Pokemon. Yeah. OK. Now, get outta the street, will ya?

Yesterday, I was driving through campus, around the area of the chapel, when I happened upon a group of people in the road. I thought it was a tour, and I politely stopped. It wasn’t a tour. These people weren’t moving. And then, I saw Mark Valentino, who was in the group. What a TREAT! Tino is here for the week, along with others, to complete some graduate school work. He came up to my car. “Coach!” he said, ever excited as always. “We’re playing Pokemon. Have you heard of it?” Well. Yeah. Sorta. But, why were all you schmoes out on the ROAD?

I would find out further details later, when I loaded the minivan with my son Joey and his FDR cross country teammates for the New Paltz Summer XC Series at Minnewaska. I call this the “punk brigade,’’ because they are all high school juniors and seniors, and they are boys. Great kids, all of them; high achieving students, hard-working runners. Just like the men I coach at Marist. But, they are boys, and as a result, the conversations are usually steer toward, let’s just say, less mature topics. My usual strategy is to put on XM Channel 23, mellow out, and half tune them out. My ears still catch bits and pieces of the boyish banter. Among last night’s topics: Pokemon. Several of the boys are currently obsessed about it. As I was shuttling them home late at night, on a curvy, dark, back road in Hyde Park, I saw three individuals darting dangerously across the road. Pokemon. Really? GET INSIDE ALREADY, PEOPLE!

This morning, on NPR, I heard a full report on the latest Pokemon craze. Basically, it’s like a virtual scavenger hunt, utilizing an App on your smart phone. That’s about all I got for you, in the way of an explanation. If I continue further, I will sound like the uninformed idiot that I am on this topic. Anyway! It’s among the best-selling Apps of late. Everyone’s into it. Purportedly, it’s good! It gets lazy kids off the couch and outside. Sounds all well and good. Until you wander in front of an 18-wheeler in search of … whatever it is you are searching for. I think Joey (front seat in the punk brigade) summed it up best when he said this app was a fad in the same mold at Trivia Crack (remember THAT?). Perhaps he is correct. In the meantime? Please. Have your Pokemon fun, if you must. But stay the heck out of the road, and out of harm’s way. Thank you.