Friday October 3, 1986
The City on a warm and beautiful October morning
What a nice day! The first ten days of October are the most beautiful times in San Francisco. Today was perfect.
When I woke up, I slid open the bay window to take it all in. The air was warm but not hot, and you knew it was going to be an epic weather day.
It reminded me of the Bruce/Mahoney game when we played Sacred Heart at Kezar my junior year in 1966. And today, twenty years later, the same teams played for the Bruce/Mahoney Trophy at Kezar.
I was there.
Kezar Stadium on a football Friday afternoon
Before the game, St. Ignatius held a reception to honor our 1966 AAA Championship team. I got to see a lot of the old guys. Pete Cassidy, Colin O’Connell and I were kinda the stars since we were involved with the miracle play that won the Turkey Day Championship game in the last 30 seconds.
Everybody still looked pretty good.
I talked to Cassidy, who’s a captain in the SFFD now — looked right out of central casting wearing his Super Bowl ring, a blue pinstripe suit, and a red power tie. The rest of us were all wearing jeans and t-shirts.
I remember when he came into the fire department and gotta lot of ink being a former Oakland Raider. So I could see where his notoriety could some day make him Chief of the Department. Still has a full head of hair with just a perfect touch of gray on the temples. I was a little jealous. My hair is starting to go in the back and on the sides.
Cassidy said he’s got a 2-year old son named Emmett. I was hoping to see his wife Gina Fratelli, but she wasn’t there. He’s still living in the Octagon House up in Sunset Heights. I remember watching from my bedroom on 23rd Avenue as that place got built. It was my dream house — Cassidy has been living my dream life!
Colin O’Connell, on the other hand, looked a little rough. He’s an alky and works for Brinks. What a waste. He had it all in front of him: 4.0 student and more. I guess everything just came too easy for him. Then it all just got away from him with the booze. Said he just got married. We were best friends when we were kids and all the way through S.I. He gave me his number and wants to get together. I think I will.
Things were a lot better today than in 1966. We were “The Miracle Team” that beat Lowell on Turkey Day to win the AAA City Championship that year . . . but we lost the Bruce/Mahoney game to SH 18-13.
Today, S.I. kicked the Irish’s ass, 35-6.
Wish we could have done that 20 years ago. Our coach Paganini wasn’t too happy about it that day. I’ll never forget practice the following Monday. Paganini beat the shit out of us. But it toughened us up, and in the end we were ready to win the championship on a miracle play.
Before the game, the St. Ignatius held a reception to honor our 1966 AAA Championship team. So I got to see a lot of the old guys. Cassidy, O’Connell and I were kinda the stars since we were involved with that miracle play which won the Turkey Day Championship game in the last 30 seconds.
Everybody still looked pretty good.
I talked to Pete Cassidy. He’s a captain in the SFFD now. I remember when he came into the fire department he got a lot of ink being a former Oakland Raider. So I could see where with his notoriety he could someday make him Chief of Department.
The rest of us were all wearing jeans and sweaters. He was wearing his Super Bowl ring and a blue pinstripe suit and a red power tie. Still has a full head of hair with just a perfect touch of gray on the temples. I was a little jealous. My hair now is starting to go in the back and on the sides.
Cassidy looked right out of central casting. Said he’s got a 2-year old son, named Emmett. I was hoping to see Gina Fratelli, his wife but she wasn’t there. He’s still living in the Octagon House up in Sunset Heights. I remember watching from my bedroom on 23rd Avenue as that place got build. It was my dream house. Cassidy has been living my dream life!
Colin O’Connell looked a little rough. He’s an alky and works for Brinks. What a waste. He had it all in front of him. 4.0 student. I guess everything just came too easy for him. Then it all just got away from him with the booze. Said he just got married. We were best friends when we were kids and all the way through S.I. He gave me his number and wants to get together. I think I will.
S.I. kicked the Irish’s ass today, 35-6.
Wish we could have done that 20 years ago when the Irish beat us 18-13. Our coach, Paganini wasn’t too happy about it that day. I’ll never forget practice the following Monday. Paganini beat the shit out of us. But it toughened us up, and in the end we won on a miracle.