My whole body was on fire. Both Bob (Bob was a friend from middle school who played for the other team) and I are laying on the football field. "So this is how it feels to break your neck," I thought to myself. "Wait, I can move my hands and feet, I just can't feel them." I had always thought for example, that if I couldn't feel my leg, I probably would not be able to move my leg. I was wrong. I was able to get to my feet, but my whole body was still on fire and I was a little wobbly. Bob was still on the ground. The six foot, two hundred pound, Greek god's season was over--the collision broke his shoulder blade. Bob tried to run me over. He was the stud running back for Armstrong. I was that little linebacker from Robbinsdale. While they carted Bob off the field it allowed me the time to shake the cobwebs and fire from my head and limbs. I continued to play. A few plays later I picked up a ball after the play and threw it back to the referee. It made it about half the way. "That's weird", I thought. Granted, I am a linebacker, but usually I can throw a ball 5 yards. Shortly after that episode my coach called a time out and came out to the huddle to asked me, "what day it was?" Normally, I am pretty sharp, but I really felt it was no time for a difficult algebra problem. Fortunately, like Rainman, the answer came to me in a vision. "Blue," I told him without hesitation. "Now let's get back to the business of playing football", I thought. Coach Burke started to laugh and inform me that my bell had been rung, whatever that means, and that I would have to leave the game. I wanted to argue, but to be honest, I felt like crap--all clammy and nauseous. Concussion number two, not my first, and probably not my last. I spoke later with my father about this game, and he told me that he could tell that something was wrong. When I threw that ball to the referee, I threw it with my right arm (I'm left-handed). I was also the captain of the defense, and called the plays that were hand-signaled in from the sidelines. I called every play exactly backward. That was when coach Burke came out. One of the "rites of passage" as a youth football player is a "stinger." If you have ever had one you probably can relate to what I am writing about. For you that have not, I hope that this will give you a glimpse of what "stingers" are like.