We Sat In Rows
I Wrote a Short Story For You
Upcoming Shows:
Fri. 2/27/26 - Ancient Order of Hibernians Fish Fry, Hamilton, NJ 7:00 - 10:00 (Full Band)
Sat. 2/28/26 - Naked Brewing Bristol, Bristol, PA 7:00 (Full Band. Also appearing: Leon Stanley and the Combo Du Jour). I’ll be playing keyboards with Leon.
Check out our Irish Show Schedule on the flyer below (7 shows between 3/6 and 3/17).
Hello and happy Friday.
For this week’s post I’d like to share a short story I recently wrote called “We Sat in Rows”. Here ya go!
We Sat in Rows
by Mick Chorba
We sat in rows. We sat in rows and learned about Jesus. We sat in rows, learned about Jesus, and waited in lines.
A line for the water fountain. A line for the bathroom. A line for the library. A line for the cafeteria. Recess. And then all hell broke loose.
Running from the lunch room we screamed like uncaged animals.
The playground was divided into two distinct areas. The Black Top and The Field. The Black Top, closer to the school building, was painted with activities like Hopscotch and Four Square. The real action was on The Field—a fenced in grassy area with some soccer goalposts and a softball diamond with orange colored dirt for an infield and a chain link fence for a backstop. Soccer and baseball games were rarely played—recess had two main activities: Kill the Man With the Ball and Bulldog Rush.
Kill the Man With the Ball was my favorite. The game was organic. Allegiances formed around grades and sometimes classes and even sub groups not related to either. The main objective was to hold onto the ball, keep it away from your rivals who would mercilessly chase you. Sort of like rugby with less rules. An aerial view would have shown large groups of 12 year old boys chasing each other in giant circles. Unload that ball boy before you get tackled! Of course the older kids had an advantage. But what a thrill for a group of seventh graders to keep that ball away from the eighth grade class. If you ended up getting sacked, the pile up was dangerous. Kicking. Jabbing. A swarm of bodies. Then out of the heap someone would rise up, ball in hand. And on it went. No score. Play continued until the bell sounded.
Bulldog Rush was no joke. While it was slightly more organized than Kill the Man With the Ball its potential for violence and injury was far greater. In the back corner of the field next to the convent there was a hill that backed up to a wire fence. Here’s how the game worked. All participants lined up on the top of the hill except for one lone soul who waited at the bottom. On the count of three the crowd charged like General Pickett’s troops in Gettysburg, a war whoop released into the air. The lonely soul needed to tackle at least one person who would then join him there at the bottom. The process then repeated. The game continued until the crowd was at the bottom and one sole survivor was left at the top. It seemed the longer you survived the greater the risk for physical harm. Broken arms, concussions, abrasions of all sorts. No score. Play continued until the bell sounded.
And when it did we ran back to school. Back into lines to return to class. To learn about Jesus. To sit in a row.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the weekend! - Mick
P.S.
Sad to report that Rob Martin is having knee surgery next week and will be out for a few months recovering. This weekend will be your last chance to see the full band with Rob behind the kit for awhile. We’ll miss him but expect him back and feeling better asap.
What I’m listening to:
The Decemberists, Crane Wife, on vinyl (2012)
Guided By Voices, Universe Room, on vinyl (2025)
The Moberlys, s/t, on vinyl (1979) on vinyl (Jim Basnight’s band from Seattle, a favorite of mine, a power pop classic IMO)
Ben Arnold, XI, on vinyl (2026). Went to see Ben Arnold at a free concert in Philadelphia last Friday, WXPN’s Free at Noon. Bought his new album after the set.
What I’m reading:
Been running on the treadmill because of all the damn snow—started listening to an audio book version of Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring. Narrated by Andy Serkis—he does an awesome Gandalf.
Close Range, collection of short stories by Annie Proulx. This collection includes “Broke Back Mountain” which was made into a movie. Reading her work is both inspiring and humbling—so good!
You have a future in prose, Mr. Chorba. And they really know how to name those venues in the northeast. Naked brews indeed. What are the annual dues to join the "Ancient Order of the Hibernians?" I'll pay up. Anybody named Leon STANLEY must be minted from gold.