Kelly and Gary meet on the Soccer Field − 1 August, 2001
When I moved to San Diego I had no friends other than the people I knew at work. Reid invited me to join his soccer team and I jumped at the opportunity. He was playing on a rag-tag team of transplants in the barrio. They had all come to the league as walk-ons. Kinda the bad news bears of the san diego county soccer league. It was a six-on-six league or as we sometimes referred to it, the reverse descrimination league. It was healthy for body, mind and spirit.
Well it was on this team that I met up with Gary Peterson. Gary's a 6-4 Swede/Texan/Philly Fanatic who ended up in San Diego for the same reason we all did. Work, school and love. He played goalie and had a terrible temper. In a street-fight, on the field, in your wedding, at a funeral, and on a long drive, Gary is the guy you want on your side.
Apparently I'd made a good impression on Gary even before we'd met on the field. A month before I joined the team there was an article on me in CNet for my work at spoke and axle. So when we did meet in person he was all excited about getting to talk to me about it. The way that Gary tells it, he thought I was a God of some sort. That I would do something for the little guys had a good impression on him. Gary made a good impression on me too.
