onto the front lawn and turn down a corridor which led directly into the basement of the building. All you had to do was open a door and the tile floors and acoustical tile ceiling disappeared and you were in a cement cavern. This area was perfect for the after school “social center” game we knew as bombardment, apropos of the sound balls made bouncing off the cement walls, floor and ceiling. Most of you are familiar with this game from the 2004 movie starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughan titled, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. As it would happen, the true underdog in this instance was yours truly. I distinctly recall being flat against the cement wall and having Fred and Charlie, two brothers with throwing arms like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, who had already knocked all the other members of my team off their feet. Wincing at the sound of the balls ricocheting off the walls I bent low enough to actually catch Fred’s ball and hold it out to repel Charlie’s throw. Then, as luck would have it, Gary, the best player on our team came back in to the game on my catch and he immediately caught the next throw by Charlie ending the game. Victory was oh so sweet! Now, I am sure you have some good underdog stories and maybe even a few good names to share. As usual, I welcome your comments.