Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A visit from Bambi

What a great antidote for an otherwise gloomy Tuesday: Our old pal Michael J. Bamberger was in town for a lively visit to the McCann Center.

You remember Bambi: The Ayatollah of Schmoozolah. The Mayor of McCann. Everybody's Best Friend.

And, oh yeah: A great former captain and multiple school record holder. When the "Bro of the Boards" graduated with his classmates, out the door walked the best relay teams I ever had the honor to coach. I knew it, too. Last winter and spring was a vast wasteland of middle-distance running without Bambi and Friends. But that will change, my friends. Stay tuned.

Anyway, when you put all his joking and schmoozing aside, there's no one I would trust more with a relay stick in his hand than Bambi. Don't think for a second that he doesn't miss it, either. As he watched the women's team do intervals in McCann (yes, we were inside on this hideous day), he reminisced about ripping out 53-second, workout-ending quarters on that ancient and slippery 160-meter oval.

He misses it. I miss having him around. No really, I do.

Sure, he annoyed the heck out of me as he held court with the current team members, half of whom he never even ran with. He told stories about stuff I didn't even know he did, which of course didn't go over well with his old coach. He knew it, too. It's all part of the Bambi Charm.

Speaking of which: Why does everyone who has ever worked in McCann love this guy? He's like a Hug Magnet! Man, oh man.

Yeah, it was great having Bambi back for the day. Like all alums, he is welcome anytime.

Love ya, BRO!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

On a lighter note: This article and Walsh's comments made me realize - the thing that this blog is missing is a forum. Pretty soon it'll be the next Letsrun.com. Let the trash talking begin!

Chris Camp said...

What Walsh comments? And why is Bamburger always hugging everything?!

Pete said...

Camp: Thanks for reading and sorry for the confusion. I deleted Walsh's comments. I don't want the comments section to turn into lengthy threads a la letsrun (sorry, Mike G.). All are welcome to comment at any time and say whatever you want. If I don't like what you say, I'll remove it. Have a great day.

Chris Camp said...

The issue still remains that Bamburger hugs way too many people. That will get him in trouble one of these days especially if he goes into the police force as I heard he is considering.