Tuesday, November 6, 2012

A Weekend With Friends


When Ted Hendricks contacted me about the 11th Annual Ted Hendricks Golf tournament, I was excited to agree to be there. Ted and I happen to be very good friends. We used to play together for the Baltimore Colts and have a lot of fond memories before he was traded. He also has a wonderful foundation. His foundation helps all kinds of kids and he does a great job in Florida.

I arrived in Miami around 1:30 in the afternoon on Thursday, the first day of November. Unfortunately, that was too late for me to participate in the TED Challenge. I did get a little bit of practice on the golf course before the VIP dinner reception. The provided us with a wonderful meal. There was Italian food, roast beef… they had everything. It was like a smorgasbord. Needless to say, I went to bed Thursday night full of delicious food and fond memories flooding me as I reflected on previous times I’d seen most of my fellow tournament participants.

Friday at 12:15 pm was the scheduled time of the start of the tournament. There were 200 or more participants. It was like old times, playing a competitive sports with Leroy Kelly, Lynn Swann, Tom Mack, and all the other former pros. It was 18 holes of pure competition, but that didn’t stop the friendly back and forth between us.  We are friends, after all. My team was tied for first place at the end of the tournament. You just can’t beat the feeling of victory, especially when playing for charity.

After the heat of game, I participated in the silent auction. I didn’t win anything I had bid on because I didn’t have nearly as much money as a lot of the other participants, but I enjoyed being involved anyway. I did win, however, a football shaped cooler for my wife. Just as cool, I won a couple of little piglet key chains and everyone on my team wanted one of those.

The award dinner after the silent auction was much like the VIP dinner from Thursday night, a smorgasbord. I had a wonderful time in Florida. I stayed a while after too. I had a chance to speak with some of the sponsors and people I had played golf with before in the previous year’s tournament. Dan Sullivan had traveled down to Miami for the tournament and I spent some time catching up with him.

Victory, Fun, Food, and Friends are enough to make a phenomenal weekend. I look forward to next year.

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