I read tonight that the guy who was the number one "jock" (said admirably) in my high school class has passed away. Smuggled out of Hungary in a suitcase as an infant during their 1956 revolution against Russian rule, I went to the first two or three years of catholic school with him but didn't get to know him until high school.
Always fun to be around, I have one story that I have remembered over the years. It was two or three years removed from high school. We were both at Oregon State University and on opposite intramural basketball teams. His team had the lead on the scoreboard when I suddenly had one of those "in the zone" moments and made four consecutive jump shots as the lead changed to my team. Andy called a timeout and lit into his teammates. As both teams returned to the court, he was giving defensive assignments to his teammates and ended the session with a loud: "..... and I got Brown!!!" I went scoreless the rest of the game.
Years later, probably in our mid-40-something age ..... I was waiting at the KFC not too far from the neighborhoods where we both grew up. Another waiting customer started up a conversation with me. After a moment or two, he sensed that I didn't recognize him. He re-introduced himself. It was Andy. He had moved out-of-state and was back to visit his family. I laughed to myself because he was one of the more popular, well-known members of our high school class and it was him recognizing me. I always thought it should have been the other way around.
R.I.P. Andy
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