Something I need to establish is that I lived for gym class and recess. It wasn’t just that I enjoyed playing games and running around. It was far beyond that. I loved sports and I loved competing. It was a love of sport that became an obsession and a tremendous source of building self-worth. I don’t think I can overstate the importance that sport played in my life at that time and how it shaped my personality and standing within the class. There was a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde about me. When I wasn’t playing sports, I was relatively amiable. However, my demeanor would significantly change during recess or gym class, it was a mix of John McEnroe meets Jimmy Connors. Even though I never played tennis, those are the best examples I can think of. Ultra-competitive, obsessed, intense, married with a temper and a lack of self-control. Don’t I sound like great company? Dodgeball was a popular game at recess and provided a good example of the social pecking order. We played with an inflated red rubber ball that when thrown with velocity would make a thudding, loud noise when it bounced off the walls or worse if it hit it’s intended target. Michael was often the target and easy prey.
I can recall very well lining him up as he ran across the gym floor, his feet would move quickly but his knees would barely raise up, so he wasn’t actually moving that fast. I would race to the dividing line and whip that ball as hard as I could at his legs…………Bang! The ball would detonate off his legs, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing to the gym floor. Everyone in the gym would collectively go “Ooh!!” once he was hit and then laugh as he fell down from having his legs taken out from under him. It was almost like a video game from the 1980’s where a figure comes scurrying across the screen only to be forcibly taken out. The laughing is what sent Michael over the edge. Being the object of ridicule understandably enraged him and he came running up to me, his cheeks puffing in and out and his small eyes narrowed in anger. As he ran up to me and squared up, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t remember what he said, but I instinctively responded with a two-handed shove to the chest that took him off his feet and sent him crashing again to the floor. The class reacted first with an audible, “Woah!” then laughter. This time the humiliation was utter and complete, he got up crying and scurried away, swearing his revenge. That was a huge moment looking back. Michael was viewed as a whiny, less than masculine, sniveling misfit and that reputation would only worsen as the school year progressed.
In the gym we had basketball rims that were approximately 9 feet high. Remember the baskets that I was practicing my dunks on in front of Jessica? Well, they were definitely a foot lower than regulation 10-foot rims. The baskets were stand-alone structures connected to a thick metal pole and a heavy, round metal base. The metal base had two small wheels at the back so you could move the baskets to accommodate half court matches. Which was often the case because the girls would get the other half of the gym during recess. What would they do during recess? Pull out gym mats and do half-ass gymnastics if memory serves me correct. I loved those low rims and there were many occasions when I would imagine that I was Dominique Wilkins. As great a player as Michael Jordan was, Wilkins was my favorite dunker. I would use any opportunity to practice my dunks on those rims. The boys in the class would lose patience at times because I would take the first 5 minutes of recess to show off my various dunks. I remember in spring of ’89 finally being able to throw down a two handed reverse dunk and being over the moon. That was my favorite type of dunk at the time and I loved trying to replicate the dynamic moves of Wilkins. Most of Jordan’s dunks were with one hand and I could never palm a basketball, so two handed power dunks were always what I worked on. There was a basketball rim in the alley behind Ann and Greg’s house that was similar in height to the rims at Gospel Outreach. That spring I absolutely pulverized that poor rim with hundreds of dunks.
Back to the basketball games at recess. They would be intense affairs, especially when John was matched up with me. John was such a hack and he would foul me on almost every play. I was a pretty big kid and I would embrace the physicality, but sooner or later I would get fed up with John and let him have it. There was more than one occasion when after a hard foul I’d simply punch John in the side of the arm as hard as I could. It was like punching a bag packed with sand. John would let out an anguished yell, the other kids would yell at John for being a hack and we’d simply get on with the game. The teachers apparently never saw this, the administration was out to lunch for much of 8th grade. One example of John’s super strength was on one occasion when we were jostling under the basket for rebounding position. It was getting very physical as I tried to move John out of the way. I threw an elbow and John locked onto my arm. I tried to break free but it was like my arm was in a vice. Then John flung me over to the side like I was a ragdoll and I staggered back. You did not mess with John in those moments. It was like the Waterboy meets The Incredible Hulk. There was never any ill will after the games, but during recess it was a battle. I wanted to win every single time we played, and every game was life and death for me. Each recess I would work myself up into a sweaty, intense, easily aggravated jerk who didn’t care about anything else but winning. Not just winning but being completely dominant was the goal. I was a big fish in a very little pond. I decided to orchestrate different ways to display my absolute athletic dominance over the class. One day I decided to issue a challenge to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Me against the JV in a game of dodgeball.
The challenge was accepted, and it was game on. I knew the tactics that I wanted to employ: Get rid of all the easy targets quickly. This really was survival of the fittest and very Darwinistic. I picked out all the slow-moving easy prey, mercilessly lined them up and whipped that red, inflated rubber ball at them. This initial tactic served its purpose of thinning out the herd. Now it was time to eliminate some of the real threats. Danny would have been one of the tougher outs in dodgeball. He threw the ball pretty hard, but he had a big windup and you could brace yourself. He was also very good at getting low and catching a ball targeted for him. The best way to get Danny was to have a ball and entice Danny to throw his ball first, then use the ball I had to block his throw and then sprint to the halfway line and nail him before he had opportunity to set himself. Soon enough I had gotten rid of Danny. I was now like Sherman on his march through the South during the Civil War, tearing through the junior high of Gospel Outreach. One by one I was picking off the remaining targets until there was only one kid left: Kevin.
Kevin had been clever to survive to this point. He really hadn’t done much and he hadn’t put himself at risk. Kevin was a 6th grader, very tall and skinny with glasses. He was not athletic, and he could be a real smartass. His mom worked at the school, but I can’t recall in what capacity. She wasn’t a teacher, that’s for sure and Kevin’s smartass ways were definitely a hereditary trait. During the game Kevin had laid in the weeds and basically waited things out. Now it was just me and him. This was going to be easy, Kevin moved like a slow giraffe so once he threw a ball at me, I’d be able to easily line him up and blast him. The problem is that Kevin decided he wasn’t even going to really try to hit me with the ball. He wouldn’t go anywhere near the halfway line when he had the ball. He would only make a weak half-hearted throw aimed at the floor with no intention of trying to hit me. It was unmanly and very unsportsmanlike if we’re to be honest. But this was about survival for Kevin. As soon as he threw the ball he would quickly retreat to the very back of the gym and squat down against the back wall of the gym. This made him a very small target and he was a fair distance away. I tried to keep my throws as low and as hard as I could. I would charge up to the line and whip the ball at Kevin, it would bounce off the wall with a thud and Kevin would meekly throw the ball back nowhere near me. Once again, not making any attempt to hit me. I would try to tempt him by stay near the halfway line, trying to entice him to throw the ball at me. He wouldn’t bite. I was getting more and more frustrated so finally I reared back and looked for accuracy more than power. It was time to end the charade and claim my glorious victory. The throw was low and hard enough. Kevin was on his knees against the back of the wall so he couldn’t really move. He had no choice but to try and catch the ball. Well of course, he caught it and held on. Game over. I was stunned. The rest of the kids in the gym cheered the result as I could only stand at the halfway line with my hands on my hips and shake my head. Kevin was a real weenie, but he gets full credit for being very clever with how he played that game of dodgeball.
Now I have to make something clear. I wasn’t a bully. In fact, I very rarely got into any confrontations in grade school or high school for that matter. By nature, I tend to avoid confrontation. But kids can be cruel, and I was no exception. An incident happened later in 8th grade that permanently damaged Michael’s reputation. After school in early 1989, Michael came up from behind on Danny and put him in a chokehold. He chocked Danny until he passed out. I don’t know why he did it and especially to someone like Danny, who wasn’t the type to antagonize or make fun of people. I wasn’t there and I don’t know many of the details, but this incident quickly made the rounds and turned most of the class against him in a significant and permanent way. I honestly wonder why he was allowed to continue going to school after chocking Danny, but he was. Later that spring, playing basketball outside in the alley, after Michael had dropped a pass that I had thrown to him I picked up the ball and whipped the basketball off his head with some real intent. He didn’t do anything, and he knew better then to try. It was unnecessary, it was mean, but it was also a message that he was not well-liked, and he was not respected. It wasn’t far away from a Lord of The Flies situation. He was not part of the tribe.
His efforts to curry favor were clumsy and obscene. In early ’89 he constructed a letter that he somehow convinced John to sign. I can barely remember the contents of the letter, most of it was extremely juvenile and stupid, but one part stated how he liked to rape girls, or something to that effect. Then Michael goes around showing all the boys in the class the letter, he may have even shown some of the girls. He seemed to think that this was somehow funny, and it would be a way to ingratiate himself with the boys in the class. Well, it didn’t. What I do remember is reading the contents of this letter that he had duped John into signing, dismissing it as “crazy” and tossing it aside. I don’t remember anybody thinking that it was funny or clever. Eventually, one of the teachers found the letter and Michael was suspended from school. But not only was he suspended, anyone who read the letter and didn’t report it to school authorities were suspended as well. So, I was suspended for a day along with Reggie. Not sure if anyone else was suspended, but this was another mark against Michael. It reinforced the feeling that he was a social outcast, creepy, and disturbed.
There was only one occasion when Michael seemed to meld into the group. It was the junior high talent show. The event took place earlier in the school year. I don’t remember much about how it was organized or any of the other events. It’s likely that it coincided with the “Harvest Party”. Gospel Outreach didn’t recognize Halloween (remember now, that’s a celebration of evil), so we had the “Harvest Party”. By the way, there were no Christmas trees either in December due to the pagan roots of that tradition. For Gospel Outreach, Christmas trees and Santa were nefarious influences of “The World”. The boys had decided that we’d put on a wrestling match for everyone’s entertainment, but mostly for our own amusement. Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage were super popular at the time and we choreographed our matches using their antics as a template. The talent show took place in the school gym on the main stage. We took the blue gym mats and set them on stage floor. Metal folding chairs were set up at the four corners of the mats to create the wrestling space. We were all in socks and shorts, ready to put on a show. Michael willingly played the heel who took his beating. He scurried around the stage for a while before getting cornered. I remember delivering 10 pulled punches to his head, counting them out as I delivered the blows. This is a very standard move in wrestling and is meant to pull in the crowd participation as the audibly count the blows and cheer. I don’t think anyone in the audience counted out loud. The finish came when I jumped off one of the chairs with a flying elbow to Michael’s head. I secured the pin, and the preordained victory. Michael had played his role in the talent show and if the audience wasn’t entertained, we certainly were. If only there had been more moments like the talent show perhaps the situation would have been different for Michael.
Gospel Outreach School and High School Memories 1988-1992 