Halloween in Orlando, and Somebody Else Handed Out My Candy
Cleveland State38
UCF24
- Game
- 2026 Week 8
- Date
- 2026-10-31
- Site
- Away
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 7-1
The Vikings played on Halloween this year, in Orlando, and I wasn’t home to hand out candy for the first time in twenty-nine years. So I asked the Reyes kids to do it for me.
Donna sent pictures. Leo, eight, was a Viking for the third straight year, horns slightly dented now. Sofia, six, went as Big Stan, apron, little paper hat, a cardboard salami, and she apparently stood on my porch telling every trick-or-treater, “One per customer,” in a voice that I’m told was an alarmingly good impression. Stan has asked for a framed copy. Stan cried.
Meanwhile, down in Florida, our guys beat UCF 38-24. Third straight road win. Fourteen points of daylight. Seven and one, folks. Three road games into a five-game trip and we haven’t lost a step. You know what that tells me? This team packs well.
Four pierogi. One per customer. Sofia’s rules.
The Vikings beat UCF by two touchdowns on Halloween, which is appropriate, because this road trip is starting to feel spooky in the opposite way. Nothing is going wrong. I keep checking the closets.
Three road wins in a row: Lubbock, Oxford, Orlando. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ll say plainly: a team that can win in three different kinds of building, a loud West Texas stadium, a shootout in Ohio and a muggy Florida night, has a real identity. It’s not a fluke team. It’s a road team.
I spent Halloween at the Lantern Room. Nadia dressed as a RedHawk, wings and all, and refused to serve me unless I said “caw.” I said “caw.” It was quiet and dignified. Regression to the Mean finished last in the costume-themed trivia round, because nobody on my team could name a single famous monster. We’re numbers people. Our monsters are spreadsheets.
Two to go on the trip: Utah and Arizona. Arizona beat us at home last year by three touchdowns. I have a calendar with red marks. I’ve been using the red marks less lately.
Back and forth
Sofia did a Big Stan impression, Kenny!
I’ve seen the photo. It’s frighteningly accurate. The salami was perfect.
Seven and one!
Three road wins in a row. I’m checking the closets.
A third straight road win on Halloween, a six-year-old Big Stan running the candy line, and one dignified “caw” in Ohio City.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.