I like fake names

Every sports season, we take new photos of the athletes. It is a typical head shot. I stand them next to a wall they write their name on a paper, hold it up and I take a pictures. Sounds easy huh? Not so.

I went to a boys basketball game last night. I got there before half time to take the head shots. I walked over to one team and asked them to go in the hall with me so I could take their photos. They were really cool about it and followed me into the hallway. It was orderly and the photos were done in two to three minutes.

I walk back into the gym and go over to the other team. I ask them if they could come out into the hallway with me for head shots. The team got up and followed me. The first couple of guys did like I asked and wrote their name on the paper. The next guy did not. I put the camera up to my face to take a picture and I noticed a famous name. The boy wrote Michael Jordan. I lowered my camera and said to him, "You're name is Michael Jordan?" He said, "Yeah it is. The guys make fun of me all of the time." I really didn't believe him. I looked over to his teammates and asked if his name was Michael Jordan. A teammate looked at me and said yes. I really didn't believe him so I just took the picture. After shooting the last of the team, I gathered up my gear and went back into the gym

I sat down on the bleachers and opened up the program. I looked for MJ. Of course there wasn't one. I saw that school's athletic director sitting in the stands so I went up to talk to him. I told him that I just took head shots of the varsity team and a player wrote down the name of Michael Jordan. He laughed and apologized to me. I pointed out the kid, he told me his real name and then I went back to my seat.

While naming the photos this morning, I came across another famous name. A kid wrote Steve Prefontaine. It made me mad. Why are these seniors in high school lying about their name? Since I didn't know who the kid was I had to go over to the sports desk and find the roster. By process of elimination I got the kid's name. I guess they thought it was funny to lie to me. I didn't think it was very funny. Nice senior leadership.