13

 And now we're officially over halfway through my last semester. My great friend Kerry stopped by yesterday and noticed the number 13 that had just appeared on my door, and I explained the process. I think she was triggered by the number 13, and began to talk about the need for a public celebration of my retirement, which I thought had disappeared in the chaos of life at Champlain. I explained, truthfully, as I've explained before, that I don't want a big public going away shindig. I'm OK with a series of smaller gettogethers. but the thought of being the center of a big celebration just makes my skin crawl. I'm going to litter the road with as many roadblocks as possible to keep this from being scheduled, including a series of fictional trips back to Indiana. If not for this summer's two CFL trips I think I'd just get on a plane for Sicily as soon as my final grades are submitted.

Thanks to Anthony Calvillo for loaning me his number 13 for the countdown. Calvillo was born in LA, and played his college ball at Utah State. After brief stints with the Las Vegas Posse (during the ill-fated CFL excursion south of the border) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Calvillo played the rest of his career with the Montreal Alouettes. When he retired he had passed for more yards than any professional QB, before his record was eventually broken by Drew Brees of that southern league - he still holds the all-time CFL record. He's one of only ten quarterbacks to have thrown for over 400 touchdowns. In addition, Calvillo won four Grey Cups and was voted the Most Outstanding Player three times.  Not surprisingly, he's a member of the CFL Hall of Fame. Currently, Calvillo serves as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Montreal Alouettes.