Finders' keepers

Last week, while jogging with Fast Tony, he turned to me and said, “Hey Pete, where’d you get those nice Asics running pants?”

Funny story, actually.

These Asics pants were not ones that the team ordered. They were not ones that I ordered with our fancy 45 percent apparel discount with my favorite shoe company. Nope. These pants were acquired the old-fashioned way: Finders’ keepers.

As most readers of this blog are aware, our teams use the lobby of the McCann Center as their de facto locker room. Backpacks, sweatshirts, books, hats, gloves, sneakers – and yes, apparently even really cool Asics running pants – are left strewn about the McCann Lobby. This is pretty much an accepted fact of life.

However, some team members – guys, mostly – tend to “mark their territory” by inadvertently leaving their stuff around the lobby. There is a lost-and-found in the Operations Room Closet off the lobby. But generally, if stuff that looks like ours is left laying around the lobby, I pick it up and put it in my office (if I’m going that way) or in the trunk of my car (if I’m going that way).

Then, I make an announcement asking if anyone was looking for “fill-in-the-blank.” If there are no takers within a week, a month, whatever, it goes from “lost-and-found” to “found” – in my closet.

By the way, late last semester, I found a whole bounty of stuff in the McCann lobby that remains in the trunk of my car. Since the team was scattered during finals week and beyond, let this post be an announcement that I found, in no particular order:

1-A pair of black running pants (not my size, not interested)
2-A gray hooded sweatshirt (not my size, not interested)
3-A pair of dirty socks (not tube socks, definitely not interested)
4-A Nike team bag with the name “Keegan” written in magic marker on it (well, that narrows it down a bit)

So, anyone that wants to claim these items, feel free (Keegan? Meegan?).

In addition, although the statute of limitations has long since expired on the running pants, if you are interested, they are: size L, nice warm lining, zip pockets … in short, sweet for cold morning runs. If you think they are yours and you want to break your old coach’s heart, you can claim them.

Otherwise, if you leave your stuff behind and cannot find it, ask me. Chances are, I’ve got it. Somewhere.