I have a very special place in my heart for Chichester football.

No, I am not a Chi grad. I went to Oxford High School. We have something
of an infamous link. And I was part of it.

I was a member of the first-ever varsity football team at Oxford High.
Our coach, Fred Green, was a Chichester alum, and had played under the
legendary Tony Apichella. Their football field is now named for him.
Apichella, not Green.

I kind of doubt there is a plaque to mark our visit there.

Back in 1970, when I was a sophomore, the student decided to challenge
his mentor. Oxford would play Chichester in our first ever varsity
football game.

It was the year after Billy “White Shoes” Johnson graduated. We actually
had gone as a team the year before to watch him play. A year later, we
ran onto the field on an ungodly hot Saturday morning against the
Eagles. It didn’t go too well. We lost 72-3. A guy named Joe Miller ran
all over us. I think he scored five touchdowns, including returning the
opening kickoff for a TD.

I did, however, hold the ball for that solitary field goal on the Oxford
side of the ledger.

I was a safety/backup quarterback, and weighed maybe 110 pounds sopping
wet with all my gear on. The summer before my senior year, our starting
QB moved down South. That left me as the starter. That gives you an idea
how good we were.

We didn’t win a single game. We went 0-10. I can only be blamed for the
first four losses, until I broke my collarbone, ending my season. It
matched the separated shoulder I suffered in my junior year.

Today Chichester and Sun Valley will meet for the 42nd time on
Thanksgiving Day.

Neither one of them has won a game.

Doesn’t matter. Instead, two communities will come together in a
tradition that bonds them forever. Alumni will flock back home for the
game. Bragging rights will be decided for another year. Those on the
field will remember it – and the guys they played with - for the rest of
their lives.

Wins and losses don’t really have anything to do with it.

I know exactly how they feel.