First and foremost, this picture is dedicated to a buckeye fan by the name of Chad Hamm. He's going to give me crap about this one. I told him a while back, "even know I love recruiting and evaluating all these kids, you won't find me sweating them and getting pictures taken with 18 yr old kids". Guess what, last night at The Downtown Athletic Club Of Columbus Banquet held at the LC Pavilion, I broke that golden rule. That's right folks, Here's a 39 YR old man with a goofy smile on his face with, not one, not two, but three 18 yr old kids and the only thought on my mind was "wait til Chad sees this", I'm such a hypocrite.
This banquet hosts all the blue chip players in Ohio and some of the college football stars of today......Montee Ball and Kellen Moore were just a couple in attendance. One positive about the picture above is to show how big these Michigan 2012 commitments are. As you can see, I am quite the specimen at 5'9" 175 lbs, all muscle of course. This picture shows Toledo Whitmer DE Chris Wormley to my right, 6'5" 250 lbs. That house with a tie on my immediate left is OL Kyle Kalis from Lakewood, 6'5" 305 lbs and 6'6" 265 lb Mentor, Ohio DE Tom Strobel on the end. All three kids were very well spoken and humble, to be totally honest with you, they were the three biggest kids in the house last night including college players also, hands down. Kalis is one of those kids that shakes the building with every step he takes, he seems to receive a simultaneous gasp from the crowd when he steps on stage because of his size.
OK, OK, I have to talk about this story because it was funnier than hell. Ohio fans may not want to hear this part of the story, but hey, they brought it on their selves. Jerry Kennedy, a friend of mine, who is an avid ND fan and financial advisor has graciously invited me to this banquet the last two years. By far, we have the most obnoxious table at the event. Receiving sideways looks from people and other tables full of people is just the norm. Sitting to my right was Jerry, to my left was Pitt RB, Ray Graham and beside him was ex Pitt QB, Pat Bostick. At the table to our left sat two ex ND coaches who just joined Urban Meyers staff at Ohio. This is just to paint a picture for you before I tell you about the final award given of the night, which was brilliant to some ( me and jerry, Ray Graham and Bostick ) and a heart breaker for others, Ohio fans and the table next to us. By the way, Ray Graham and Bostick fit right in with us, it was clearly evident they were amused by our table to say the least.
The final award recipient of the evening was Wisconsin RB Montee Ball. Ball received two awards and after his brief speech Ball started to walk off stage without grabbing both his award trophies. At this time, the MC, who looked like the kin of the man behind the curtain in The Wizard Of Oz, says these words with no hesitation " don't forget these awards up here, we'll sell em ". Now, the MC probably didn't realize that he just set up the biggest joke of the evening, and also didn't realize that the man to my right, my friend Jerry Kennedy had the punchline ready as if it was prepared all along. Jerry, with a not so quiet voice and a somewhat suddenly silent room hollered these priceless words " that's true, this is Ohio ". If I was drinking something it would have been all over the entire table and everyone sitting at it. Unfortunately I wasn't and a solid belly laugh was released at a high volume, Pitt RB Ray Graham and Pat Bostick seemed to be quite amused as well as a few others. Who wasn't you ask? Well, the two ex ND coaches at the next table who have transplanted to Urban Meyers staff gave a non appreciated look, but nobody cared what they thought anyways.
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