CHAD DAFFNER

"My name's Chad Daffner. I'm 130 pounds."

Chad is a guy I met in 5th grade. We both had Miss Krause.

Chad was kind of a small, thin guy. Somehow he and I began to hang out that year. My friendship with Chad was probably one of the shortest I ever had. But he and I had a lot of fun together.

If memory serves, when Chad and I hung out, it was usually at his house. I don't have any memories of his mom. But Chad's dad was a cool guy. Chad's sister Kris (class of 1987) was really cool too. Plus at the time, she was easy on the eyes as well.

I can remember sleeping over at Chad's house one night. He and I watched a horror movie called "Ants." Or perhaps it was "Empire Of The Ants." There were two killer ant movies. We watched one of them. Chad's parents weren't home. So his sister was in charge. In other words, we had no rules. I spent about an hour making prank phone calls, while Chad and Kris laughed their asses off listening to me. I can also remember getting excited because we had planned to watched Playboy's 25th Reunion, which was on one of the cable channels that spring.

As the summer began, Chad and I started to drift apart for whatever reason. We just didn't have a lot in common. I do have a very odd memory though. See my entry on Chad Bennin for the details.

In the summer of 1983, I found myself on a little league baseball team. Chad was a pitcher on an opposing team. And he was a superstar. He would strike out nearly everybody. Why? Because he was throwing a curve ball. And if anyone knows baseball, you'll know that throwing a curve ball is an absolute no-no for kids. By throwing it, it can make a little league pitcher sometimes invincible. But it also ruins their arm. Throwing a curve ball as a youngster will virtually assure that the kid will never become a professional player. It's a horrible thing to do. Chad's coach should have known better. Come to think of it, I think Chad's coach was his own father.

A few years later, I found myself at the home of my friend Bobby Streu. He was a couple of years younger than me, and lived in my neighborhood. Bobby's parents were gone. Somehow Chad and Ken Bartz came over as well. The three of us got really rowdy in the house. Poor Bobby was defenseless. Chad and Ken kept raiding the liquor bottles as well. I think Chad had a good buzz going.

From third grade through senior year, Chad wrestled. That's where his friendships with Chad Bennin and Ken Bartz came from. All three of them were short and thin. As a senior, Chad weighed 130 pounds. I know this because that's what he says on the senior video.

I ran into Chad on occasion at the video store. He never said a whole lot. I do remember him coming in with a friend once. But he said he didn't want to rent anything, as he was hoping to catch the baseball playoff game that was going to be on that night. I think they did end up getting something though, as his friend obviously wasn't interested in baseball. Chad eventually married class of 1993's Kari Pekarek. I think they have three kids. They live in Two Rivers to this day. I think Chad works in a factory, perhaps with Krueger. As a side note, while looking up information on Chad, I discovered that his sister Kris died in September, 2005. Very sad. I don't know what the circumstances were. But she was married, and had three kids of her own.