Men, Ink. Issue 6, Fall 2013

M Iwww.men ink . com

Trainer to the prosTakes you Behind the Curtain

THE MORNING AFTER

SPICE UP YOUR GAME

HOLY SMOKE: HOW TO PICK A CIGAR

In Fighting Form

ALSO / /

Fall GearList

FALL 2013 MI910-509-SKINwilmingtonplasticsurgery.com

Dr. Morgan treated the right side of his waist, leaving the left untreated.

The results are obvious.

Wilmington Plastic Surgery’s

WPS surgeons Kenneth S. White, MD, FACS; Charles R. Kays, DMD, MD, FACS; Jeffrey Church, MD, DDS, FACS and Mark Morgan, MD, FACS

Unwanted belly fat, aka “love handles,” “spare tire,” “muffi n top.” As men age, stored fat shoots right for the waist— and can stay there. Even if you eat right and work out, belly fat can be a formidable foe, entrenched like the Chicago Bears’ 1963 defensive line.

Go with CoolSculpting®at Wilmington Plastic Surgery. It’s a breakthrough, FDA-cleared, non-invasive procedure that gently and effectively reduces fatin problem areas of the body that tend to be resistant to diet and exercise. This results in noticeable, natural-looking fat reduction in treated areas, such as the fl anks, as well as the lower and upper abdomen.

When fat cells are exposed to extreme cold, a process of natural removal is triggered, which gradually reduces the thickness of the fat layer. Fat bulges are visibly reduced. During the procedure, which is painless and lasts between one and two hours, a non-invasive applicator delivers controlled cooling to the treatment area, leaving surface skin tissue unaffected.

Patients can see results in as little as three weeks following treatment, with the most dramatic results occurring over a period of two to four months in most patients. Results are long-lasting and sustainable with a healthy lifestyle.

We were so sure of this play, a couple of our key players ran it on themselves. Check out Dr. Morgan’s fl ank formation below.

To learn more about or to schedule a face-to-face withthe WPS team, call 910-509-SKIN or visit www.wilmingtonplasticsurgery.com.

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Game Day Strategy Sacks Belly Fat

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THE HOME TEAM

THE OPPONENT

THE PLAY

STRATEGIC RATIONALE

THE OUTCOME

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FALL 2013 MI

PUBLISHER’S NOTE //

“DIDJA’ HURT THE FLOOR, SON?”Lying flat on my back on a half-inch thick, poly-foam gymnastics mat, I was shocked at Coach Art Davies’ hard re-buke. I could barely breathe and, worse, I was humiliated. After all, I’d just fallen a good 20 feet, the result of a hand-eye miscalculation while climbing a rope in fourth grade gym class at Dale Park Ele-mentary School, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Coach Davies had a buzz cut, wore white, collared polo shirts, khakis and thick-framed eyeglasses. He walked around saying shit like, “A man never repeats himself. I repeat, a man never repeats himself.” There was always nervous laugh-ter from the all-male class that sat cross-legged in front of him when he said this.

Was this the muttering of a crazy, old man, or did these words bear some profound truth?

Some said Davies had single-handedly captured a bunch of Japanese soldiers during WWII; others said he’d been an Olympic athlete, having taught himself how to walk again after a near-paralyzing wrestling injury.

The only truth that mattered in that mo-ment on the gym floor was my getting up and trying again and, hopefully, succeed-ing. Only years later did I realize what Coach Davies was trying to say. Thus is the nature of giving it your best in a world full of challenge and competition–both from within and without.

In MI’s Competition issue, we explore what makes us drive hard to the finish line, puke and want more. We’ll get ad-vice on how to reach your best and what happens when failure comes calling from an interview with athletic trainer Hud-son Rose by new MI Editor In Chief and New York Times bestselling author Kevin Maurer. Brain Freskos will take us to an altogether different kind of playing field–the pub–and Jeff Janowski will give us some ideas on what she should wear after a wholly different kind of conquest. This issue will help you to consider just what kind of man you really are.

And that, my friends, may be the only act ever worth repeating.

—DAVID FREDERIKSEN

check it out

CHUCK-E-CHEESE+BOOZE= BREWSKEE BALL 28

MORE LEGS IN KNEE SOCKS, PLEASE 34 CIGARS ARE ABOUT PREFERENCE 8

Men, Ink. IsPublisher David FrederiksenEditor In Chief Kevin MaurerPhoto Editor Jeff JanowskiDigital Editor Brendan Cook

Contributor Jessica Maurer Contributor Chuck CarreeContributor Brian FreskosContributor Steph Medeiros

Fashion TJ DunnDepartment Design Emily McCraryFeature Design Michael RamosWebmaster Brad Gardner

Sales & Marketing Manager Tera KilianSales Executive Britt Butcher, Anna MurphyEvents Manager Mandy Nicolau

For a lesson in mental wherewithal on the gridiron and in life, check out Kevin Maur-er’s interview with cover man, Hudson Rose, on page 24.

Don’t know what to put her in “the morning after”? Turn to page 34 and see.

So, whadaya get when you cross beer and a classic carnival game? Skee-daddle on over to page 28 and find out!

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FALL 2013 MI

IN THIS ISSUE //8 Happy Hour

13 Gear List

28 Brewskee-Ball

32 Fashion

36 Chuck

32 One For the Road

10 Cutting Board

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8

34

It might not be booze, but you do light it on fire.

MI prescribes accoutre-ments for manliness.

One swift leap.

Hometown journalist Chuck Carree recounts moments of victory with coach Mark Scalf.

MI shows you what’s hot for fall and what she wears the morning after.

Get the ball rolling with the local Skee-ball league.

17 With A LadyComic Alonzo Bodden weighs in on what really matters, like, men’s shoes.

SOMETIMES YOU CRY AFTER A BASKETBALL GAME 36 CHILI TO PUT HAIR ON YOUR CHEST 12

Make the perfect gameday chili.

All the cool without the try.—Gear List, page 13

14 The Scene

“Treat your sport like your character...Do the right thing when nobody’s around.”

A trio of funny men achieve YouTube fame.

“Scalf stood near the on-deck circle, watching the players’ celebration. I had never seen him cry in the 30 years I’d known him.”

24 Cover Q&AConnor Barth’s train-er, Hudson Rose, talks about buffing your morals .

Surreal, absurd, humor noire.—The Scene, page 14

3

—Chuck Carree, page 36

—Hudson Rose, page 24

CIGARS ARE ABOUT PREFERENCE 8

FALL 2013 MI

//Brian Freskoscontributor

The son of software engineers, it’s weird that Brian got into professional writing. His aspira-tions were born when he was 16 years old and

traveled with his dad to the Bolivian city of La Paz. While they lived blocks from the

Presidential Palace, mass demonstrations broke out against the government, forcing them to

flee the country for Peru. But the civil unrest he saw got him thinking: How can I tell the world

about this? He decided to study journalism, worked at the Wilmington Star-News as a crime reporter for three years and, now 25, has decid-

ed to return to college life. He recently moved to UNC Chapel Hill to continue his studies but

still freelances for various publications. He likes cheap beer, Jameson with pickleback, Hunter

S.Thompson books and Jimmy John’s. He has a cat, Ms. Kitty.

Men, Ink. would like to congratulate the following people on surviving the gaunlet & feats of strength set before them this quar-ter. It was a close one. after all, this issue is about competition. did you think they just get to write stories?

CONTRIBUTORS //

//Jessica Maurercontributor

Jessica Maurer is a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. She has worked as a

personal chef, caterer and cooking instructor as well as for gourmet eateries such as Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, MA, Dean & Deluca in Washington DC, and locally at Temptations Everyday Gourmet.

//Emily McCrarycolumnist/designer

Emily McCrary is a writer, editor, and designer with a taste for a good cocktail. An avid listener to

NPR, she dreams of one day being a panelist on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Her work has appeared in Outrageous Fortune and placed as a runner up

for the 2010 Anthony Abbott Poetry Prize.

//Chuck Carreecontributor

Chuck Carree is a retired sports writer after covering athletics 35 years for the Star-News. He has lived in

Wilmington since February 1978 and is an avid pet lover. After retiring in July, he has focused on writing a book

on the late Jack Holley, North Carolina’s all-time winner in high school football with 412 victories.

//Kevin Maurereditor in chief

Kevin Maurer is an award-winning journalist and best selling co-author of No Easy Day, a first hand account of

the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

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FALL 2013 MI

FALL 2013 MI

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FALL 2013 MI

happy hour

SmokeMI talks to cigar afficionado,

Lior Ben-Ami, of The Cigar Exchange about choosing the

perfect cigar: It’s all about you.

MICHAEL RAMOS

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FALL 2013 MI

happy hour

Lior Ben-Ami sits in his shop, The Cigar Exchange, watching a storm on a Sunday afternoon.

He reclines in his chair and draws on his cigar, savoring the taste and enjoying the smoke, the rain, and the company of his customers. Less a store and more a social club, The Cigar Exchange is a fixture downtown and a haven for the Port City’s cigar aficionados. It isn’t uncom-mon to see Ben-Ami and his customers enjoying a fine cigar at the store, with Lior acting as guide and ambassador for the cigar-smoking scene.

But don’t be intimidated by selection or atmosphere. Smoking a cigar is all about patience, from finding the right one to enjoying its subtle flavors. If Lior has one rule, it’s don’t rush the experience.

Ben-Ami offered MI some tips on how to pick out a fine cigar.

How long have you been a cigar aficio-nado?I have been smoking cigars since 1993. I was living in New Orleans when I started. A friend of mine and I decided we wanted to start smoking cigars. My friend—he bought the Cigar Aficionado magazine—we did our homework and then went and bought about five cigars each. I’ve been enjoying cigars ever since.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PALATE.

YOU’LL KNOW WHEN YOU WANT MORE

FROM A CIGAR.

How did you go from being a cigar con-noisseur to cigar shop owner?I was in sales, and I got laid off in 1999. I was living in Wilmington already. The friend I started smoking cigars with had opened his own store a few years earlier and he asked me, “Does this Wilm-ington have a downtown area?” I said, “Yeah, sure. It’s beautiful with the river and historic buildings.” He said, “There’s your answer, open a cigar shop.” So, I did. But it was not as easy as that. I sat on Market and watched the foot traffic for months; I watched vehicle traffic and discovered that Market was one of the main avenues, so this is where I wanted to be. I have been here for almost ten years. I love what I do.

With all of your years of experience, what recommendations do you have for newer smokers, or anybody who enjoys cigars?First, don’t let the price tag fool you. Just because it’s expensive doesn’t always mean a cigar is quality. The same if the price is low. If you are a newer smoker, stay on the lighter side of things. Gen-erally, lighter tobacco is not as robust in flavor. Not necessarily less flavor, but just milder. The darker the tobacco, the fuller the flavor. You don’t want to start off with a full flavored cigar. You don’t want your first smoke to overpower you and ruin the experience.

But mostly, I would say this: It’s all about the palate. Let your palate tell you what’s what. Start light and as your palate sea-sons, you’ll know when you want more from a cigar. You’ll just know.

And take your time. Cigar smoking is not about speed. For instance, did you know it takes smoking a specific cigar at least two times to find out if you really like it? If you enjoy its flavor and its sub-tle notes. Also, take your time drawing or puffing your cigar. The faster you draw on your cigar the hotter it burns. If it burns too hot, the tobacco will get bitter and, again, ruin your experience.

Check outThe

Cigar Exchange

9

FALL 2013 MI

cutting board

Chili is perfect football food. It’s fiery and feisty, like the fans themselves. And, let’s face it, football fans are not only passionate about the game but about the food that goes along with it. There are countless ways to prepare a chili, yet each bowl should offer a hearty, soulful experience. Inspiration for this particular chili came from my husband’s love for Churri Pollo, a chicken dish that combines chicken and chorizo, served with refried beans, melted cheese and warm tortillas. Its flavors are bold and satisfying, perfect for incorporating into a chili.

Next time it’s your turn to host the guys for the game, ditch the take-out menus and make something that will score big with everyone. In the same amount of time it would take you to pick up the usual wings and pizza, you can prepare something that will give you home field advantage. But, be warned: They may never want to go back to take-out.

What you need 1 pound chorizo sausage, browned

2 chicken breasts, shredded*

Jessica Maurer

1 small onion, diced 1 yellow bell pepper, diced ½ of a red chili pepper, seeded and minced 2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced 2 cartons, 26.46 ounces each, of Pomi Diced Tomatoes 1 can black beans, drained 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained 2 tablespoons cumin 3 tablespoons 8th Wonder seasoning** Salt and pepper to taste

*For the shredded chicken breasts, you can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken or place chicken breasts in a crock pot with a small amount of chicken stock, salt, pepper and garlic powder, then cook on high for 2-3 hours. The breasts will be moist and shred easily.

**8th Wonder is a locally made spice mixture for which you are sure to find a host of uses. Find it at Temptations Everyday Gourmet and Carolina Farmin’.

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Remove chorizo from casings and brown over medium high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven, breaking up the meat as you would ground beef. Chorizo has a high fat content, so you will need to drain off some of the grease half way through cooking. Drain into a can and reserve. Once meat is fully cooked, drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Use a bit of the reserved grease to sauté the peppers and onions until just softened. Remove from pan and place on top of chorizo. Add a touch more grease to the pan and sauté the garlic for about 30 seconds, until just fragrant but not browned. Now, add the meat, peppers and onions as well as the shredded chicken back to the pan. Add tomatoes, cumin, 8th Wonder and beans. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 1 hour over very low heat, then taste for seasoning. If you can make it a day ahead of time, the flavors will have more time to combine, which gives a more robust taste. Serve the chili alone or over rice, topped with the garnishes of your choice: diced avocado, green onions, cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese or tortilla chips.

The chicken and chorizo chili can also be prepared in a crock pot. Simply sauté the meat, peppers, onions and garlic in a sauté pan and then transfer to the crock pot. Set pot on low and allow the flavors to meld for a few hours.

FALL 2013 MI12

FALL 2013 MI

gear listHarry’s

The Tie Bar

www.harrys.comPaying $16 for a four pack of razors is stupid. It’s also out of date. Time to join

the 21st century. No more Neanderthal-esque face scraping and toilet-pa-per-patching the nicks which your current over-priced-mediocre-blades-on-

a-lousy-handle setup leaves on your face. Thanks to Harry’s, you can order a balanced, sturdy razor handle, with German-engineered blades plus some

luxurious shaving cream made with natural ingredients—all for less than $30. A Harry’s razor looks pretty classy on a razor stand, too. You do have a razor

stand, right? Order a Harry’s. Your face will thank us. And so will your wallet. Oh, and buy a styptic stick. Toilet paper? Really?

So you want to dress up, but not look like you’re trying to be cool. And you don’t really want to break the bank either. The Tiebar.com has the answer—at least part of it—to your sartorial conundrum: ties, pocket squares, tie bars—

go figure—socks, and colored shoelaces. Yes, you read that right: colored shoelaces. Try a pair and liven up those old, dull kicks. Order a couple of ties in seasonal colors and fabrics, a crisp cotton pocket square, and a kick-ass tie bar. Stylish. Classic. Just like you. And, the best part? At $15 per tie, you can

use your extra cash to take your other half for a few drinks. Or, you could buy yourself some more ties…

www.thetiebar.com

Apollo 2 Dress Shirtwww.ministryofsupply.com

We live in the South. Humid and sticky are frequent words used to discuss the weather around here and, unfortunately, our shirts pay the price. You

know that wet-clammy-sweaty dress shirt feeling, right? Ministry of Supply has made a shirt perfect for our weather. Designers used NASA technology—minus the Tang—to create an anti-microbial, moisture wicking, temperature regulating dress shirt. Not only is the tech behind the Apollo 2 cool, the shirt

looks sharp, with its modern cut and semi-spread collar. Best of all, you can wear it under a blazer or suit and not bake in Wilmington’s fickle fall weather.

At $98 each, consider it an investment that won’t stink, and keeps you cool and looking great all day.

Imagine this: You, your date, a picnic blanket, a bottle of vino, some music—you get the idea. Your picnic date is going superbly, right up until the wine falls over and spills on your date’s new outfit! Way to score some smooth

points, pal. Drink Genie can fix that. Among its unlimited drink-holding abilities, the Drink Genie comes with legs to hold your drinks when you’re

outside. No more spilled drinks on picnics. The company’s website points out that Drink Genie has plenty of other uses, too. Pick one up from their website

for about $20, plus shipping and tax, and then take it with you on your next outdoor date. You’ll thank us.

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FALL 2013 MI

The Scene

North Carolina-based production brings

unique comedy style to the web

Steph Medeiros

The producers of I’m Leaving You: The Show acknowledge that their type of comedy may not be for everyone. They even go so far as to apologetically state it on their website, assuring viewers, “...you’re doing fine if you never laugh at any of this.”

Despite the disclaimer, the show’s pro-ducers shouldn’t worry. With the com-pletion of their first season, a growing fan base, and featured content on Will Farrell’s Funny or Die website, it’s safe to say the laughs are there.

Created last year, I’m Leaving You: The Show is produced by three North Caro-lina twenty-somethings. It all started in

2008, when creator Dan Bonné began producing short comedy sketches and stop-motion music videos. Soon after, college friends Justin Edge and Randy Skidmore came aboard and, by 2012, the trio had produced more than 40 original videos under the I’m Leaving You name.

Unlike the group’s earlier sketches, the new series uses a show-within-a-show format. It follows the exploits of Dan, an obviously creative yet perpetually distracted young man; Justin, a seeming-ly responsible adult who must balance married life and fatherhood with his own creative desires; and Randy, a sharp-wit-ted yet lonely web designer whose passive nature often leaves him the victim of Dan’s ill-fated schemes.

“I guess we realized our hardest laughs were happening between takes,” says Bonné. “One of us would inevitably say, ‘Well shit, this is the show.’ So, we made it the show.”

Bonné, Edge, and Skidmore aren’t just the creative forces behind the series; they’re also the principal actors and the founda-tions for the main characters, going so far as to keep their real names in the show and incorporating some of their own real-life dynamics.

While the show incorporates surrealism, absurdism and touches of humor noire, the material effectively points out some of life’s most universal conflicts–from mar-ital frustrations to awkwardly overheard Bluetooth conversations. The characters are fun to watch because they are un-predictable, imperfect and endearingly human.

The greatest irony of the series is that its creators have succeeded in doing what the show’s characters seem to consis-tently fail at. While the characters Dan, Justin, and Randy often see their efforts hindered by their own human folly, their real-life counterparts have utilized their

I’M LEAVING YOU:

THE SHOW

14

The Scene

WA N T M O R E ?

C O N N E C T

Visit menink.com to watch an original trailer for I’m Leaving You: The Show. Visit imleavingyoutheshow.com to catch up on the first season. Be on the lookout for Season Two, coming to the web in Spring 2014.

Facebook: facebook.com/imleavingyoutheshowTwitter: @ImLeavingYou

own to create a successful platform for comedy. With loyal fans, a strong social media presence, and a sponsorship from Pabst Blue Ribbon, ILY has all the mak-ings of an avant-garde internet sensation. However, the guys remain grounded, putting the quality of their work first.

“We receive positive encouragement all the time, which we really appreciate,” says Edge. “We also have a very good network of folks who work full-time in creative fields who will speak candidly with us about our work, which is just as import-ant. That constructive criticism helps us get better.”

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FALL 2013 MI

with a lady

How to be a man

Alonzo Bodden

MI caught up with Alonzo Bodden—runner up and later winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, host of the Who’s Paying Attention? podcast, panelist on NPR’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, at 9 Bakery and Lounge in July to talk about his new role as a kidney donor and other issues that really matter (Insta-gram), and how to be a better man (while grocery shopping).

On working as a comic:I’m a workaholic. I love it on stage, but my social life has definitely taken a hit. I think the reason I’m not married is that I’m mar-ried to comedy. But, I can’t not do it. What comics should we be watching right now?The hottest guys right now are Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart. Bill Burr is exploding. I like Bill. And Hannibal Buress.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done in the name of competition?I’m not really competitive unless you say I’m not good. Once you say I’m not good, it becomes, “Okay, let me show you how good I can be,” and I crank it up. My motivation is being belittled and insulted. In this business, Comic A becoming famous takes nothing away from Comic B. But early in your career, you feel that that’s how it works. Sometimes, it comes down to publicity and what’s in fashion. On the NSA’s playing Big Brother:I wish people had more to hide. I don’t need to see your meal on Instagram. I don’t need to see your wife’s new boob job on Twitter. Keep some secrets. Stop showing me your whole life. You’re mad the government’s listening in? You’ve got eight Twitter followers—you can’t get someone to listen to you.

On his recent kidney donation to his brother:I’ve become a big advocate of organ donation. If you can, do it. My best description of it would only be an inconvenience [because of scheduling]. What’s the next national crisis? What’s going to kill us next?Disease-wise, you never know, ‘cause it could come from anywhere. It’ll be an airborne ill-ness. What will the next one be? What animal hasn’t made us sick? I think dogs are going to give us something. There’s going to be a canine pee virus that’s going to take us all out. Yeah, let’s blame the dogs this time.

Give the men out there some advice.Be men again. Men have lost something, and I’m not talking about the fact that men have become more sensitive. That can be a good thing. I don’t think we should be troglodytes or cavemen.

In our nation, we have what’s known as the greatest generation. Those men won World War II, and they literally made the world safe for democracy. Now men have to use hand sanitizer to push a cart through the grocery store. If you’re a man, don’t wipe down the cart at the grocery store. Take a chance that there might be a germ on it and that you’ll somehow survive.

Oh, and put some shoes on. Men don’t wear flip-flops. I don’t know what happened to us. I don’t know when or how, but now we’re hand sanitizer and flip-flops, and your father would slap the shit out of you.

Where’s the line of sensitivity to masculinity?It’s a sliding scale. It depends on someone’s pain. Don’t cry when you see a television commercial. Women want a man who is sen-sitive, but not too sensitive. If you cry before she does….

MI’s Resident female talks to comic alonzo bodden about Kidney Transplants , The NSA, and most importantly: how to be a man.

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5Keep some secrets. No flip-flops.Win WWII.

Choose the dirtiest cart Donate an organ.

EMILY McCRARY

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FALL 2013 MI

a man’s perspective

But first, which door?

“Excuse me, ma’am,” I say to a short, blonde woman, after having just entered the University of North Carolina Wilm-ington’s Trask Coliseum. “Which way to the UNCW Human Performance Lab?”She smiles and points: “Through those double doors. Second door on the left.” I’m late to this appointment and tired. I’ve had no lunch and all I’ve had to drink is a Coke. I have running shoes and shorts in one hand, and a grey, tropical-weight Brooks Brothers suit in the other.

“What the hell am I doing here?” I ask myself.

Then I remember: I’m the one who gleefully signed up for this back one cold December day, when Dr. Wayland Tseh,

associate professor at UNCW’s School of Health and Applied Human Sciences and director of UNCW’s Human Performance Laboratory, e-mailed asking if I wanted to be “tested at The Lab.”

The Lab is unremarkable with a white-brown speckled floor, cream-colored walls with large windows, and a row of lonely treadmills. Maybe I was expecting more – equipment with colored lights and guys named Magnus Magnusson with crew cuts and heart monitors. Its Spar-tan nature reinforces my present reality: Appearance has little meaning here.

“Where’s Way?”

I’ve never met Tseh but somehow I al-ready trust him with my life, trusting him enough to abbreviate his name like we’re

old college roommates or battle buddies. “Hello, Mr. Frederiksen, and welcome to the Lab,” says a man behind me. Without turning, I know it’s Tseh. He has the same formal, respectful tone in person as he does in email. He is short and buff and uses a stern knife-hand to point to the people and equipment in front of me.I’m here for Volume of Oxygen, or VO2 max testing, which will measure my level of cardiovascular fitness. VO2 is a mea-sure of the oxygen used by your body to convert the food you eat into the energy molecules.

Or, as Tseh puts it, “Your VO2 max is analogous to a car’s engine size. The high-er the VO2 max, the greater your engine size – as in V6 or V8.”

And to someone who runs 50-mile ultra-

I came. I saw.

I blew.David Frederiksen

Human Performance Lab

18

marathon races – yah, that’s me – engine size is everything.

Here’s how it’ll work: I’ll run on a spe-cially equipped treadmill hooked to a computer for 14 minutes, the speed and incline of that treadmill gradually increasing until my heart rate reaches-between 170 and 180 beats per minute. Headgear with a mask, including a stove pipe-sized tube stuffed in my mouth for breathing, will produce metabolic gas measurements. From this, my VO2 max number will be determined.

I change into shorts, a mesh sleeveless t-shirt and a visor—standard ultramar-thoning gear. I’ve put this on a thousand times. No sweat. I don the mask, a lab as-sistant pinches my nose closed with a clip, and I take the pipe into my mouth. The treadmill starts its high-pitched whining wheeze. My feet are no longer mine.

They’re running me at 7:15 minute mile —not blistering by any means, but you have to keep your head in the game. You have to focus. The incline increases.

I feel the difference. A slight quickening of the heart, then a leveling off. I talk myself through it. People watch. The headgear is distracting and hangs un-evenly on my head; it gags me. Numbers fill a screen on a wall in front of me—they represent my body’s response to the physical stress. I see them from the corner of my eye. Faster. More incline. I’m aching, bad. Ten minutes pass. Then twelve. Then thirteen.

“Look, his pupils are huge,” someone says. Then I recall Tseh’s last instructions to me: “When all you have is one more minute in you, hold up your right point-er finger.”

I want to hold it up, but I don’t want to. The moment I’ve waited nearly a year for is here. How much harder do I push? Endure, and I will hurt. Pop that finger up, and I’ll regret it.

My finger reluctantly, but somehow effortlessly, goes up. It is almost 14 minutes. Two guys catch me as I pancake slide off the treadmill like Daffy Duck in a Looney Tunes cartoon.

I catch my breath and walk around The Lab shaking my head.

I will not tell you what I blew because it doesn’t matter. A number—good or bad—can’t measure whether or not you feel you truly succeeded. Even a good number still nags for better.

Or, maybe that’s only me.

a man’s perspective

FALL 2013 MI

name: Liz Fisher

occupation: Owner, Laser Hair Removal & Skin Clinic

favorite inspirationalquote:

“Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

— John Wooden

FALL 2013 MI

In Fighting

Hudson Rose is one of those guys who is motivated by a challenge. Rose was an athlete in high school in Golds-boro, NC. He played football, basketball and baseball

there, but it was during basketball season that he found his true calling. His basketball coach called him slow and lazy. The next day, he went to Gold’s Gym and started working out with train-er Rodney Scott, which set him on his career path.

“So it really all started with somebody lighting a fire under my ass a little bit,” Rose said.

Rose got some looks from the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, Eastern Carolina University and Appalachian State University, but no one was willing to give him a full ride to play ball.

“I felt like I was under a rock that never got flipped over, so I always told myself, I said, ‘You know I’m going to get as close to the game as I possibly can with not quite all the commit-ment,’” Rose said. “So that right there is what I think motivated me to get to this point where I am now, because I know what it’s like to be an athlete.”

A lot of local trainers would like to be where Rose is now. Put it this way: If you’re a professional athlete, or aspire to be one, you are probably a client of Hudson Rose Strength &

Conditioning. A quick glance at this stable of athletes, and you get two NFL kickers, one Major League Baseball pitcher and a battalion of Division I athletes playing everything from football to soccer to basketball.

“I chose Hudson because of the great reputation he had around Wilmington from other athletes he has worked with,” said Connor Barth, placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I think the main thing is his ability to motivate me and really push me to be the best player I can be. Not only on the field, but also off as well. He truly has your best interest at heart and wants to see you succeed in all aspects of life.”

Barth has done more than just succeed. He owns the highest field goal percentage in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history and in 2012 made 25 consecutive field goals, also a franchise record. Barth said his relationship with Rose is an important part of his success.

“He is the reason I am still playing today,” Barth said. “We can talk about anything from football to just life. He keeps me motivated even on those days when I’m just not feeling it.”

MI sat down with Rose to talk a little about the nature of talent, training to be your best and how it all starts in your mind.

Form

Hudson Rosea Q&A with

Kevin Maurer

FALL 2013 MI

MI: How do your clients find you?HR: Word of mouth, man. I’ve never made one business card. So it’s a blessing man. It really is. It’s a blessing.

MI: And your highest profile success?HR: Who is my highest profile athlete? I’d say probably Connor Barth right now. Because, in all honesty, he is a top three kicker in the league and he’s paid like it, too. So, if you’re getting paid like it, you earn it. Casey, his brother, is also a high-profile client. He did break (Connor’s) records (at UNC) so that means there’s something there too, you know. He’s just got to get his chance, that’s all it is.

MI: There are only 32 jobs, right? And his brother has one of them so that’s 31.HR: It’s crazy. I mean, it really is crazy. People don’t think about it like that, though.

MI: So you get these guys and they’re raw. You see some kind of promise, but where do you think talent comes from? Is it inborn or is it honed, or is it both?HR: Well, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. That’s as true as it gets. However there are some people that I think are talented and then you’ve got people who are God-gift-ed. And there’s a big difference between being talented and God-gifted. God-gifted just comes natural, like a Floyd May-weather or Lebron James...But hard work is where your talent comes from. You know people always talk about luck and every-thing like that; I think that’s just hard work meeting opportunity. Now talent ... you can make somebody better but that subject has got to be a self-starter.

MI: So you can’t train hard work. You can train everything else but hard work?HR: You can make hard work better, but it’s all on that person. It’s the whole leading a camel to the water but you can’t make them drink it. I feel like you can train them as hard as you want but they have to buy into the system. If I’m only with you three hours out of a whole week, you are your own personal trainer for those other 165 hours per week. The talent gets better as the work ethic gets better.

MI: Let’s talk about physical vs. mental. Or is it a whole body thing? How do you break it down?HR: Mind moves body. Honestly, it’s that simple. Anybody who’s got a weak mind, especially in the NFL, is not going to last long at all. With my younger kids, when they get tired, I’ll start quizzing them with math problems. I’ve always preached, ‘We condition well and we peak late” and what I mean by that is that we peak late because we don’t make mistakes late in the game. We’re cognizant of what we’re doing, and our mental component is a lot stronger than the other team’s. In order to do that, when your subject gets tired you start working on that brain a little bit.

Because that brain will start thinking, that brain will start believ-ing and that body is going to start moving.

MI: Let’s go back to this idea of the math problems. HR: I do it all the time with the little kids and a lot of people think I’m crazy for doing it, but I think the kids like it because all kids like challenges. It helps them think in critical situations. When people at any level get de-conditioned, that’s when they start making mistakes. That’s why I start with that aspect at such a young age – because if you have it, I can’t wear you out, you’ll think past it.

MI: And that is mental toughness to you? HR: It’s all mental make-up, man. I can’t even put a price tag on it, it’s that important. With Connor, what makes him so good is that he can miss a 25-yarder and—I shit you not, man —two steps onto the sideline and he’s already forgotten about it. It’s gone. It doesn’t even exist. It never happened. And to be able to wipe those things out are why he’s making what he’s making and why a guy who was supposedly better than him in college is making what he’s making. It’s that little thing that you don’t see in the stats. It’s that ability to forget. And then he’ll go out there and knock in a 49-yarder against the wind because he wasn’t even thinking about it.

MI: How do you incorporate pressure into your training, because in all athletics, pressure is what separates winner and loser.HR: Connor and me have a saying. The only thing pressure busts is pipes. That’s it. It busts pipes. It doesn’t affect you. It doesn’t matter. Pressure is for people who are unprepared. That’s the people who feel pressure. So, he gets ready; he trains in the offseason like he’s supposed to. Casey trains like he’s doing right now, busting his ass; George Bryan is busting his ass. We don’t feel it. Pressure busts pipes. It doesn’t affect us.

MI: Tell me about failure. How do you train guys to handle failure?HR: Honestly, the only way you train somebody to handle failure is for them to fail because that’s the only way you learn. Failure is something that hurts and stings, and it should because it’s a learning lesson. I think that goes back to the mental make-up of that person and what they can handle, Some people can handle certain things and some people can’t. Failure for some people does nothing but bring them down; for some people, it does nothing but motivate them.

MI: Give me some tips for working out that you would give a weekend-warrior kind of guy.HR: Eat healthy first. Train hard but train smart.

MI: What do you mean by “train hard but smart?”HR: What I mean is that you don’t necessarily have to chase fatigue in order to get in shape. When I train a lot of my athletes, >>

25

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or my clients in general, we don’t necessarily chase fatigue. We search for deficiencies, we find those, and we make those better to improve overall conditioning. A good trainer thinks about the longevity of that person and their health. Anybody can be a chew-them-up-spit-them-out kind of trainer. Hell, I could wear you out in five minutes if I wanted to, but is that purposeful?

Say you got two cars on (Interstate) 95 and one of them is going 65 miles per hour all the way to Florida. And the oth-er one is going 40, 80, 30, 90, 50. Well, car A that’s in cruise control, their gas is going to slowly go down. But the car that’s doing interval speeds, that guy’s gas is going to go down a little sooner. That’s how your body burns fat. If that’s your goal, it’s more effective to work anaerobically as opposed to aerobically.

MI: So no long runs, unless you love marathons...HR: I’m not against them because those people work out and they’re healthy and they’re fit. But I don’t train my people that way. I’m not big on the long distance stuff. I’m more quick, explosive, high intensity, but we don’t have to train past 45 minutes.

MI: How about a rule? You have a lot of mantras and, like any coach, you have a philosophy, but do you have any overarching rule or philosophy that you go into every situation with?HR: I always tell them treat your sport like your character. What I mean by that is do the right thing when nobody’s around. If you’re in the gym with me and we’re working on proper mechanics, being functional and all that, go home and practice it. Go home and think about it. Visualize. Always see yourself doing good and you’ll do good. Treat your body how you treat your character, how you want people to look at your character. I feel like if you do the right thing when nobody’s watching, you’re good.

MI: Talk about the partnership real quick because there’s got to be trust because you’re doing this one-on-one and everybody is different.

HR: Everybody is different and everybody needs a different motivation. Everybody’s got a different goal. There are some people you can kind of fuss at and there are some people you’ve got to throttle back on. It’s all a mix of personalities, but personal training is personal. So that person trusts you with something that most people in this world are most insecure with and that’s their appearance. So you have to take all that and you have to care about them. You’ve got to want what’s best for them.

Some of theWho’s Who of Hudson Rose trainees (he won’t brag, so we will):

*Connor Barth- Placekicker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers*Casey Barth- Placekicker, NFL Free Agent*George Bryan- Tight End, NFL Free Agent *Chris Narveson- Pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers*Garrett Reynolds- Guard, Atlanta Falcons

*Brannon Blanke - NHHS/Clemson University (Soccer)

*Trevon Brown - NHHS/East Carolina University (Football)

*Brad Busby - HHS/Stanford University (Football)

*Logan Chaucer - NHHS/Lees-McRae College (Basketball)

*Chelsea Deliberto - HHS/Wake Forest University (Soccer)

*Cooper Dumas - HHS/University North Carolina (Football)

*Ian Durham - HHS/Elon College (Football)

*Nick Esquire - NHHS/Duquesne (Football)

*Erin Koballa - NHHS/Duke University (Soccer)

*Davis Naber - HHHS/East Carolina University (Football)

*Carrie Talbert - NHHS/Meredith College (Soccer)

*Charlotte Talbert - NHHS/Meredith College (Soccer)

*Ross Tomaselli - NHHS/Wake Forest University (Soccer)

MI: All the praise, like you say, goes to the guy in the arena. But when he kicks that field goal, or when he gets that big contract or, he’s looked at as a top three kicker in the NFL...HR: I feel real good about it, I ain’t gonna lie. I feel real good for him because I know how hard we’ve worked over the past four years and I know that he’s worth every penny he gets.

MI: You’ve got to take pride in that.HR: Oh God, yeah. It’s hard to keep it under control at those games. You just root and root and root because you see what they go through on a daily basis; you see what they go through when nobody’s watching. And then they get out there in front of 80,000 people and they’re supposed to be superheroes and you know they’re not; they’re just like me and you. So it just makes you pull a little bit harder for them because of what they put in. And I’ve got good guys, too. I’ve got some good pros, man; I mean, they are real pros.

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Game night.John Lolos, 27, a three-year veteran of the Brewskee-Ball league at Five Star Tavern—a bar in downtown Wilming-

ton—arrives just after sunset.Lolos, built like a linebacker, greets fellow players near the

pair of Skee-Ball machines tucked in the corner of the bar, orders a beer and checks the schedule. His teammates, Jimmy and Markel, will arrive soon. He checks his roll—ten one-dollar bills for the Skee-Ball machine—and waits for the start of the match.

“I’ve been in the league a little over three years, played every skeeson, and only missed one game,” he said.

Brewskee-Ball, the first competitive Skee-Ball league in America, started eight years ago in New York and has spread to four other cities, including Wilmington. It is a mix of Skee-ball–the bowling-like game most people played as kids at Chuck E. Cheese’s—and booze. Not as obscure as, say, toe wrestling or extreme ironing (both real things), the sport is steadily attracting players.

The concept, born in 2005 when two guys left work to spend an afternoon on Coney Island, is simple. The sport, however, has evolved, picking up rules, customs and terminology as it gained

skee-ball rollsin wilmington

by Brian Freskos

OPENSKEESON

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Brian Freskos

FALL 2013 MI

a foothold in some of the country’s largest cities. Like kickball and volleyball, Skee-Ball has witnessed a resurgence, especially among Wilmingtonians. The Port City continues to be a little bit of a Skee-Ball enigma. It is, by far, the smallest city with a Skee-Ball league; the others are Austin, Texas, San Francisco and New York.

The Brewskee-Ball season, or “skeeson,” consists of one match per team per week for eight weeks, plus playoffs and championships. Teams pay $60 to register, which covers the cost of t-shirts and awards. Local restaurants and bars sometimes step in as sponsors.

no longer a kid’s gameFor those who don’t remember Skee-Ball, here’s a refresher: Play-ers roll nine baseball-sized balls down a lane about six feet long. The balls ramp up into one of seven pockets, which are angled away from the lane. Players earn between 10 and 100 points, depending on where the ball lands. Side note: Brewskee-ballers drop the zero when tallying the score–a 290 is recorded as a 29.

Brewskee-Ball’s founders, Eric Pavony and Evan Tobias, own Full Circle Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s hipster mecca, and their love of the game helped pick the bar’s name. A “full circle” is when a Brewskee-baller rolls nine 40s in a row, thus scoring 360 points.

As Adrian Varnam, Five Star’s owner, tells it, Brewskee-Ball rolled into the Port City in 2007. His actor friend, William Day, >>

who played in New York’s league, had moved to Wilmington for work and enlisted Varnam’s help to set up a new chapter. Brews-kee-Ball’s initial home was at Blue Post Billiards on Water Street. It moved to Five Star, on Second Street, when Varnam bought the space in September 2011. With Day now back in New York, Varnam runs the Port City’s league solo, the local “Skee.E.O.”

While the game takes center stage, the scene around it is equally important. Brewskee-Ball teams invest in t-shirts with witty, ribald team names: It Burns When I Skee, The Knights Who Say Skee, Skee Gave Me Brew Balls, Sweet Baby Skeesus.

“A lot of bathroom humor,” Varnam said. Costumes are okay, too. One retired team was famous for

wearing togas. Their name: Brewlius Skeesar. Their motto: Et tu brewte—a beer-drinker’s twist on the emperor’s last words in the Shakespearian tragedy.

In Brewskee-Ball, there are three players per team. As in bowling, each player rolls 10 frames per match. Rock and rap music pound through the sound system. The sounds of balls racking and rolling fill the bar. Drinkers interrupt their beers to shoot Skee-Bombs—combinations of Red Bull and flavored vodka.

The scene looks like a sea of bobbing heads, laughing, drinking and beating their chests like gorillas. But there is also a serious side and the game is much harder than it looks.

“If you come here drunk, you’re going to roll all over the world,” said Michael Feelix, 24, of To Skee Or Not To Skee. Feelix

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skee-ball rollsin wilmington

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Veteran Skee-Baller Lolos is known as a “Hundo Roller,” because he consistently aims for the more difficult holes which award 100 points each. Shooting for hundos is risky. Miss and your ball can only go into the 10-point hole. Most rollers aim for the much safer 40—miss and it can at least drop into either the 30- or 50-point holes.

One Tuesday night, I got the chance to stand in as a replace-ment for a roller who left early. I rolled a solid 22 or 23 each frame – not bad for a newbie. What struck me most was how difficult it was to consistently roll with the same form and speed.

works in car sales and recently moved here from Ohio. His friend, Michael Clippinger, learned about Brewskee-Ball on Facebook and recruited him.

Everyone rolls differently. Some rollers keep their feet togeth-er, others spread them apart. Still others lean forward on one leg. The best, many say, keep their bodies still and swing only their arm, like a pendulum.

New BrewSkee-Ball skeesons begin three or four times per year. To start rolling some hundos with your own team, or to get more information, send an e-mail to [email protected] or visit wilmingtonbrewskeeball.com

brewskee night“Is this weird for you, Skee-Ball?” asked Tracy Townsend, 29, who wore a black tank top with her team name, Dub Town and Skee Girls, printed across the front. “What else are you doing on Tuesday nights? Let’s just play Skee-Ball and drink a beer.”

Jimmy Izaguirre, 28, of Askee & Skee, a pun on the name of the cell phone company that employs him, joins Lolos at the bar immediately after work, still dressed in his telltale button-up shirt. He rolls his first frame, high-fives the girl standing behind him and, feeling constricted, strips down to his under shirt.

“Have a beer, and if you don’t do good the first roll, drink another one.”

Still a somewhat obscure pastime, assembling a team is sometimes a challenge. Even fans admit to initial skepticism. What? Adults get together and play Skee-Ball? Competitively?

“I was shocked. They’re like professionals. I had no idea,” said Carl Seaholm, 50, of Skeenage Brewtant Ninja Turtles.

The Port City’s best rollers have traveled to championship matches in New York City and Austin. The hundreds of roll-ers now in leagues nationwide are convinced Brewskee-Ball is destined to grow. After all, who can resist a sport that combines balls, bars and beers?

“It’s your ultimate drinking game,” said Ashley “Skeebron” Rogers, 36, as he sat at the Five Star waiting for his team, Skee Ring Circus.

At the close of each match, Varnam leaps on one of the Skee-Ball machines, clutching score sheets. “Brewskee-ballers!” he shouts, as everyone turns to watch him announce the winner of the previous match.

Tonight, Lolos rolled a 54 on his last frame, helping Askee & Skee finish atop ASKEE DSKEE 968 to 856.

Applause. Beer.

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Jacket, Hickey Freeman, $295, Gentleman’s Corner

Don’t lie.You’ve probably been there before,

and if you haven’t, you need to be. A pretty girl, a few drinks, a few more drinks, maybe some wild dancing, and then your place.

When she wakes up, she is going to need something other than her dirty clothes to wear. Your old high school football jersey? A sleeveless tank and boxers? Maybe a button-down oxford that dangles to her knees.

Whatever you put her in, remember that you’re sending a message.

So if you want more of her —ahem, companionship—then give some thought to your sartorial selection.

For inspiration, MI has provided some suggestions. Good luck (with her and the clothes)!

Dress, Kiwi One Shoulder, $25 Aloha Y’all Hair & Make-up by Brandi Alexander

The Morning After

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FALL 2013 MI

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FALL 2013 MI

One of my claims to fame during my 35 years as a sports writer for the Star-News was covering Michael Jordan in high school.

While Jordan ranks near the top of my long list of mem-ories, I will never forget the typically low-key University of North Carolina Wilmington baseball coach Mark Scalf ’s tears after his team’s long-awaited first conference tournament title. For a small town, the Wilmington area has a great sports histo-ry and during my three decades at the paper, I witnessed some key moments.

Let’s begin with Jordan, known at the time as Mike, a down-to-earth teenager who arguably became the greatest player in NBA history.

I don’t remember the first time I met Jordan or inter-viewed him, but we had a good relationship. We have the same birthday—Feb. 17. I had a birthday party once and I remem-ber Jordan wanted to come. Looking back now, that would have been a great story to have, but at the time I told him no because he was underage and we were drinking alcohol.

I met Jordan on the baseball field when he pitched and played outfield for the Laney Buccaneers as a sophomore. Back then, the writer often sat in the home team’s dugout. At the time, I was not sure if his future was in baseball or basketball. I did know, however, that he was a standout on the junior varsity basketball team in 1978-79. But 5-foot-9 basketball guards, no matter how gifted, seldom received Division I scholarships. Things changed during the summer before his junior season when he grew seven inches to 6-foot-4.

Sometimes, when players experience quick growth spurts, they are initially uncoordinated. It happened to New Hanover High star Kenny Gattison, who grew nearly seven inches during the same period and seemed awkward for a stretch

before eventually going on to play nine years in the NBA.There was no lag evident in Jordan’s coordination. Jordan

scored 33 points in his varsity debut in November 1979.Even back then, Jordan was preoccupied with being the

best.On weekdays, upon arriving at school, teachers and coach-

es would hear him dribbling and shooting in the gymnasium. He showed up at 7 a.m. to work on his game, and it was com-monplace for athletic director and football coach Glenn Sasser to have to chase him out of the gym before first-period class.

Jordan’s coach, Clifton “Pop’’ Herring, deserves the lion’s share of credit for Jordan’s development. He sacrificed team and personal glory for his superstar by playing Jordan on the perimeter instead of down low to prepare him for college and beyond.

“He could have played him inside and won a state cham-pionship, but he didn’t,’’ then-New Hanover coach Jim Hebron once said.

During one game I covered in 1981, Jordan’s senior year, I had a birds-eye glimpse of the NBA Michael Jordan.

I don’t remember the opponent. I believe it was a Division II Conference game at Laney and Jordan took off at the foul line, remained in midair while going in for a dunk. The crowd went wild and I almost leaped off my seat at the end of the scorers’ table in disbelief.

I had only seen Julius Erving—Doctor J—make a move like that on television.

Growing up, Jordan idolized North Carolina State Univer-sity alum and NBA star David “Skywalker” Thompson, who scored 73 points in an NBA game the same year Jordan started high school.

I was surprised Jordan chose North Carolina over N.C.

Michael, Mark, and Me

A Hometown Reporter’s Two Fondest Memories

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photo courtesy of Star-News

Chuck Carree

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State given his admiration for Thompson. But the Tar Heels were the first program to show interest in Jordan and UNC made him a top priority. UNC’s commitment to Jordan was a major factor in his decision to sign before his senior year in high school.

After legendary UNC coach Dean Smith drove from Chap-el Hill to watch Jordan in a home game with Southern Wayne in 1981, the buzz over Jordan reached a fever pitch. Typically only family, friends and classmates went to high school games, but Jordan always played in front of sellout crowds.

Because of Jordan, Laney was the top-ranked 4A team in the state heading in the 1981 conference tournament. Ironical-ly, the conference semifinal with rival New Hanover would be Jordan’s final prep game.

It was Feb. 25, 1979, and there was no room near the scorers’ table from which to watch the game. So, Greg Stoda, who covered the game, and I stood in a tower with a videogra-pher and watched. It was the fourth and final showdown of the season between the Wildcats and Buccaneers.

Jordan had won the previous three meetings with late-game heroics. The final showdown was the most significant. The losers’ season was over and you could sense the impor-tance in the way the teams warmed up. Both appeared amped-up and unusually focused.

The game followed a similar pattern as the others as the Wildcats took a 33-19 lead at intermission.

According to game accounts, Jordan received a technical, third foul, with 3:30 left in the second quarter, with the Wild-cats ahead 21-15. He sat out the rest of the half. I don’t remem-ber the technical or why he received it, especially in a game of that magnitude.

Everyone knew Laney would rally when Jordan returned and the Buccaneers did, holding a 52-46 lead when Jordan fouled out with 57 seconds. The crowd and everyone in the gymnasium wondered if Laney could hold on for almost a minute without Jordan.

You could tell the Laney crowd was nervous. Their fears were well-founded. New Hanover scored the final 10 points for a 56-52 upset, thus finishing Jordan’s high school career. Afterward, Herring told me Jordan was distraught.

Like Jordan, UNCW baseball coach Mark Scalf also en-dured disappointments. I covered him as a player and inter-viewed him countless times, first as an assistant and then head coach. For nearly three decades, Scalf came up short in the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament, where the winner earned an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.

I was there in 2004 when he finally captured the CAA Tournament. Standing at the backstop, I watched the tears roll down his cheeks. Scalf stood near the on-deck circle, watching the players’ celebration. I had never seen him cry in the 30 years I’d known him. Seeing him evince emotion almost made me tear up with him. I also had never seen such a happy bunch of players. After the final out, the Seahawks raced onto the field

to celebrate. They hugged each other repeatedly and the smiles on their faces could light up the sky.

It was a touching scene, especially seeing the usually unflappable Scalf weep and unable to speak for several min-utes. Since then, Scalf has won two more CAA tournament titles—2006 and 2012.

I covered both his ’04 and ’06 championships. Before win-ning the second tournament in 2006, the Seahawks had under-achieved. At one point during the season, the Seahawks were low in the standings having lost four of six league games in one stretch, before rallying to finish second in the regular season.

Scalf was livid.The seniors told Scalf not to worry; they would win the

tournament, they said. And when they won, they promised they would shave Scalf ’s head.

Scalf took the bet.So, after the final out in 2006 championship game, Scalf

sat on a chair near the dugout as players, family, friends and fans gathered to see the seniors turn him bald. Scalf ’s wife and daughters watched as the hair on his head landed on his shoulders and lap.

This time, the only tears were from laughter.

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One For The Road

One For The Road

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Men, Ink. Issue 6, Fall 2013

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