It Was A Great Fight Ma—

---but we lost.  

It's was once again time for the 20-somethingth Supermarket Sweep, benefiting the Food Bank of South Central Michigan.  (Truth is, nobody can really remember how many years they've been doing this.)  And as is tradition a team from the station took part.  Myself, Jeff Jennings from Mix 109-9, and our perennial captain, Nate Adams.

A note here about Cap'n Nate.  He takes this REAL seriously.  He arrives at the Columbia Avenue Family Fare at approximately 0600 on race day and after much recon,  skillfully maps out a route through the store to maximize the numbers of items we can get in our cart. That's how it works.  The team with the most items, and the highest dollar total is the winner.

By contrast, Jeff and I, lazy and slothful, get there just prior to race time, schmooze a bit, and then let Nate tell us what we're doing.  Jeff and I have been on the team for the last eight years, Nate for fifteen.  And for the record, Jeff and I are too damn old for this stuff.  We got to get some kids in here.

We were up against a collection of scoundrels and rouges, the likes of which your sainted mother warned you against associating with.  Teams from clearly inferior radio and television stations, weekly print media, and the dreaded gallery of murderers from Senior Times/Scene Magazine.

How they do it, I have no clue.  But the aforementioned murderers seems to win EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!!  And this year---was no exception.

Before I go any further into my event recap, I must confess, the reason for this year's fourth place finish was because of me.  That's right.  I was the one who got the wrong diapers, which were a high-dollar item.  I was the one who got the wrong hot dogs.  I picked up hair spray when it should have been shampoo.  And as fate would have it, we finished two items behind the clearly inferior radio station in third place.  Indeed, I am wearing the coat of shame.  I figure if I fess up now, I can put this behind me.  I am repentant.

Much food is collected for the Food Bank, and win or lose, we're glad we can take part and help this great organization.   A big thanks goes out to the forever patient staff and management of the Columbia Avenue Family Fare.  I hope we didn't make too much of a mess, and thank you for the complimentary 12-packs of Oberon.  (They WERE complimentary, weren't they?)  And, despite the sweat and rapid heartbeat, it is a lot of fun.   I'd like to say, I'll be back next year, but I'm too damn old for this stuff.  We need to hire some kids.