Spelunker

My brother Michael was competitive in sports, board games, arguments, everything! The youngest of my 3 older brothers, I'm sure he was competing with them and trying to be like them since he was a baby. Bob and Michael are Irish twins, a term used when siblings are born less than a year apart and Jimmy's just a little over a year older than Bob. All my brothers are great at sports and there was a time when Michael and Bob were playing a football game against each other. Everyone asked my mom, including my brothers, who she wanted to win. She said she wanted a tie. I don't remember but I'm sure there were tons of heated discussions before that game, probably got a little physical knowing my brothers. But my mom got her wish, it was a tie and I don't think any of the three of them ever played against each other, as far as I remember. I do remember Michael and Jimmy playing basketball down the park (Rubber Park) almost every night before dinner and always ending up in a fight. My mom would tell them not to play together anymore, but there they were again the next night, competing and fighting.

Michael played basketball with our cousin Doug who is 12 years younger than Michael. And if Doug beat him, Michael would be knocking on Doug's door early the next morning, waking Doug up to come out and play with him so he could beat him. Michael is 16 years older than our youngest brother, Joey, and Joey always had a Nerf basketball hoop in our front foyer and Michael had one in his dining room, Michael was married and a father at the time. Joey was nuts with his Nerf basketball and hoop, had tape down on the floor marking his court. If he played by himself he was the commentator and crowd cheering. If he did something wrong, my father would rip the hoop off the wall, you gotta hit em where it hurts, Joey would do whatever he was supposed to do to get that hoop back up. Eventually the wall on top of the front closet had so many holes we had to redo the wall and no more Nerf hoops! Even with the Nerf basketball games, if Joey beat Michael, Michael would challenge him over and over, sometimes making poor Joey cry, begging my father, please make him stop, he was just a little kid, enough already.

We've had tons of family BBQs at our Aunt Libby and Uncle Richie's house, Michael would get something going, some kind of competition. The yard is tiny, sharing a driveway with their neighbor. Michael started a game one day and that was it, his new challenge to beat everyone. He would take a bunch of bottle caps and line up garbage pails with the tops turned upside down in the driveway. We had to toss the caps into the garbage pail. He set up a line for the girls, gave us a handicap, so even if we won, he would point out that we really didn't win. That was Michael!

I've mentioned before that I wasn't really a sports fan growing up and still am not. Drove me crazy growing up. It was always on TV or the radio and I had to go to all my brothers' baseball games and football games, I had enough of it by the time I was 10.

But fun for me, my family was and still is into playing board games together and when Trivial Pursuit came out we played it at many parties. We got the different versions and played those as well. We really had so much fun. Our latest game, and the kids are really loving this, Left Right Center. It's a game with dice and chips or pennies, but we play with dollars, the kids have won a bunch of times and are always asking to play! I can't blame them, we have a big family, they walk away with a nice stash of cash (usually from Aunt Janet who brings singles for the kids).


We've played Jenga, where no one wants my brother Bob with his fat fingers on their team. We've played Pictionary. Depends on the crowd, there's a nice amount of youngins in the family these days. So Trivial Pursuit hasn't been played in a few years.

Now getting back to Spelunker. Perhaps you know the definition?

Sometimes in the early 80s we were "down the Jersey Shore" and my brother Michael and I were on opposing teams for a game of Trivial Pursuit. It was Michael and his wife Debbie against my friend Tara and me. We were winning and you know when you get to the center of the board, the opposing team gets to pick the category for the final question and you win or wait for your next turn. Michael of course chose the sports category, grinning his evil grin and chuckling, in his glory. He knew I knew nothing about sports and Tara, if possible, even less. The question was: What is a spelunker. A light went on! Tara, who remembers absolutely too much, told me I had a look on my face that was part amazement and confusion! I asked to look at the question so I could see the word. Spelunker? Spelunker? Where did I just read about that.

I had just read an article in Glamor Magazine about spelunking. They probably had really cool pictures that drew me into the story because I really don't think I had any desire to go spelunking at that time in my life, even now...hmmm...I don't know if I would feel comfortable under ground, but I will say as to spelunking, never say never.

I answered Michael with spunk, a spelunker is a cave explorer! Michael was shocked. I was in my glory, I won on the sports category. Me? Sports? I'm sure Michael wanted a rematch, or argued that I read the cards, but my evidence was that article and the look on my face, you could tell that I was even shocked.



You never know, some day you might need to know what a spelunker is? Maybe you'll be playing Trivial Pursuit against an opponent like my brother Michael. You will remember how a somewhat dizzy, sports challenged, little sister got her biggest bust your chops in the worst way big loving brother to wipe that grin off his face. And plus it's a really fun word to say, spelunker. Spelunker...