The Jacket

It was around 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning and I was bent over my parent's dining room table reading the sports page of the Los Angeles Times.   It was 1966, half way through my senior year in college and I needed a jacket.  I walked  into the kitchen and dialed Hickson's apartment.

He answered, "Hello?"

I said, "I need a jacket."

Hickson said, "Jesus, ten in the morning and you're off and running with the weird stuff already."

I said, "Nothing weird about it.  I need a jacket."

Hickson said, " You want to borrow mine?"

I said, "Why would I want to borrow a jacket when they're giving them away?  Did you see the sports page yet?"

Hickson sounded annoyed, "Hurry, you're losing me."

Where upon I unveiled my plan, "There is an article in here that explains why our track team lost a meet to Arizona State yesterday by 2 points.  And I quote, 'contributing to the loss was the fact that Arizona State collected all 18 points for the high jump and pole vault as occidental had no one competing in these events.'  Are you getting the picture now?"

Hickson, still annoyed, "I'm done with that."

I asked facetiously, "Hickson, where's your school spirit?  They don't have anyone that can compete in these events and there's only 3 or 4 more meets left.  The track coach is new.  He doesn't know us from Adam – we'll have a clean slate.  We just volunteer our services, score a few points for the team, and a month from now, collect our jackets."

As freshman, Hickson and I competed in these events but we both lost interest before the year was out.  Even though it had been three years since we had put on a pair of track shoes, we were better than no shows.  Hickson was actually quite a bit better.  Four years ago he was ranked the fifth best high school pole vaulter in the entire USA.

The following week we meet with the track coach, Dean Brittenham.  We told him that we wanted to come out and try to help fill in.  We were expecting that he would welcome us to the team.  Coach Brittenham said he was against the idea but he would let it be a decision made by the team.  He would schedule a team meeting, call for a vote and get back to us.  He told us that to his way of thinking, it would be an injustice to the track team members who work out all year, if he were to allow us to show up out of the blue.  Hickson and I were speechless.

Outside after the meeting with the coach, Hickson asked,"What the hell was that all about?"

I offered, "Maybe he was playing us, like that Solomon deal where he threatens to cut the baby in half?"

Hickson, angry now, "Lets forget the whole thing.  How did this get blown up into such a big deal?"

I said, "We needed to say that in there, it's too late now.  We just have to see how it goes".

We were informed later that the team had met and voted to allow us to join the team.  The following Saturday, the University of California at Berkeley's track team  arrived at Occidental's Patterson Field  to compete in a track meet.  Occidental had an impressive tradition in track and field having held their own with the likes of USC, UCLA and other division I schools.  However, the difference in student body size (2,000 versus 45,000) had taken its toll in recent years.  CAL and other west coast Division I schools still competed with Occidental in track at that time, but this would end in a few years.  This particular year, Oxy was on a par with CAL.  I won the high jump as CAL was weak in the event and Hickson took second in the vault.  Oxy was headed for an upset win when in the last event, its relay team dropped the baton.

On the following day, Sunday, I went to the kitchen to answer the phone.  It was Hickson, "Did you see the paper?"

I said, "No, why?"

Hickson continued, "You won't believe it!  I'm going ape shit!"

I said, "I'm happy for you."

Hickson, still excited, "Our names are in the paper, a big column about the track meet that Oxy almost won thanks to two ghosts from out of the past.  This is outstanding, you've got to see this."

The following Monday we were met by Coach Brittenham at practice.  He was livid.  He told us he should have gone with his instinct and never let us join the team.  From his point of view, the paper had made us out to be the cavalry and the rest of the team, who had worked hard all year long, were the klutzes who were responsible for blowing it.  We reminded him that we were just in the track meet, we didn't write the article.  This was not well received.  Eventually, he cooled down and we finished the season with the team and got our jackets.  Forty nine years later, I still have my jacket.  I wore it to play poker a couple of months ago.