Friday May 25th 2012—Mansfield, Ohio
At approximately 6:45pm in the Parking lot of the Mansfield Fairfield Inn, the German Hungarians intended to embark on our Hagey Coach to depart for the Liederkranz clubhouse.
After the head counts were done by our Manager, Werner Fricker III, those few of our members near the front of the bus saw two lone fussballers rounding the corner with an look of despair in their eyes. It was none other than the famous Gerhard Mengel and he brought news of a terrible tragedy that had befallen our friends from the Detroit Carpathia Kickers!
In our usual style we greeted him with some liquid courage in the form of a Becks! It turns out that the “National Trails” bus from Detroit had “Broken Down.” Soon after, the hijacking began as the entire Detroit group boarded our Hagey Coach.
Our fine guests were not courteous enough to leave a seat for our Manager, whom we left stranded at the hotel! Our coach made its way to the club as Werner and a few more Kickers waited for a rescue! With a six pack in hand, they stood on the stoop of the hotel and watched as the hijacked bus rolled away. In a few moments a small compact rolled by and three of the Kickers piled into the back seat! They called for the rest to pile in but they knew that was not an option.
Soon the bus returned with none other that President Bill Galgon and the final few got a ride to the club. Someone from our ranks remarked “We will drive you Detroit guys wherever you want, but when we play you, you gotta find your own ride!!!” Laughter followed!!
Michael N. Fricker
