In no particular order here are some of the lifelong friendships I forged during my four years at Xavier University:
Hot Apples, Thin Man, Dutch, LJ, Wally, Donger, Chubby Howard, Freaky Tiki, Fert, Maynard, Fly, T-Biscuit, Consuelo, Horsehead, Mr. Youngstown, Bittey Main, LC Greenwood, Dingo, Hanna Banana, Carol Marol, Flynner, Craiger, Cron, Dr. Nick, TK, Tone Loc, DC Cab, Johnny Jackass, LB, JB…
The list goes on, but I’ll stop there. Also the names have been changed to nicknames to protect the innocent (or, much more likely, the guilty).
Nearly 44 years ago, a poor hillbilly from Arkansas arrived on Xavier’s campus for freshmen orientation. (It was his first time seeing the campus – college visits during high school are for the coddled.) He carried nothing more than what could fit into his two suitcases. Along with some emotional baggage. And a healthy dose of trepidation. Coming from a high school graduating class of a whopping 19 people, in the sticks, just being in a city was daunting enough, let alone trying to make his way at a school he knew very little about.
He learned a bit in his classes. He learned a lot more from life beyond the classroom walls. In the dorms, in the cafeteria, at the b-ball games, at the bars.
A litany of happy memories. A life filled with friendship. My bank balance is still low (Mrs. Dubbatrubba can attest), but I’m not poor anymore. My life is so rich because of the friends I made more than four decades ago who are still my friends today. Friends who have been there for the ups and downs, the happy and the sad.
Life happens. And death too. We’ve lost a few friends, most notably LJ and Ned. We miss them every day, but we are grateful that they were part of our lives.
Thankfully, some of the folks listed above actually paid attention in classes. And they had the grand idea to start a new scholarship fund at Xavier. One that will provide a bit of a boost to kids who want to return to Xavier for their sophomore year, but are struggling to make the finances work. The math ain’t mathing, as we hillbillies say.
Several of us have anted up. (My contribution has fewer zeroes behind it, but every little bit helps.) LJ and Ned were the inspiration, but we want it to go beyond our core crew.
It’ll make sure that a kid… and eventually, with more contributions and the miracle of compounding interest, many kids… don’t get cheated out of happy memories and lifelong friends.
It’s called the XU Lifelong Friends scholarship fund.
A very fitting name for an extremely worthy cause. Because just like Xavier’s namesake Musketeers, we are “all for one and one for all.”
On Wednesday night at the Cintas Center, Xavier University’s on-campus arena, Brad Colbert sank a three-point shot against DePaul. Xavier was already up by 31 points, and there were less than 90 seconds left in the game. DePaul’s historically bad this year, and Xavier is struggling to finish above .500. A garbage basket against a garbage team in garbage time. No big deal.
Except it was a very big deal. Brad Colbert is a senior walk-on. He’s been busting his hump in every practice for four seasons — walk-ons have to learn every opponents’ offense in addition to their own offense — and rarely sees the court. All of the hard work, with none of the glory. And he had never made a bucket in his entire career. He was 0-6 in very limited minutes.
Until last night, most Xavier fans were only familiar with Brad thanks to his perm-mullet hairstyle. (It’s pretty sweet!) But now, he’s a legend.
[photo credit: Sam Greene, Cincinnati Enquirer]
And not for nothing, Brad’s three-pointer was Xavier’s 10th of the game… meaning Xavier fans could cash in on the Chick-fil-A promotion that offers free nuggets the next business day whenever X hits that mark in a home game.
Brad Colbert’s basketball career is winding down. He won’t go on to play in the NBA. But years from now, he’ll be driving past a Chick-fil-A and he’ll tell his kids the same story he’s told them many times before. How, on a dreary night in February, he came off a screen, stepped back, and totally nailed a three-point bucket that made the whole crowd go wild. It’s his very own “one shining moment.” And it’s pretty damn cool.
(This article from the Xavier fan site Banners On The Parkway does a great job summing up the magic of the moment. Well worth the read.)
My friend and co-worker Brian has an interesting side hustle. He prowls the sidelines of NFL games as “Who Dey” – the mascot for the Cincinnati Bengals.
He knows I’m a Raiders fan, that’s why he’s choking me… he’s much nicer to Mrs. Dubbatrubba.
He’s been “dressing up as a fake tiger” (his words, not mine) for more than 20 years — he’s getting a bit long in the fang for the mascot game. This feat is quite impressive when you consider how much of a physical workout it is. (Brian said on warmer game days, he’ll sweat off 10 pounds or more.)
And it’s even more impressive when you consider the fact that the Bengals were… let me put this politely… not good for much of his tenure. It can’t be much fun trying to fire up a sparse crowd — many of whom were probably rooting for the opposing team — during a 2-14 season.
I’m glad the Tiger tables have turned. If things go the Bengals way this Sunday, Brian will be going to the Super Bowl for the 2nd year in a row. Not bad for a side hustle. Or should I say “fur” a side hustle?
Xavier University’s website has a great profile of Brian here.
While he was in college, he was leading a mascot double life, as the “Blue Blob” mascot at Xavier sporting events, as well as doing his Who Dey thing.
And because Brian’s a natural ham, I cast him in a bunch of fun videos that I’ve scripted for our company over the years. One of my favorites was a buddy cop spoof — Brian and I were “Ham” and “Cheese” respectively, for obvious reasons.
In that video, we poked fun at some of the more arcane rules in the employee handbook, like “no t-shirts with inappropriate slogans” for our in-house fitness center. Here’s a quick clip from that:
I’m glad Brian’s still having fun hamming it up as Who Dey. Here’s hoping we see him at Super Bowl LVII in a few weeks!
I’m allergic to Excel spreadsheets. I’m a right brain, “outside the box” thinker, and Excel is nothing but boxes – row after row, column after column, constricting my weirdly-wired brain.
The Excel spreadsheet below is the exception to the rule. Instead of breaking out in hives, I break out in a big smile when I see it. Probably because it has nothing to do with “Objectives and Key Results” and “long-range planning”… and everything to do with fun and frivolity:
This is the list of the monthly happy hours — a.k.a. “Hoppy Hours” — that my Xavier University buddies and I have been organizing for nigh on two years now. I’ve posted about these gatherings before. The host picks a local brewery as the venue – and picks up the tab that month. Not everyone can make each month’s gathering, but the turnout is typically 6-10 guys.
The monthly meet-up has been an unmitigated success. A chance to connect, chew the fat and sip some suds. Laughter is always on the menu. (It’s also worth noting that nearly all of the venues are locally owned and operated establishments… so we’re stimulating the local economy. )
(BrewDog is a chain… but it’s also a B Corp)
The host names on the list may not mean much to you, but they mean the world to me. We’ve all made enough circles around the sun to realize that friendship is totally worth a fat bar tab once or twice a year. Cheers to my fellow Xavier Musketeers!
Every year, the men’s basketball teams from Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati square off on the court, in what’s known as the Crosstown Shootout.
There’s no love lost between the two teams… there was an ugly post-game brawl in 2011.
The fan bases can get rather rabid, too. With a bit of perspective, it seems silly for normally-sane adults to get so emotionally invested in a single basketball game between two groups of mostly teenagers. (But as a Xavier alum, I’m duty bound to mention the fact that my Musketeers have won 10 of the past 14… Let’s Go X!)
However, there’s a new XU-UC “shootout” going on right now where there are only winners: the local bar and restaurant workers. It started more than a month ago when a man and his daughter left a $1,000 tip at a venerable burger joint and finished off their note with “Go Xavier!”
Since then, fans of both schools have been engaged in a friendly game of one-upmanship, leaving monster tips at dozens of local restaurants.
This tip war isn’t a war of attrition, it’s a war of appreciation for the local restaurants and bars whose business has been crippled by coronavirus, and the workers who rely on tips to get by.
A rivalry between Cincinnati universities @uofcincy and @XavierU led to fans starting a tip war, leaving huge tips for servers at local restaurants. The "war" is still going a month later and has already raised more than $34,000 for Cincinnati restaurant workers. pic.twitter.com/PHPxUAO7Gg
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