Fouled Out: Off to College

That March 16, 1969, my father passed away. I was shaken. He was strong and big. He could do anything. A blood clot caused a pulmonary embolism that struck him down in his sleep while he was only 50 years old. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was the cause. Six of his seven siblings developed DVTs. It runs in the family.

I had basketball scholarship offers from Millersburg, Shippensburg, Bucknell Colleges; they are all universities now. Tom Beach went down to Elizabethtown College to tryout for their team. Coach Batzel drove him down and invited me along. The E-town coach wanted to see Tom play. He...