Gemini Dolly
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http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/101809dnspoarcher.3f609a6.html
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The day began before the sun came up with a drive to Signature Flight Support near Love Field.
Waiting on the tarmac was a Cessna Citation XLS, complete with six leather seats, wood and brass fixtures and bacon, egg and cheese bagels.
Tony Romo was on his way to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., to be inducted into his alma mater's Hall of Fame, have his No. 17 retired and receive the key to the city.
On board the plane are his friends, Nick Sekeres, Tommy Brewer and Arik Pollak.
Pretty quickly, you learn they're just buddies, like all buddies enjoying a weekend in a life they never imagined. They debated high school football and basketball.
In fact, Romo attended the first half of the Southlake Carroll-Flower Mound Marcus game Friday. As the plane settled at its cruising altitude Saturday, Sekeres, a geography teacher at Frisco Centennial, went over his students' homework.
Romo, Brewer and Pollak get involved in Sudoku. Whoever finishes first holds the briefest of bragging rights. Romo claimed first place in three of the four contests.
"He's the one that turned it into a game," Brewer said. "That was basically Tony's idea, like, 'I'll race you on it.' Now he's hooked."
When Romo arrived at Eastern Illinois in 1998, he drove a Dodge Shadow with creaky doors. On Saturday, he arrived via private plane, but later as he drove around the town he called home for five years, he's the same guy.
On the corner of 1st St. and Lincoln Ave. is one of the houses he used to live in. The Long John Silver's has been replaced by a liquor store, but everything else is the same.
Strong work ethic
Back in those college days, as 11 p.m. turned into midnight and into 1 a.m., Romo would have his roommates stand in that Long John Silver's parking lot, where he would flick passes to them in an attempt to perfect his release.
Romo does the same thing now outside his Las Colinas home, where Pollak will wear oven mitts to protect his hands from the blistering throws.
"When you look at what he's done, it's really a reflection on his hard work," said Justin Penio, a former teammate who also caught many of those late-night passes. "I've never seen anybody work as hard as he has worked. His work ethic is really unbelievable."
Earlier Saturday inside the grand ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. Union on the EIU campus, Romo's offensive coordinator, Roy Wittke, tells the couple of hundred people at the Hall of Fame banquet about Romo's practice habits.
"Tony is a young man that has fun working hard," Wittke said.
Wearing a gray suit and gray-striped tie, Romo thanks his parents, Ramiro and Joan, his coaches and teammates. He talks for 12 minutes, and his friends – which include Penio, Andy Alberth and R.J. Gonser, who works for Creative Artists Agency that represents Romo – wait for the awkward pauses and poor jokes, ready to pounce on their friend, whom they ride as mercilessly now as they did years ago.
"Nothing's greater, including the wins and losses, than the sense of improving," Romo told the crowd.
It's a short drive from the student union, where Romo used to hang out in the basement bowling alley, to O'Brien Field. As Romo gets out of his car, he immediately is asked for pictures and autographs. Before kickoff, he talked to the football team at coach Bob Spoo's request.
"There's two ways to approach this game," Romo remembers saying. "You can get your toe in the water or you can jump in. Some teams come out and see what happens, and some teams take it to their opponents. Make sure you're the team that jumps in."
As he watches the game, a handful of kids asked for photos and more autographs. Students and fans yell his name from the stands. At the end of the first quarter, Romo walks on the field for a quick ceremony.
A hero's welcome
The fans in the packed stands, which would be half-empty by the time EIU beat Tennessee Tech, 23-15, give Romo loud applause. He answers with a couple of quick waves, then gives the boyish grin that Wittke said he hopes Romo never loses.
On a far wall across the field, a giant uniform with Romo's No. 17 is unveiled.
"When we first got to Eastern Illinois, this was nothing that we ever had in our minds," Ramiro Romo said. "We never thought this could happen. This is just all of the benefits of the hard work."
Inside Joey's, a sandwich shop not far from campus, a handful of students notice Romo as he waits for a hamburger. They contemplate whether to say hello before coming over for a picture. Eventually, they do, and Romo obliges. He does the same for a few more, including a mother and her son.
"Who's Tony?" the woman who owns Joey's says in a thick Italian accent. "Which one is Tony? I don't know Tony."
Romo smiles. He liked that. He was just another guy, enjoying homecoming weekend.
Before he walks out the door, Romo autographs an EIU Panthers logo just inside the front door.
As he walks outside, three more autograph seekers are waiting.
Anonymity lasts only so long nowadays.
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The day began before the sun came up with a drive to Signature Flight Support near Love Field.
Waiting on the tarmac was a Cessna Citation XLS, complete with six leather seats, wood and brass fixtures and bacon, egg and cheese bagels.
Tony Romo was on his way to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., to be inducted into his alma mater's Hall of Fame, have his No. 17 retired and receive the key to the city.
On board the plane are his friends, Nick Sekeres, Tommy Brewer and Arik Pollak.
Pretty quickly, you learn they're just buddies, like all buddies enjoying a weekend in a life they never imagined. They debated high school football and basketball.
In fact, Romo attended the first half of the Southlake Carroll-Flower Mound Marcus game Friday. As the plane settled at its cruising altitude Saturday, Sekeres, a geography teacher at Frisco Centennial, went over his students' homework.
Romo, Brewer and Pollak get involved in Sudoku. Whoever finishes first holds the briefest of bragging rights. Romo claimed first place in three of the four contests.
"He's the one that turned it into a game," Brewer said. "That was basically Tony's idea, like, 'I'll race you on it.' Now he's hooked."
When Romo arrived at Eastern Illinois in 1998, he drove a Dodge Shadow with creaky doors. On Saturday, he arrived via private plane, but later as he drove around the town he called home for five years, he's the same guy.
On the corner of 1st St. and Lincoln Ave. is one of the houses he used to live in. The Long John Silver's has been replaced by a liquor store, but everything else is the same.
Strong work ethic
Back in those college days, as 11 p.m. turned into midnight and into 1 a.m., Romo would have his roommates stand in that Long John Silver's parking lot, where he would flick passes to them in an attempt to perfect his release.
Romo does the same thing now outside his Las Colinas home, where Pollak will wear oven mitts to protect his hands from the blistering throws.
"When you look at what he's done, it's really a reflection on his hard work," said Justin Penio, a former teammate who also caught many of those late-night passes. "I've never seen anybody work as hard as he has worked. His work ethic is really unbelievable."
Earlier Saturday inside the grand ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. Union on the EIU campus, Romo's offensive coordinator, Roy Wittke, tells the couple of hundred people at the Hall of Fame banquet about Romo's practice habits.
"Tony is a young man that has fun working hard," Wittke said.
Wearing a gray suit and gray-striped tie, Romo thanks his parents, Ramiro and Joan, his coaches and teammates. He talks for 12 minutes, and his friends – which include Penio, Andy Alberth and R.J. Gonser, who works for Creative Artists Agency that represents Romo – wait for the awkward pauses and poor jokes, ready to pounce on their friend, whom they ride as mercilessly now as they did years ago.
"Nothing's greater, including the wins and losses, than the sense of improving," Romo told the crowd.
It's a short drive from the student union, where Romo used to hang out in the basement bowling alley, to O'Brien Field. As Romo gets out of his car, he immediately is asked for pictures and autographs. Before kickoff, he talked to the football team at coach Bob Spoo's request.
"There's two ways to approach this game," Romo remembers saying. "You can get your toe in the water or you can jump in. Some teams come out and see what happens, and some teams take it to their opponents. Make sure you're the team that jumps in."
As he watches the game, a handful of kids asked for photos and more autographs. Students and fans yell his name from the stands. At the end of the first quarter, Romo walks on the field for a quick ceremony.
A hero's welcome
The fans in the packed stands, which would be half-empty by the time EIU beat Tennessee Tech, 23-15, give Romo loud applause. He answers with a couple of quick waves, then gives the boyish grin that Wittke said he hopes Romo never loses.
On a far wall across the field, a giant uniform with Romo's No. 17 is unveiled.
"When we first got to Eastern Illinois, this was nothing that we ever had in our minds," Ramiro Romo said. "We never thought this could happen. This is just all of the benefits of the hard work."
Inside Joey's, a sandwich shop not far from campus, a handful of students notice Romo as he waits for a hamburger. They contemplate whether to say hello before coming over for a picture. Eventually, they do, and Romo obliges. He does the same for a few more, including a mother and her son.
"Who's Tony?" the woman who owns Joey's says in a thick Italian accent. "Which one is Tony? I don't know Tony."
Romo smiles. He liked that. He was just another guy, enjoying homecoming weekend.
Before he walks out the door, Romo autographs an EIU Panthers logo just inside the front door.
As he walks outside, three more autograph seekers are waiting.
Anonymity lasts only so long nowadays.