inessential by Brent Simmons

So we meet again

As a boy living just outside Newark, Delaware my favorite college team was the Fightin’ Blue Hens. I remember well when they won the Division II championship.

I also remember hating their various rivals—Temple, Lehigh, Villanova, and, most especially, Colgate.

Gimme a C! Gimme an O! Gimme an L! Gimme a G! Gimme an A! Gimme a T! Gimme an E!

What does that spell?

Toothpaste!

Anyway, now the Hens will face Colgate in the Division I-AA championship this Friday.

Go Blue Hens!

(It’s not lost on me that a fightin’ blue hen doesn’t sound as ferocious as a lion or a bear. Oh well. I probably shouldn’t mention, but I will, that the football team for the nearby high school is the Ballard Beavers. “You better get outta my way Mr. linebacker or I swear I’m gonna build a dam in this creek.”)