My favorite movie of all time is, Back to the Future. Watching it for the 100,000th time the other night, I began to think of incidents that happened in life, my life and others that have vastly effected the course of my life. How my life turned out and who I became. I don't know if anyone besides me will find any of this fascinating or not, but I know I do.
My Great Grandpa Leomer "Pug" Danels almost played football for the Green Bay Packers
I don't know much about my Grandpa's football career. I didn't even know about it until long after his death. I know that he played for the Packer's farm team for a couple of years back in the mid 1920's. I've been told that he was pretty good and had a promising football career ahead of him if he had chosen to take it. However, his father died unexpectedly and if he didn't return home to Delta, Iowa his mother was going to lose the farm. He decided to give up his football career and head back to Delta to save his mother from losing the farm. He soon met my Grandma Marie Kerber and the rest is history. Had his father not died and he not had to return to Delta, he may have ended up getting bumped up to playing for the Green Bay Packers. Then again if that had happened, he would have remained in Wisconsin, never returned to Iowa and I wouldn't be here.
My Dad Almost Died When He Was a Baby
When my Dad was an infant he contracted a severe case of Pneumonia that nearly took his life. He was very sick and in the hospital for a long period of time. One doctor even prepared my Grandma Norma and Grandpa Harry for the possibility of him not pulling through. My Dad says that he credits his mom and Grandma Danels for why he made it through and defeated Pneumonia. He says that they would take turns with him rocking him all night long and he believes that is what kept him alive.
My Uncle Tom Died and Came Back to Life
I suppose this doesn't effect my life or if it does, I'm not exactly sure how it does. However, it is a really neat story. I'm not sure of the exact year. I believe it was 1976. My Uncle Tom had recently graduated high school and went over to a party in Sigourney. While at the party, he experimented with some LSD and then began the journey back home. Only instead of heading home towards North English, he wound up going the other direction and ended up in Oskaloosa. In Oskaloosa he wrapped his car (a station wagon) around a tree. When he hit the tree, he was thrown into the very back of the station wagon. When paramedics arrived, they took him to the hospital and he died on the operating table. My Grandma Richard and Grandma Kathleen were called to the hospital and when they arrived, they were notified that Tom had died in a car accident. With my Grandma going hysterical in the other room, my Grandpa was brought in to identify the body. When the nurse lifted the sheet, Tom turned his head opened his eyes and said, "Dad?" According to my Grandpa, the nurse turned white and fainted. Death came for my Uncle Tom that day, and Life told death, "Not your time, pal. He's still mine."
You know what makes this story even more bizarre? Had my Uncle Tom been wearing his seatbelt, he would have been trapped in the front seat, instead of being thrown in the back. He would have been crushed to death and not survived. After discovering this, he hasn't put on a seatbelt again. It sort of reminds me of Robert Shaw in JAWS when he says, "I'll never put on a life jacket again." Uncle Tom hasn't worn a seatbelt in nearly 40 years.
I Could Have Ended Up the Stepbrother of Kyle Hanson
Kyle Hanson was a two time state champion for Wilton High School and a two time All American for Northern Iowa. I was in 6th grade when my Dad dated Kyle's mother for about 1/2 a year. I never spent much time around Kyle, but the little time we did spend with each other I got along with him. We played Mortal Kombat together one time and he gave me a ride on his motorcycle a couple of times. I wonder if the relationship with my Dad and Kyle's mom had worked out if that would have had any effect on my wrestling career. He might not have had anything to do with me at all for all I know, but then again maybe he would have. Having a two time Division I All American beat up on me, teach me how to lift weights and give me other advice might have made me into the great wrestler that I always wanted to be. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have.
I Almost Became Related to The Greatest Wrestler That Ever Came Out of Sigourney
Seeing that I wasn't a great wrestler myself, not anywhere close, I am often asked if I had a family member who was. The answer is that no I didn't. Both my Uncle Larry and my Uncle Greg wrestled in high school, but it's not like it is a family tradition. The truth is, I am a very sensitive person. I cry easily. I see a dead dog or cat on the side of the road, I usually have to wipe my eyes. I was picked on and bullied a lot when I was little. Getting me involved in wrestling, put an end to that, it gave me a way to defend myself. To this day, I'm still emotionally an easy target to be bullied, but bullies leave me be because of my physical presence. Sure, I'm the guy that cried about the dead kitten on the road, but I'm also the guy you just saw military press 200 lbs 8 times. I have wrestling to thank for that, and so many other great things in my life. I suppose that's why a guy who never even qualified for districts, has such a love and a passion for the sport.
My Grandpa did date Bonnie Yoder for a long period of time though. There was even talk of them getting married once. Bonnie is the mother of Clark Yoder, three time state champion, Sigourney's greatest wrestler of all time. His brother Ross was also a state champion. My Grandpa and Bonnie dated I believe up until my freshman year of high school. I always got along great with all of the Yoders, especially Ross. Hell, I still get along very well with all of the Yoders. Ross's son, Wes, is currently a wrestler for William Penn University. While we're not related, I still sometimes think of him as my cousin. He'll be entering his sophomore season this year and is looking for his first collegiate victory. Can't wait for that to happen. So, no I'm not related to any great wrestlers, but I did refer to two of Sigourney's all time greatest as "Uncle" for a period of time in my life.
I Gave Up An Opportunity to Cover UFC/MMA Events
In 2010, I get a random message out of nowhere from a guy named Kevin Schlosser who ask me for my phone number because he wants to call me. I give him my phone number and Kevin calls me back saying he owns buckeyewrestle.com, which he's going to make into takedownohio.com and he wants me to be their blogger and writer. I ask him what's in it for me and he tells me that he'll get me into the NCAA tournament for free. I'm sold. I go to work for Kevin and have a lot of fun working with him and his other two associates whose names escape me.
One night, Kevin calls me up at about 2:00 a.m (Not a big deal at the time because I was a cab driver) because he has this great opportunity he wants to talk to me about. I ask him, "what is it?" He says to me, "I won't be able to pay you a lot of money upfront, but how would you like to travel around the country with me covering MMA and UFC?" I think Kevin was expecting me to jump at the idea and be all excited about it. Instead I sat silent for a moment.
"I'll cover all of your meals, hotel cost and pay you at least $200 a week."
My response was that I didn't really care for MMA/UFC and that I wasn't all that interested. In some ways I think I made the right decisions. Matter of fact in a lot of ways I know I did. I was averaging around $300 a week as a cab driver. Granted, traveling around with Kevin, I suppose I didn't technically need to be paying rent for an apartment, but I still had plenty of other bills to worry about.
I have no idea how that would have turned out, had I taken Kevin up on the offer. I think he did it for a period of three or four years before he got out of it himself and I have no idea how successful or unsuccessful he was. I sometimes wonder if I didn't shoot myself in the foot, and if it might have lead to more opportunities as a writer/journalist. I have no idea.
I don' t think Kevin has ever forgiven me for turning him down on the offer. He called me back a few weeks after the initial offer to try and talk me into it again and I turned him down for good. Since that time, we've only talked about three times. All three times have been for 5 minutes or less, and this used to be a guy I'd talk to for 3 hours at a time. I suppose I did run into him at the Olympic trails back in 2012 when they were in Iowa City. It was good to see him, but I could sense a bit of apprehension from him because I think he's still hurt by the fact that I didn't want to help him cover MMA/UFC.
I Should've Been in the Movie, Seven Minutes
Ever heard of Seven Minutes? No, well neither has anyone else. As much as I wish it would have been a success for all of those involved including Matt Murray and Jeff Harrison, it wasn't. I finally got my hands on it a few years ago, and I couldn't even finish it. It's better than The Room, but not by much. J.D. Olivia, who wrote and directed the film, filmed it in DeKalb, Illinois. He knew of my acting background and had seen some of my professional wrestling work on youtube. I have no idea how big of a part it would have been or even what it was, but Olivia wanted me to come to DeKalb and read for a part. He said that even if I wasn't right for the part, he'd find something for me to do in the film. So I could have been in a film that nobody has ever seen or heard of, and the few who have seen it describe it as, "a little better than Tommy Wiseau's The Room"
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