Hello, This guy is in trouble if he attempts to drive his Model A coupe. Although, his right foot/leg is injured, he has to juggle the throttle and brake in a quick action. If the knee is the culprit, then he has to put pressure on pressing down as well as fast side movements to brake. Not a good thing, then and now. In 1966, I started playing rugby for the Long Beach rugby club. We practiced at night on a high school football field. I was in great shape and felt indestructible. Running at top speed, doing moves with the ball left/right to score and the running boot over the opponent’s head to move the ball downfield all worked well. I was the far outside wingman, the last guy on the line of reverse ball handling. By the time the ball came into my hands, we were all running at a fast rate downfield and so were the opponents. So, I had several seconds to decide my next move. Cut inside of the last player on my team to get me the ball and once past, throw the ball back to him when the opponents came after me. Yikes! Then another move was to fake the backward pass an continuing running down the field towards the goal line in the center of the field. But, I could have scored plenty of times running straight down the field, but it was difficult to kick a score throught the goal posts at an angle. So, I had to get back into the mass of opponents all running back at me as fast and as mean as they could be. Once scored, then we could easily kick the ball through the goal posts for an additional score. The massive traffic jam occurred when moving back into the traffic lanes and centering the angle of attack was the key. Yes, injuries do occur as one get smacked on a full run tackle, just before tossing the ball to the nearby teammate. Jnaki In one of our championship games against the league all-star team heading for the nationals, I was running well on this night game. I scored several times and now I was “marked” meaning “get that guy” mode, every time I touched the ball. So, as I got the ball, we had plays to run, cross paths and toss the ball back to my teammate running a cross pattern. Now, he got the ball and took off. But, I was following him for another cross/toss pattern play, all while running at close to full speed. I broke open a run and the only guy between me and the goal was a small wing player, my opposite team matching position. I had speed and scored on him a couple of times. So, he was eager to flatten me with a great tackle. I got a move to his left going and when he fell for the fake, I crossed over to the right to get around him. But, as I moved to the right, my left knee collapsed and I fell flat on my face. The team was aghast and now ran over to cover me while I was in pain, but trying to get the ball to one of my teammates. A big bunch of players all stomped on me while I was trying to shove the ball out to a passing teammate. Once done, I was the only guy still on the ground. The rest of the action was going downfield. We scored and the game was over. It was my last pass to allow my teammate to juggle his way to the goal line. but, back up field, I was trying to get up and take a walk back to the sidelines. I took a step and fell flat on my face, again my left knee collapsing. My knee was now the size of a large cantaloupe and growing. It was difficult to move and once a wrap was around my swollen knee, I could barely get in the El Camino to drive to the after game party. My wife took over for me once we pulled over as my concentration was not on the road, but the swollen knee. I got a cartilage removed and now for the last two years of college, I had a swollen knee, wrapped so tightly I could barely get my leg inside to drive. But, the good thing was a special parking permit to allow me to park right in front of my classrooms for being an injured college student! YES! There was no way I was going to be able to walk uphill on the long slog from the large lower campus parking lot to the upper campus classes... Note: Here is a photo that my wife took in late 1967 of a practice game after I injured my knee. Staying out of action allowed me to rehabilitate and drive normally. So, I thought that I could play again with my professional taped up knee and a brace for support. Ahhh, the glory of outrunning those huge tacklers and scoring was perfection. But, when we got into the close encounters of the tackling kind, my knee crumbled in pain. So, my return to full time action was put on permanent hold and I had to rehabilitate my knee using a stronger brace out in the surfing waves for sanity. YRMV Now, after all of these years, I still have to use a compression brace to be able to work in the yard or go for walks in the neighborhood. But, at least I can still walk and drive... coming down a set of stairs or a sloped sidewalk is an action in being old... Yikes!
Have a lot of good memories of Connecticut Dragway. Saw a lot of notable cars & drivers and always had fun. The ride from western Mass. on the two lane roads was the worst part especially going home. Thanks for the nice aerial view.
I rolled through Quebec last week on my way to Luskville Dragway. I was staying in Ottawa. Very scenic.
The Jalopy Journal
