St Ignatius High School - Ignatian Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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Left: Ron Aukerman prepares to rifle the ball downfield. Many dreams of supcrbowls and Alcoa comeback commercials are fulfilled in quagmires of local parks. Below: Smelling a touchdown. Kevin McQucary stretches the ball forward past the goal line. Vince Ruffa fails to strip the ball from Kevin. Below Plowing like a Mack truck. Neil Hagan carries a full load for six points. Defenders Sean Kilbanc and Chris Allen, dismayed at Neil’s power, could not summon the courage or strength to stop him. Saturday Football 27

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Above- Sean Kilbane expresses the grimace of a hard-earned victory. He prepares to shake the frozen ground with the ball in the spirit of an NFL player. risp. My feet crunch in the frosty grass. A brown watermelon sails through the air with the finesse of a flying cow. Bad pass. I'll jump. I jump, stretching, twisting, and straining for that air-filled skin. A pig died so I could make this catch. I think. I grab the ball, not too hard: it snugs into my basket. But I never saw the defender. Right there all along. Too much effort to go for the ball: he wants to punish me for making the catch. The ground rushes up to collide with my body. I peel myself from earth. My mind still spins. My lungs still heave. We call a huddle. I really need a time-out, guys. I suggest. We call time out. The quarterback draws some lines in the dirt. Everyone ignores the lines. Everyone just go out. We all agree. I'll just sit out this play, I think. I’m still panting. Quarterback barks, backpedals, and scans the field. I take a few steps and catch my breath. Quarterback eyes a man downfield and fires. Eyes follow the arc of the ball. It's smooth. Silk. He bumbles the catch. Defender rips the ball from its unstable grasp. He charges towards me. I don't particularly like trying to stop moving trains, but I guess I have to. I'm the last man between that bull and the end zone. I run at him. I collide with his legs, churning pistons. He bucks my chin. My teeth chop into my tongue. He drags me into the end zone. I flap from his legs like a damn flag in the wind. They are winning. After spitting the blood from my mouth. I set myself to return the kick-off. Kicker punts the ball. It spirals toward the blue. My ball. I stand between the ball and the ground. My team forms a wall. The ball sinks into my arms. I dart forward right between two defenders. Arms reach and lock onto my clothes like burrs. Burrs really annoy me. I burst forward and shake off the grips. I can hear my adrenalin pumping in unison with my heart. All the way. I think. I tail behind Blocker. He dumps a guy onto the brittle grass. Someone drops on me from behind. Just not fast enough. I collapse under his weight. Again. I meet the hard ground. Half the field to go for a TD. We go through the offensive routine: I call a timeout. This time I will go all out. As Quarterback fades. I surge forward. Fly pattern. Endzone approaches rapidly. Lame duck approaching over my shoulder. I whip around to snag it. Defender rushes at me madly. I beat him: he must be angry. Ball tucks into safety. I dash to the endzone. ten yards ahead. Defender is on my back again. I refuse to buckle. Instead. I shake him off: I hate burrs. I smile as I cross the goal line. Ball spikes the ground. Score now tied, but it's only noon. We have five hours of game left to play. 26 A Day in the Life

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AWAY FROM HOME «------ Mr. Jim Hogan insisted on something more Christian than Hardbodies. 99 Above: Among the magnificent sculptures of Versailles crouches this scythe-wielding creation. The Blind Man. Students spent a day exploring the gardens and palace of France's royalty. urope. the land of opportunity: Paris. London, Rome, and the Bavarian Motor Works. The continent across the Atlantic seemed so far away. The only exposure that I had to Europe was Chevy Chase's movie. It was pretty funny. But besides that, all I knew about Europe was that the Nile was its largest river. And so it was the summer of my junior year that I was given the opportunity to cross the Atlantic. I could actually go to Europe for the low price of $2,100. The best thing about it was that I could go there for credit. Not extra, just credit. The Theology Department was offering a summer program to visit Europe for eighteen days. That's seventeen nights for you and me. So. equipped with a suitcase and $500 to spend. I boarded the plane. And nodded off to never, never land. I slowly slipped from the grasp of sleep's warm and comforting arms. I realized that I was not at home. But where was I? Some strange man in muscle-T's had my passport. I saw who was sitting in front of me. It was Tod Christensen, the big tight-end for the Raiders. What was he doing here? And that's Geoff Neri. My dream had become a nightmare. Oh. of course! The theology trip! That was Mr. James Skerl sitting in front of me, not Tod Christensen. The plane trip lasted forever. I sat cramped next to Steve Lavelle. wondering when the movie would be shown. It was either Rambo I or Death Wish IV. I wanted to see Hardbodies. but Mr. Jim Hogan, our chaperone, insisted on something more Christian. So we watched Over the Top starring Sylvester Stallone. When we finally landed in Munich. Germany. I had already downed ten packs of chewing gum, seventeen containers of Tic-Tacs, and several cases of gobstoppers. I always believed a man needs a balanced diet. In Munich, we visited the prison of Dachau. Talk about emotional roller coaster. I knew already that this trip was going to be special. Witnessing the horror firsthand chilled my spine. I was glad to leave that place. And fast. I never before had come so close to history. And this was theology class. We travelled the world. In England, we visited London and Canterbury. In Italy, we went to the landmarks of Florence. Venice. Rome, and of course Vatican City. We saw the Pope. He was great. We fled to the Tower in Paris and the Mountains in Geneva. God was indeed in nature. As I sat in my seat listening to the engine, my mind slipped the surly bonds that confined my body to this earth. And I began to relive my most recent wanderings. Oh. Muse. I saw the green and misty mountains that surround Switzerland as well as the twisted steel fences that surround Dachau. I recalled the majesty of a castle built on the whim of an insane king and the sobering splendor of churches built by generations of faithful paupers. I watched thousands of people strain their every sinew to the max. just to see the Pope. And I saw those thousands walk by a starving child in the streets. I beheld the Pieta and the Mona Lisa from behind glass because people have tried to destroy them. And I saw myself for the first time. 28 A Day in the Life