The itch has been with him for 60 years, since Mr. Kemp rolled a funny-looking ball across the gym floor when he was a sophomore in high school.
It couldn’t be a volleyball; that was for girls. And there were no girls in his gym class or in Algebra, where Sister Laurent would again remind the sweating boys to close their knees. Maybe he’ll see Mary in the library if he can weasel a pass from Father Schmidt, who went to school with his mother.
Mr. Kemp told them he had spent the summer in England and learned about a new game that was mostly played by short guys like him.
Earlier in the week, Coach Deroin had posted the names of the fifteen boys who had made the sophomore basketball team on the gym wall.
At 5’7″, he would have been the shortest, exactly the height of Lionel Messi, whom he’ll watch tonight.
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Later today in Kansas City, I will see my first World Cup soccer match: Messi’s Argentina vs. Switzerland.
