Victory is ours!

It was 2007 and we were on a bus to somewhere I can't remember. It was my first road trip with Steve Holeman and not much was going on. Everyone was settled in and doing their own thing, like reading or listening to their headphones or sleeping. We passed a billboard and all of the sudden Steve, who has always sat in the seat directly behind mine, shot up, pointed at the sign and exclaimed, "Monkey of the Day!"

My expression gave me away. Steve asked if I'd ever heard of the Monkey of the Day theory. I had not.

As Steve told it: If you pay attention, every day, in some way, shape or form, you will encounter a monkey or some type of monkey derivative (gorilla, ape, baboon, etc.).  Much like the conclusion you are probably reaching at this very instant, I thought Steve had lost his mind. Strangely enough, for the next four days, at least once a day, Steve would spot a monkey and shout, "Monkey of the Day!" We spent enough time together that I eventually concluded that it couldn't just be coincidence. Every day that I was with Steve, he'd find a monkey. What I didn't realize was as a result of association, I was honing my own monkey senses until I had arrived as a legitimate monkey-spotter myself. Now I have taken it upon myself to spread the MOD gospel.

You can find monkeys anywhere. They can be on a t-shirt or a coffee mug or a bottle of wine. They can be mentioned in books or magazines or in conversation. You can find monkeys in song lyrics by artists such as Peter Gabriel, the Beastie Boys and U2. Or you can turn that one inside out and hear a song like 'Daydream Believer,' the biggest hit for the group called... The Monkees. And you can find a monkey reference in almost every movie, and I'm not kidding. I once had a streak of 39 consecutive movies with a monkey reference. Unofficially, of the last 100 or so movies I've watched, I'd guesstimate that 97 of them contained a monkey reference. They aren't always easy to spot, but if you're paying attention, you'll find them. If you've ever seen Rebel Without a Cause, The Fighter, Arbitrage or A Christmas Story, then you've been privy to a Hollywood monkey.

Anyway, monkey-spotting has become a thing amongst some of our athletic department staff. If someone spots one of particular interest, he or she will take a pic and send it along to me and when I get around to it, I'll usually post them in this photo gallery.

If you'd like to contribute a photo monkey to the collection, please just email it to mod@soccerpoet.com along with any pertinent details. I will be sure to let everyone know that you are officially a SoccerPoet-certified monkey spotter.