The summer before I started school at Syracuse University as a transfer student recruited to play lacrosse, I went on this self-inflicted weight and strength gaining regiment. In retrospect, I lifted my fork and spoon more than I lifted weights. That summer I worked for a catering company doing grunt work at a Con Ed cafeteria in Tarrytown, New York. Con Ed workers went out on strike that summer and the cafeteria staff had to serve three meals a day to managers covering for the striking workers. That summer I made lots of money working overtime and I ate like a champ downing lobster thermidor, other delicacies, and desserts. My weight ballooned from 178 to 205. Moreover, just weeks before school started I underwent surgery on both knees to remedy tendinitis. So between kitchen job and knee surgery, I arrived at Syracuse in the fall of 1983 bigger, faster, slower.That's a back to school memory that I will never forget.
