Queen's Intramurals

I was out playing tennis this weekend with Sasha. It was a perfect September day -- sunny blue skies, not too hot and not too cold. Great for playing sports or going for a casual stroll. The park was packed with families, runners, cyclists, dogs and a few recreational baseball and soccers teams. A random few trees in the park have already completely turned beautiful orange and reds. It was a reminder that warm days are soon going to be behind us. Shorts and t-shirts exchanged for thick sweaters, touques and warm drinks. As I was playing tennis, I had some nostagia about playing outdoor sports in those colder fall days. At first, we would show up to the field chilly and bundled up, hestitant to strip down to our athletic gear. But, after a few minutes of running around and getting warmed we would adjust to the weather and be grateful to have the cool air against our flushed faces. Mike and I played intramural flag football together at Queen's under the Faculty of Medicine. Mike was our quarterback. As the only legitimate football player on the team he pretty much ran the show in terms of calling the offensive plays and coming up with defensive strategies. And he was good at it. The year before I joined the team Mike had won the intramural league. With a hodge podge of has-been and never-will-be Med School athletes, Mike had beaten some of the younger football jocks at their own game. We didn't end up winning the league the year I played (we came up short one playoff game) but we did win a lot of games with Mike at the helm. We played our games late at night under starry skies and field lights. The season went deep into the fall when the ground was hard and the sight of your own laboured breathing in the cold air reminded you of how hard you were really trying to win -- even though it was just an intramural league! Mike was in his element in those games and it was a fun to watch. I can picture him suited up with his k-way pants, fleece jacket and black toque scrammbling around the field evading tacklers and tossing balls to our receivers. It was so much fun and it a great memory to have. Tom