Touchdown!

Growing up my brothers and I loved to play sports. Our neighborhood was overwhelmingly boys. We used to play football in a large field behind our houses right up to and including snow on the ground. This one time it was late Autumn and there was a chill in the air. It had rained the day before and there was a sizable puddle near the corner of one end zone. It was cold enough that it was lightly frozen. If you stepped on it you would break through it.
Well the game got going and it was very spirited as most of our games tended to be. I remember one play where I was to run a corner pattern for a pass. That's where you run toward the middle of the field at a 45degree angle, fake and then run toward the corner of the end zone. Everything went well including the fake. I found myself wide open running to the corner. The quarterback saw me and threw a pass long and high in the direction of the corner end zone.
It's amazing what can go through your mind in just a few seconds. Here I am probably no more than 14 years old and I'm thinking that pass looks too long and high! I sure would like to catch it. But I'll really have to run and it looks like it's headed right for the giant half froze puddle in the corner. The only way I'm going to get it is if I jump as high as I can and lay out onto the ground. Which in this case meant the frozen puddle. What to do-hmmm.
There's no tv cameras no grandstands with cheering fans no huge contracts at stake no pretty cheerleaders to impress. Just a boy on a frozen field in the midwest in the mid 1960's. Just a pickup game. I swear all of that was going through my mind as I'm running to that corner. I thought to just let the ball go but I knew I could catch it so I went for it. CRACK--- SPLASH !
I laid there stunned. Everyone ran over to me to check if I was alright. Yeah I'm alright -just wet and cold I said. One of the other teams players looked at me on the ground cocking his head one way then the other. You know Dave actually I think really you are out of bounds. The others came and looked and the general agreement was that I was just out by inches! They all looked at each other and nodded in agreement. But that was the best pass catch we have ever seen they said so--TOUCHDOWN!
Stay tuned.