High school hero: Michael Thatcher
Posted on 12/23/2007 1:56:41 PM PST by Stoat
High school hero: Michael Thatcher
Michael Thatcher is continuing to foster Baroness Thatcher's special relationship with the U.S. - by helping his high school American football team into the Texas state finals.
The 18-year-old took a brilliant diving catch from a looping 48-yard pass in front of 10,000 fans last week.
The dramatic moment was broadcast live on TV and one excited commentator exclaimed: "Wow! Can the guy run, can he catch, can he do everything?"
Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister, announced Michael's birth in 1989 by declaring outside 10 Downing Street: "We have become a grandmother."
The son of Sir Mark Thatcher and Diane Burgdorf, the Texan-born daughter of a wealthy U.S. car dealer, he spent most of his childhood in South Africa where he enjoyed cricket and hockey.
He started playing American football - which is nicknamed gridiron - three years ago when he moved to Dallas with his mother after his father was charged in South Africa with supporting a bungled coup in Equatorial Guinea.
Scroll down for more ...
Debut: Baby Michael with his parent and grandmother
He admitted to being in "a state of shock" about his catch.
"I'm the kind of guy who gets pretty nervous coming out," he said.
"But as soon as we start running the ball, I'll come into a rhythm and I'm sure the rest of the team is the same way."
Randy Allen, coach of the Scots, the Highland Park high school team in Dallas, praised the teenager's "hard work, dedication and discipline".
Scroll down for more ...
In action: Michael shows off his skill on the pitch
At 6ft 1in and weighing 170lb, Michael is still a little small for his position of running back, but is training to increase his size.
Mr Allen said: "He could be one of the best running backs in the state."
Although Lady Thatcher, 82, appears to have little interest in sport, her late husband, Denis, was a rugby referee and a keen golfer. Michael's parents divorced after nearly 20 years of marriage in April.
His father is only able to see Michael and his 14-year-old sister, Amanda, when they travel abroad because U.S. immigration authorities barred him from entering the country after he pleaded guilty over his role in the Equatorial Guinea affair.
He was fined £265,000 and given a four-year suspended prison sentence.
Well done Stoat.
If you share a computer keyboard with anyone, they have probably already been typing while picking their noses. So, wipe it off as best you can, and just be glad it’s your own germs. (I share a computer with my husband; so I try not to think of the horrors of fingers that just picked ticks off and petted the dogs happily spreading ecoli on the keys where later my innocent fingers have to hit.)
life is germy . .
I like the way you think.
I think.
Okay. I’d love to see a reference anywhere of a player telling someone he plays gridiron.
Mark Thatcher is a bad dude....don’t know about his twin Carol.
He does look a bit like the old girl. Sounds like he has some of her fortitude as well.
We mark the field with lines not unlike the griddle of a pan ......
Just as the Swedes are the only people who can truly succeed at making sex a boring subject, so can the English make even the most masculine pursuit sound poofy...
I think I hear Carol was on some reality show in the UK last time I check she won
Thank you very much for your kind words, and I'm delighted that you've found this thread to be worthwhile :-)
Best wishes to you and yours for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 |
I hear Lake Travis may go to 5A next year. That's my Christmas wish.
Now that you mention that, I have to say that perhaps my neck of the woods has an aversion to the letter “A”. As with the aforementioned “wooder” instead of “water”, Washington DC. is somehow “Worshington DC”. This topic probably deserves a thread of it’s own because you can drive an hour south of here and hear a southern accent that you’ll almost need an interpreter to understand( and I used to work in Louisiana,Mississipi, Alabama ...etc, no problem understanding anyone except for Cajuns’, love em’ by the way) Drive an hour north and they sound like Myron Cope. The funniest accent I ever heard was from Minnesooota though. Cooooopuns. LOL!
Then you’re the one to ask. Is Lake Travis going to be a 5A school next year? What about Connally and Vista Ridge?
life is germy . .
A hospital-quality hard surface disinfectant in a convenient and stylish single-use towelette format:
Welcome to MooreMedical.com - The Supply Experts
Similar products are also available in the traditional spray bottles
Welcome to MooreMedical.com - The Supply Experts
My wife says he reminds her of a young Tom Cruise.
That whole “crime of tfying to incite a revolution in south africa” thing.
My home town was the runner up. Such a sad loss for us, but congratulations to your team. We went to the game, very cold and windy.
I don’t think Lake Travis will get big enough. There’s a lot of growth around here, but most if it is in another close school district.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.