Sixty-Six in Tempe, With Marco Reyes in the Next Seat
Cleveland State66
Arizona State35
- Game
- 2030 Week 6
- Site
- Away
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 6-0
Vikings 66, Arizona State 35, in Tempe. SIX AND OH.
I went, folks. And I didn’t go alone. Marco Reyes, my neighbor, who moved to Cleveland from Phoenix six years ago and now owns a hand-knit Vikings scarf, came with me. Three years ago he flew home for our game out here and went with his cousins. This time he sat next to me. His mother met us at the airport with a cooler of tamales, which she handed to me, not Marco, and said, “For the man who coaches my grandson.” I didn’t know what to say. So I ate a tamale in the parking garage. It was the best thing I’ve ever eaten in a parking garage.
Marco wore the scarf in the stadium. In Arizona. In the heat. People stared. He told one of them, “I’m from here, but I’m from Cleveland now.” That’s the whole story of a man, my people. That’s an immigrant’s story and a convert’s story at the same time.
Thirty-one points of daylight. Our offense put up sixty-six in a stadium full of people in short sleeves. Marco said, “The heat’s a twelfth man,” which he also said in 2027, and it was a lie both times.
Five pierogi. And a tamale.
A thirty-one-point road win to go six and oh. Arizona State scored thirty-five, which is the most anyone has scored on the Vikings this year, and the Vikings scored sixty-six anyway. That’s the formula from last year, with a better defense most weeks.
I watched from the Lantern Room. Nadia was quiet all game, polishing the same glass. At halftime she said, “You’re coming to Oxford this year.” Not a question. The Vikings play Miami (OH) in Oxford in a few weeks, and the RedHawks are scoring like they always do. I said, “I’m in the press box, Nadia.” She said, “Then I’ll be in the press box.” She can’t get a press box credential. I didn’t say that. You don’t tell Nadia what she can’t do.
At ballroom, the instructor said Teresa and I were “ready for the foxtrot.” Teresa was thrilled. I asked what a foxtrot is. The instructor said, “It’s a walk with confidence.” I said, “I don’t do that.” Teresa said, “You do now.” We foxtrotted. I stepped on one toe. One. I’m told that’s a personal best.
Back and forth
Marco’s mom gave me tamales!
Marco texted me a picture of you eating a tamale in a parking garage. It’s my new phone background.
A foxtrot, Kenny?
A walk with confidence. I’m learning. One toe.
Sixty-six points in the desert, a neighbor home in a wool scarf, a tamale in a parking garage, and Ken learning to walk with confidence.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.