'Twas the Night Before Kickoff

[George1902]

'Twas the Night Before Kickoff
or An Account of a Visit from Dean
by George A. Wallace, III

'Twas the night before Kickoff, and all through the pad
I alone was still stirring. No sleep to be had.
Speculations abound: wild guesses everywhere.
But the secret of The Game had been handled with care.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of Dean and Woodie danced through my head.
To my six-week absence my wife had resigned.
She slept while I wrestled with transmission designs.

When from my garage there arose such a clatter
That I knew it could only result from a large mass of matter
Or a small mass traveling at high velocity
Either way it aroused my curiosity.

I arrived at the scene with the utmost of haste
Only to find my garage lain in waste.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But iBOTs, and Segways and nine engineers!

Their leader wasn't a big man, but he was spry and lean.
I knew in a moment that that his name was Dean.
When this man spoke, the others, they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Baker! now, Beatty! now, Lavery and Leung!
On, Morella! on, Martus! on, Johnson and Vielkind-Neun!
Get this place back in order! Get those tools on the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As I drew away and was turning around,
Then towards me Dean Kamen came with a bound.
He was dressed in floppies from feet to chin!
And he wore on his head a Steralite bin.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon let me know I had nothing to dread;
Then he joined all his helpers, as they went straight to work,
They repaired my garage; then turned with a jerk.

All in one motion they mounted thier steeds,
And away he led them with such grace and speed,
But I heard him exclaim to all Nerds and Geeks,
"Get some sleep, FIRST-a-holics! You ship in six weeks!"