I remember 1973 well. I had this former-professional-football-player-turned biology teacher who put a snake in a cheerleader’s purse one day. She shrieked, jumped from her seat, raised imaginary pompoms and cried, “Yeah team, fight, fight, fight.” The snake was unimpressed, but the display burned into my brain the power of autonomic reflexes, muscle memory, and I never missed another of my high school’s football games.
June 19, 2013
