Prank call

Early Tuesday evening, I concluded a phone interview with the upcoming Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week. It turned into a pleasant, informative conversation but not one I was thinking about after taking my 98th track meet of the night.

A few hours following the interview, fellow sports staffer Dale Lolley told me I needed to take a call from the athlete of the week. Luckily, the call prevented me from taking another result so I gladly fielded it.

The call came from another student-athlete (who shall remain nameless from another school in a different county). When he identified himself, I recognized the name but couldn't quite but it was a sport or school.

He then said, "You left a message for me that said I was the athlete of the week. I'm just returning your call."

I sat in silence for a couple seconds, trying to find a polite way to break the news.

Before I could, the fella said, "I'm guessing my boys played a prank on me."

And a good one.

We've taken a few prank calls at the O-R over the years and though I'm not encouraging any, my favorite came about 6-7 years ago. A former staffer named Mark Lazerus hadn't been at the paper very long when some pranksters from McGuffey called in with a hole-in-one from the rugged course at Prosperity Country Club. It ran in the paper.

I'm wondering what are some of the better pranks my readers have pulled. After sharing a few, I guarantee one me a few buddies pulled in high school will top them. Until then, I'm not sharing.