These guys have been playing tag for 30 years! So, you never know when a game's going to break out!
Ten high school friends who played tag at Gonzaga Prep in the 80's started playing at recess, and three decades later, the game's still on.
“We just decided rather than going to church or going to mass during that time, we would play tag,” said Patrick Schultheis.
Many have wives and kids and jobs all over the country. Patrick is a lawyer, Joe's a teacher, one of the 10 is a priest in Montana. Yet every February, it's tag time.
“We've been playing this game longer than any of us have been married. So, you wouldn't have married into this group if you didn't approve of the tag game.”
They even drafted official rules, like no immediate tag backs.
“We are allowed to conspire against each other, ambush and create all kinds of urban mayhem,” said Joe Caferro. “All in good fun and then have a beer about it later.”
A tag only counts if it's an actual touch. So, if somebody lives in Boston like Chris did, one of the guys flew out from California and hid in the bushes for most of two days, but Chris was out of town!
“I came back late Sunday night and there was a note on my door,” said Chris Ammonn. “’Hey, I was here, I missed you.’”
“Everybody's favorite tag was when Shawn was hiding in the trunk. Joe and his wife come up to the car. She's so freaked out, she falls back on the curb, tears the ACL in her knee.”
“I don't think Shawn had been to San Fran yet. So, we immediately went up to the city and my wife hobbled around with us with a knee swollen like a grapefruit,” said Joe Tombari. “And we spent the night up there, had some pizza and hung out and it was great.”
And that's what it's all about. They don't wait for high school reunions to see each other. This game is a bond they all share.
Joe had the trunk trick done to him, so he decided to get beef the same way.
Even your own bed is not safe, like when Mikey, at 3 a.m., found Brian’s garage door open and saw that as an opportunity for a wakeup call.
“There were lights turned on, the front door was wide open as Mike had taken off into a waiting car and Brian was it,” said Schultheis.
So now that Bruiser is it...
“He's thinking about what he's going to do to make that next tag. You know, it kind of consumes you,” said Tombari.
