I STILL MISS THE CAMELS

When Scott was in high school he and several buddies and occasionally his little sis would make movies in our basement. Most involved WWF wrestling with Paul Ferguson and Scott in starring roles.

Other stars included Wil Lash, Chris Kirk, Todd Hanger, Brad Zinn, Courtney, and a host of extras. Filming took place in our kitchen once as Andre the Giant cooked a hot dog. Erica Laird once starred in a film session at the Ferguson's where Kirk or maybe Scott took quite a fall, all for the camera, of course, off the Ferguson deck.

But a prop in many, many videos was "the camel." He had a name, but I've forgotten it. He was known throughout the high school community as "the camel." Once, he even appeared in an assembly in the gym. It wasn't announced, but various outbreaks of "the camel," were heard in Chagnon.

When I entered the MVRL,natually my team name would be based on this huge stuffed animal; thus, the Blazing Camels were born. When it became football season, the Camelotters were christened. The otter part came form our whiffleball field Camel-lot, since there was primarily only concrete in the field of play. When basketball season rolled around, it was time for the Camel Jockeys, since I followed the NBA so sparingly back then. Ironically, two of the three titles won were as the Camel Jockeys.

I changed the names of all my teams because of the image of Camels, the cigarette. I didn't want my teams associated with such a product. So the Blazing Camels became the Flying Chaucers and the Camelotters, the Burrowing Owls. But I still miss the big stuffed guy and all the fun those guys had making the movies. And I miss the titles. The Chaucers and Owls have yet to taste the grapes of victory as champions of the MVRL.