I'm usually the quarterback and Jy is the wide receiver.

We huddle and I call plays.

Sometimes tricky ones.

In the beginning of the year, when our record was a perfect 0-0, we played in the courtyard behind Matthews Hall.

I here are trees and bushes there, giving the game a special dimension.

And of course when Jy and I lost the first time--the score was 105-91--we blamed it on the obstacles.

"Yeah, we were winning by two touchdowns," I explained to our other roommates, Randy and Andrew. "But Bill ran Jy into a shrub and Louis intercepted a pass. And after that, we just couldn't recover. We'll get them next week."

Next week we recruited two girls from upstairs to play on our team.

I got a crew cut to intimidate the opposition.

But it had the reverse effect.

The girls laughed at me. And we lost again.

We had begun to bet on the games. A liter of Coke to the winners. And after the third game--a two touchdown loss--I went to the store and bought the winners their Coke.

I sat and watched them drink and knew the next game would be ours.

We were better.

This was just bad luck.