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11/22/05: Treacherous Sledding

Yeah, nobody got yesterday's Oggdat Challenge. The fashion victim we were looking for was #34, whose first name was Mark and whose last name I will not say. All you need to know is that he went by the name "Rocky." That's right, if you saw him in the elevator on your way to class on a Tuesday afternoon, you'd be all, "What's up, Rocky?" No irony, either.

A couple quick notes on Rocky. He was a pretty nice guy, actually. Good student, built like a tank. He was from the same hometown, Marshfield, WI, as my roommate Oly (#23). They were both sophomores when I was a freshman, so they could have just stuck to themselves and their crew and been too cool for school, but instead they made a real effort to take me under their wings and introduce me to people. Especially Oly. If there was a party, he invited me. I will always appreciate that.

There's an episode of Taxi where Jim flashes back to his college days.  He's at Harvard in the late 60's, a real straight arrow, varsity sweater, the works -- he's completely opposed to the counterculture and the abundance of drugs on campus.  His girlfriend tries to get him to loosen up and sample a pot brownie, and he refuses. Finally he gives in and takes one bite, and after initially showing no reaction at all, suddenly his expression contorts permanently into the "Iggy Face".

I had my Iggy Face Moment on my first day in college at Wisconsin. I hadn't been much of a drinker in high school, maybe actually got incoherent three or four times and beyond that I would occasionally have a beer or three and it made me feel like a big man. But on that first day at college, my world changed. I got to my dorm in the late afternoon and my roommate wasn't home. I started to unpack and after an hour or so he returned (he had been out playing basketball). We made some small talk and after he took a shower, changed, and slathered himself in Brut aftershave, he walked me down the hall to Rocky's room, where there was a mini-party (maybe 14 people) in progress. Mostly sophomores, some really cute, if big-haired, girls. Oly introduced me around the room, and Rocky reached into the fridge and handed me an Old Milwaukee. 

That simple gesture of goodwill -- our beer is your beer, we are all in this together, let's have some fun, kid -- went a long way. My eyes lit up. In a rookie move, I believe I offered him some money, which he refused with a wave of his hand. Beers just kept coming my way all night and they didn't stop coming my way until about a year ago.  I thank Rocky and Oly for igniting the first real sparks in my long and dysfunctional relationship with booze.

Field trip to Philly for work on Tuesday. As far as I can recall, I've never once left New York City for work since I joined this company. That must mean I'm a real player.

So let's get going on another Oggdat Challenge.  One of my most memorable nights in college came during a snowstorm freshman year. There was a nice hill over by the Liz Waters dormitory across campus, and as the snow built up it created a perfect if potentially unsafe slope for sledding. About twenty of us grabbed cafeteria trays and headed over as the snow continued to fall. It was a tradition. However, we knew it was going to be a little dangerous, especially because kids from all over campus were heading over at the same time we were, which was going to make for intense tray traffic on the hill.

There was one Withey resident who was perhaps a little too into the whole danger element -- in fact, all he wanted to do was get to the hill so he could smash into people and hopefully injure them.  As we walked towards the hill, he began to sing. It was a song originally performed by a band that helped define 70's soft rock, but this young man turned it into an something ominous. Where it was once a simple song warning us all of the dangers of love, he twisted it into a paean to violence.

For ten points. what number resident was this psycho? And for another ten, what song was he singing? Withey alums may answer at 5pm HST and will receive half point values for both questions.

This was a pretty awesome post, I thought, except for the stupid ending that I don't get.