Brian Moon Classic

Brian Moon was a pretty special guy, we all know that. He loved his kids, his brother, and had a lot of friends. He is honestly the only person that I know who probably does not have an enemy in the world. Everybody liked him and I mean everybody. In my crazy life that I have, he was always my constant, my go to guy that I knew would make me laugh and just feel better. We never really laid each other's problems on each other, I think we always figured we each had enough of our own to deal with. I was always the emotional one, he just kept his issues to himself, that's just the way he was.

I have probably communicated with him by phone or text weekly for the past 20 years. I wish I had catalogued our conversations over that time because I guarantee you we absolutely didn't talk about anything with relevance or any importance that would positively impact anyone...but us. We just laughed about stuff.

Brian and I were buddies for 44 years…we were inseparable thru elementary, middle and high school. If you saw one of us it was a pretty good chance the other one was nearby. Coop joined the fold in high school and we were pretty much the three musketeers, the three amigos. We went off to college and would still play baseball in the summers with the Linden Lakers but we both worked so much that we didn’t spend a lot of time together. There was about an eight year gap where we didn’t talk much because he was in California and I was in Omaha getting our careers and our families started. When my mom passed away in 1995 he of course reached out and we were in contact pretty much weekly ever since.

As we got older we would end every conversation with a love you or an I love you brother. If you know Brian well, that was a big deal because he was always stoic, not a lot of mush kind of guy. He always, and I mean always said, give Teri and the girls a hug for me. Since this all happened, I was going through all of our texts we sent each other over the past couple years. I can tell you we talked a lot about family, football pools, the Royals and Cubs, and college baseball. We also became very good at talking smack and cussing...a lot.

We met in third grade…I don’t remember the moment or what the circumstances were but I do remember asking him if he played baseball

I told him he should be my catcher

Tom made us shirts that we proudly wore as our uniform with our blue jeans and cleats…I batted first, he batted second

Brian introduced me to frozen pizza, what it was like to have an air conditioned house, video games, Bon Jovi’s “She’s a Little Runaway”, and the fact you can eat pizza faster if you fold it in half.

I introduced Brian to my Farrah Fawcett poster!

We were always together…

We were together when Olivia Newton John made her debut on the Midnight Special in 1974

When Chris Chambliss hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Royals in Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series in 1976

We went to the post office to sign up for the draft together when we turned 18

We drank a six pack of PBR on the hood of his car and watched the mansion burn down west of town

We were Altar boys together…we would ring the bell in the bell tower I would ride the rope up to the ceiling…as he pulled with all his might to get me up there

We would kung fu each other in those robes and then try to not laugh as we sat on the alter…

We would put the stoppers in really tight in the wine and water and watch Father Ryan struggle to get them open during the offering

Our one upsmanship started at a pretty young age. He started it…It began the time he tripped me walking out in front of the congregation. He was in charge of ringing the bell so I got him back the next time we served and taped the clappers to the side of the bells…I can still hear him say…”that was a good one beam”

On Wednesday nights we would go to catechism and race out of there so we could get home to watch our two favorite shows...Charlie’s Angels and Starsky and Hutch.

In 7th grade I was home sick when the basketball shoe rep showed up at school…Brian took it upon himself and ordered me a pair of Chuck Taylor’s because we had talked about getting the same shoes. Unfortunately he wasn’t too keen on selecting the proper size so I played the entire season in what had more of a resemblance to clown shoes than basketball shoes. As the Chuck Taylor’s have become a fashion statement with today’s youth, I am constantly reminded of the painful blisters I endured during that season.

In 8th grade baseball we played catch in the Menlo gym during track season working diligently to get the honor and prestige of wearing that red varsity suit

Our first JV was the same day as our 8th grade graduation. I pitched and was horrendous, we were all horrible game, we lost the game 14-0. That was the only JV game I ever pitched.

A couple days later we made our varsity debut. Mr. Kloewer put me in to pitch in a mop up role and Brian pinch hit for me…I did really well and of course Brian got a hit

Once we hit high school Brian shot up in height and started to get pretty big and broad and lost that baby fat that he had.

Every junior high and high school girl knew who he was...those dark eyes and dimples melted every schoolgirl within a fifty mile radius.

He started to become the silent enforcer and never backed down from anyone ever. He always told me I am watching out for you, Beam, I got your back.  I was always the smallest guy on the field but needless to say my aggressive nature sometimes rubbed the other team the wrong way but I knew Brian, Greg Lincoln, Kendall Clarke, and Brian Harris always had my back. One game we had a big guy that was a catcher from Bridgewater-Fontanelle in a rundown and I dove to tag him out…as I dove he slipped and we fell to the ground…my elbow strategically placed in the back of his neck..sure it was a little overkill but that’s kind the way I was. As the much larger opponent got to his feet to thrash me as I laid on my back Brian stepped in to stop the probable beatdown that was about to occur.  I can still remember him standing over me, straddling me like it was yesterday. He was always looking out for me.

He was one heck of a football player, he played with mono the first game of the season our junior year. He had like 22 tackles and an interception to seal the victory in overtime. His spleen was so enlarged that he missed the entire season.  Eventually getting first team all conference as an offensive lineman and a middle linebacker as a senior. I am reminded of Brian everyday when I shave. We would run this play where I would call a play in the huddle to get everyone going one way and I wouldn’t tell anyone that I was  just going to keep the ball the and go the other way all by myself. So I get held up at the goal line by three defenders and Brian gets the idea that it would be smart and barrel into the three of them and knock me into the end zone. Well he missed them and caught me right under my chin sending me airborne into the end zone for a touchdown. He opened up a two inch gash under my chinstrap..

I can still hear him say “sorry beam” as he picked me and my bloody face off the turf.

Brian had the most beautiful left handed swing I ever played with…always made solid contact, he never struck out. Man could he hit.

He was never blessed with that big arm to throw runners out…We always joked that he needed a cut off man to get the ball back to the pitcher. Coop and I just joked with him three short weeks when we were all together that we were really good following through and being in a good defensive position..not because we thought the hitter was going to hit the ball up the middle, it was because you never knew where Brian's throw was going when he threw it back to the pitcher.

He was always a man of few words on the field. His motivation speech when I struggled on the mound…it wasn't about arm slot my release point, or if I was flying open too early. It was ”What are you doing” I am sweating my ass off back here.

Brian was first team all conference three years in baseball and played in the all star game. In typical Mooney fashion he caught a no hitter on Saturday and then got the only hit in the game the following day.

In basketball you wouldn’t even know he was out there until you saw the stat sheet. You could count on him for ten rebounds, five steals, and seven points. He was the master of sneaking in on the weak side and collecting those missed shots that Coop and I launched from 25 feet.

Mooney never liked to expend more energy than he needed to and I still chuckle about the disgusted look on his face when he would get a rebound on the defensive side, rumble down the court only to see Coop drop in a finger roll from 12 feet just before he got into a position to rebound. Coop and I were unanimous first team all conference but Brian was voted MVP of our team.

His instincts in every sport were unbelievable…his eye hand coordination impeccable. I am certain he was the best ping pong player and badminton player this town ever produced…he never hit a backhand…he would just hit forehands with either hand.

He is the only person I know that would write on paper left-handed and a chalkboard right-handed.

As I was going through our texts over the past couple years, the one that stands out that is repeatable is where I questioned a payout on one his pools…he ended up being correct. I said to him I don’t know why I would ever question his academic prowess. Brian’s response was just don’t ask me about Geometry…he would have to consult Merlin Sanders first!  The fact of the matter is Brian would still be a sophomore in high school if it wasn’t for Merlin getting him through it.

I will never forget running up to the Kozy Corner for lunch a couple times a week our senior year. He would always call in our order earlier in the morning and it would be sitting at our table when we arrived. Typically one of the nice farmers in town would gladly pick up the tab as we discussed the previous game’s result or the plan for the upcoming game…great memories for sure.

We were never jealous of each other and the honors that we each received. That didn’t mean constantly mocking each other. He commented to me one time he thought it was pretty cool when college coaches would come to school to talk to me and then would relentlessly make fun of me when it was some little crappy school with a bad team. So in my relentless competitive spirit of getting even, I found a way to get Brian called out of class as well. I secretly completed every recruitment card I could find at college and career fairs with Brian’s name and address for every cosmetology school, travel school, and welding school. Brian also showed interest in all four branches armed forces, unbeknownst to him. He would never say who was visiting him at school...but I knew, oh I knew. I never really admitted to him that I did it until several years later...I can still hear him say…”that was a good one beam.”

I have always felt like Brian was with me in heart and soul, that he was watching out for me that he always had my back. I have to close with a couple events that happened to me that I can’t even begin to explain. I am not that guy that claims to have seen a UFO or Donald Trump’s face on my piece of morning toast. At about 6:40 a couple Sundays ago, I was wakened from a dream that Brian was very distinctly a part of. As I woke up trying to get my arms around what had just happened in my dream, my phone dinged with a text from Tom saying Brian had just passed. I told my wife that I had this feeling that I had not experienced since I was with my mom when she passed. I think he was telling me goodbye…

I thought that was something until earlier this week. On Sunday, my oldest daughter Makenzie was driving from Nashville to a medical school interview in Atlanta. I was tracking her progress as every overbearing parent will do when I saw her approaching Chattanooga Tennessee. We are obviously big baseball people and I have gotten my girls really interested in minor league teams and the history behind their team names and logos etc. I texted her that I thought the Chattanooga Lookouts had one of the best logos that existed. I Googled it and sent her this.

You can’t make this one up. On Monday, I picked up a client whom I had never met before and he was wearing this hat. As he got into my car, needless to say chills right down my spine and the hair stood up on my arms.  He told me he travels a lot and was just getting back in town from Atlanta.  I asked him where he picked up the hat, he told me it was a California based company called Moon Eyes and that he had picked it up it one of their stores in… Chattanooga, Tennessee.  All I can say to that is Brian, even in death, I am glad you are looking out for me and my family, that you got my back and, Mooney, now THAT was a good one. I love you, brother, and I will never forget you.