Memorable gifts of Christmas past
Nothing against beef sticks, calendars and gift cards — I wouldn’t say no to any of those gifts — but when I think of memorable stuff I’ve found under the tree, other gifts come to mind.
ONE YEAR when we were living in Spokane, my oldest brother Jim, who lives in Oregon, visited us over the holidays.
More intriguingly, he brought a video game that was all the rage at the time.
Pong.
We couldn’t wait to hook that baby up, to our downstairs black-and-white TV.
In those days, having a second TV was almost a luxury, but it worked out great as we scrunched in between the TV and the combination pool table/laundry-folding table, and “ponged” away.
At that time, the realization that you could do something else with a TV than, well, watch TV was somewhat of an eye-opener.
MOST KIDS of that age that were into sports can probably tell stories of their first electric football game — which seemed like a good idea at the time, until every running play seemed to degenerate into a scrum. And good luck trying to throw a pass or kick with that little felt football.
One game I got that was even more fun was something called Foto-Electic Football. As I remember it, you put down a card on top of the box with your play on it, the other guy put down a card on top of it with his defense, you turned the light on the box and, depending on how the cards lined up, you either had a big gain or the defense stopped you. If you chose, say, a running play, there was a lined path on the card where the ballcarrier ran. And when you turned the light on, if that line bisected a defensive player on the other guy’s card, that is where the “tackle” occurred.
Another year I got a game called Talking Football. It came with little discs and a player to put them in.
You’d pick out a disc based on the play you want, put it in the player, press something and there would be a recording of a play-by-play announcer describing the outcome of the play.
Such as ...
“It’s to the tight end. On a down-and-out. Complete! Gain of 15 yards!”
I still wonder why we didn’t hang on to those games.
BUT PERHAPS the most memorable Christmas gift I ever received was a kicking tee.
Why?
I don’t know.
Maybe because it was something you could do with a football that didn’t require another person, like playing catch.
Anyway, this was back in the early 1970s, when soccer-style kickers like Jan Stenerud and the Gogolak brothers were starting to become popular. But I still fancied myself a straight-on kicker, like Bruce Gossett of the Rams and later the 49ers.
So one Christmas in Salt Lake City, I got a kicking tee.
As I remember it, my oldest brother Jim, who was staying with us at the time, built a goalpost out of some pieces of wood that we had lying around outside. I’m sure my dad was shaking his head, wondering how this wood he had brought home for whatever project he had in mind was now being used for a couple of uprights and a crossbar.
And I’m sure the neighbor wondered about this contraption propped up against our chain link fence.
Anyway, it was a mild Christmas, so I kicked and I kicked and I kicked — and hopefully didn’t hit the neighbor’s house too many times — and then it was time for Christmas dinner.
Afterward, as I reflected on my Christmas haul for the year, I remembered how happy I was that mom and dad bought me a kicking tee.
I remembered that I had left it outside after our day of kicking, and I thought I’d better go find it before something bad happened to it.
Unfortunately, our wiener dog, Casey, had found it first.
The posts on the back of the tee had been chewed down to the nub. The tee was essentially worthless now — unless I needed a doorstop or a paperweight.
First I was mad. Then I was sad. My prized present was ruined.
I wanted to be mad at the dog, but in the end I had to blame this one on myself.
And besides, how could I be mad at Casey?
She was such a good dog.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.