The Bazelak Is on the Board, and the Freshman Is in Charge
Cleveland State37
UMass17
- Game
- 2025 Week 1
- Date
- 2025-08-23
- Site
- Away
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 1-0
Friends, before I tell you about the game, I need to tell you about the sandwich.
Big Stan kept his promise. Above the register at Wojcik’s Deli, on a hand-painted board with a little Viking horn in the corner, there is now a sandwich called The Bazelak: kielbasa, kraut, horseradish and a fried pierogi on rye, named for the quarterback who won us the Liberty Bowl. Stan cried when he hung it. The counter council stood for it. Chester did not abstain.
Then our guys went out to Amherst and beat UMass 37-17 to open year two, and the man taking the snaps was Amar’e Hocker, a freshman. A 77-overall kid out of Florida, starting his first college game on the road. Twenty points of daylight. The kid looked like he’d been doing it for years.
Jersey number thirty-two goes in the closet. Donna says the closet “has a structural issue.” Four pierogi, one Bazelak, extra horseradish. Put it in the time capsule.
A twenty-point road win against UMass to open the season. I’d like to note that UMass is, in football terms, a polite houseguest.
What I’ll take seriously is the quarterback. The Vikings handed the offense to a true freshman, a three-star from Florida, and he didn’t fold on the road. That’s a real data point. One data point, still; I didn’t spend a decade building the Doom Model to be swept off my feet by August.
The Lantern Room’s trivia season also opened Tuesday. Regression to the Mean finished last. Nadia announced our score over the PA and then said, “Same time next week, champions.” The RedHawks bobblehead nodded along. I believe she oils it.
I did try The Bazelak at lunch. It’s a lot of sandwich. It’s honestly a good sandwich. Don’t tell Stan.
Someone asked about “Lil” at the Ledger picnic. It’s from a summer job at a mini-golf course. I was the “little” Ken; there was a bigger one at the windmill hole.
Back and forth
A freshman, Kenny! Starting on the road and winning!
Against UMass. Let’s see him on a Saturday in October.
You ate the whole Bazelak. Stan told me.
I was being polite to the deli. It’s called manners.
A freshman in charge, a sandwich on the board, and Ken’s first secret compliment of the year delivered to a kielbasa.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.