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Interview with Chris Chafin (1/1/10)

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    Posted: 8/24/11 at 7:41am
Interview with Chris Chafin (1/1/10)

Here is Chris Chafin.  He and I threw a long time with each other when he was an AM.  He was in the south with me so we went to a lot of games with each other.  I have seen him rise up through the sport and it was a lot of hard work and persistence.   We have roomed and talked so much I know him pretty good.  He is a friend, and I just love this guy.  When your with him you laugh and have a good time.  He is a man of honor and I am better off for knowing him and having him as a friend.  He knows me all too well and has supported and helped me for years.  So enjoy the country boy.

How old are you?

I am 41 years of age.

 

Where were you born?

I was born in the great state of Kentucky, in Inez.  But lived in West Virginia on the Kentucky boarder.  It is all coal mining and moonshine country.  The county I lived in was called Mingo County.  Most people know it as bloody Mingo because of the family wars there.  The Hatfields and the McCoys and the killings from when the coal miners wanted to turn union.  I have three counties of kinfolk and you should see what happens at a family reunion.  It can get pretty wild.  A lot of history in those mountains.

 

Where do you live now?

I live in North Carolina.  I moved here when I was thirteen.  I guess I call it home now, but I still love those mountains back in West Virginia.

 

What do you drive?

I drive a 2000 red Z71 extended cab pick up with a big 350 engine in it.

 

What color do you like?

I like red and Chevy blue.

 

What do you do for a living?

I am the sergeant over the uniform patrol at the Carolina Beach Police Department.  I have been a police officer for 15 years. 

 

How did you get into that?

I tried different jobs and they all seemed so boring or the same o, same o.  My momma told me that I should try law enforcement, so I went to rookie school and here I am today.

 

What is the least favorite part of your job?

Putting up with a bunch of crybabies and bullshit calls.

 

In the line of duty has anyone ever hit you in the foot with their rump?

Oh yes.  Several times.  Sometimes when dealing with drunks or people on drugs you can’t always verbally reason with them and you have to close that lack of communication barrier in a different way.

 

Tell me how you met your wife?

I was at a new club down town hanging out with the boys.  She comes walking in with her short skirt on and knee high socks looking smoking hot.  The boys were all sweating her.  One boy took off his shirt and wrote his phone number on it and gave it to her.  I just laughed.  She kept looking at me and smiling.  So right before the club was going to shut down, she was slow dancing with some city looking yuppie, but she was still looking at me.  So I went up to her and asked her to dance.  She blew off the boy off and we danced and the rest is history.

 

How long did you date her?

We dated for a couple of years.

 

How did you propose to her?

We lived with each other for almost two years while dating.  We had lived together for long enough, so I asked her to marry me.  I told her my daddy always said you got to tame them before you can love them, and make sure they can cook too.

 

Tell me about your kids?

I have four Irish scrappers.  Christopher, Connor, Brendon and my baby girl Kylie.  I call her doodlebug.  They are all my little ruff necks.

 

Are you a strict parent?

It depends on what you call strict.  My kids say yes mam or yes sir or they get a rap on the head.  They all have chores to do.  They have to keep their grades up to A’s and B’s or they can’t play sports and they get another rap on the head.  I will whip their ass with a belt or switch if they need it, just like when I was a child.  They will respect their elders and other people.  If you think that is strict, then I guess I am.

 

As a kid growing up what was your first job?

I did odds and ends jobs.  Cutting grass, working on a horse farm for the summer putting up fence line.  Working at a car wash.  When I got older I worked for a telephone company putting in phone cable using heavy equipment.  I had a good time with all of them.  I learned a lot and it made me a hard worker.

 

 When you grew up as a kid, what sports did you play?

I played baseball, football and basketball up into the 7th and 8th grade.  I started to get into hunting and fishing and got away from sports, but we still played football every Sunday with a pick up game. 

 

When and how did you get into lifting weights?

I lifted some in high school at gym time.  I did not start really lifting until I was about 26 or 27 years old.  I was always tall and lanky and wanted to put on some weight.  There was an old school gym called the Dungeon.  I was in a small country town.  A lot of older power lifters and body builders went there.  You could walk in with your overalls on and take off your shirt and lift.  You could play any kind of music you wanted, you could cuss and raise cain and it did not matter.  It had two power racks and dumbbells up to 120’s.  It had a cable machine and a sled.  It was great.  If the old guys like you they would give you tips on certain lifts.  They would show you what you were doing wrong.  You thought you were the man if they even said hello, it was good times.

 

What lift are you strong at?

I don’t think I am really strong at any lift to be honest with you.  Talking with some of the other throwers I think I am weak.

 

What was your first Highland Game?

My first game was the Lock Norman game.  I had no intention to compete, but to see all the different clans.  I did the highland wrestling that day and later on I met some of the old pros like Carl Braun.  He convinced me to come back and compete on Sunday, which I did.

 

Who was at that game?

The first person I saw on the field was Larry Brock wearing his black tank top shirt that said Testosterone, with his red bandanna on his big Charlie Brown head.  Then I met this skinny 14-year-old boy who was named Eric Fraisure, who I now call Kartman.  Chris St.Clair was out there as well, and then this dude came out on the field that looked like some machine, Dave Lyttle.

 

What made you decide to try and compete at a game?

I never felt that I was good at any sport growing up, so I decided to give the highland games a try.  Nine years later I still love it like day one.

 

Who were the first people to influence and coach you in the sport?

Larry lived about an hour away from me.  We started throwing together every chance we got.  Larry already had a lot of track and field experience and was at a much higher level than me, but he showed me a lot, teaching me power positions.  He is the first one to show me the South African style with the stone.  But it was just me by myself a lot of times with a Larry Satchwell training video.  I would watch him throw and then run outside and try it.  I don’t know how many times I have done that.  I would throw until it got dark and then turn the lights on the truck just to get one or two more throws in.  I remember the first time I hit 30 feet with the 56, I was yelling and screaming, jumping like a wild cat.  I ran inside and got the woman and dragged outside to show her the mark. 

 

Who helps you now in the sport?

Kerry Overfelt has really gone out of his way to help me.  He has even offered to let me stay at his house to help me more with throwing and lifts.  A true southern boy.  Craig Smith has helped me at games as well.  Mike Pokowski, and even your big ass has helped me when it comes to lifting my friend.  Everybody has tried to fix me or help me out, that is what makes this sport so great.  Ryan Vierra, Harrison aka Hootie, Big Dan McKim aka Wookie goes out of his way to help as well.  Great bunch of boys, good people.

  

What impresses you now in the sport?

Watching some of these great athletes throw huge throws and still try and help the fellow thrower.

 

What was your favorite game as an AM and why?

It has to be the first time I got picked for the south team.  I never got picked for anything and I was really proud they picked me.  The game was great and I knew all of the throwers, it was a good time.

 

What is your favorite event?

My favorite event is the 56 for distance.  I guess because it’s so hard to throw.  But the stones have to be my best event because it feels more natural for me to throw them. 

 

What do you like to do outside of the games?

Spend time with the family and relax, catch up on projects at the house I keep avoiding because of the games.

 

What other hobbies do you have?

I like to hunt and fish.  I fished more though when I was a yonker.  With me getting older I don’t like sitting out in that heat with a pole in my hand unless I can find a shady spot on a creek bank.  I take the boys hunting and canoeing to try and teach them about the woods and such the way my daddy and uncles did with me, but they are not into it as much as I was at their age.  I guess times have changed.

 

As a southern boy, what other part of the country do you like to visit?

I would like to go out west to Wyoming or Washington and up around Canada.  I have heard there is great hunting up that way.

 

What is your definition of a red neck?

A red neck is just a hell raiser.  Someone who likes to kick up the heels and get a little wild.  When people hear red neck they first think of the south.  That’s ok, I think we all have a little redneck in us.  Some more than others.  I am proud to be a redneck if people want to say it’s a southern thing.

 

What do you call the flag in the south, Southern, Dixie, Rebel? and why?

Where I come from it is called a southern or Dixie flag.  People up north that move south (transplants) call it a rebel flag.  They call it a rebel flag because a lot of southern states got political bullshit pressure about the flag and had to take it down from any county building or town seat.  So when people see it on a truck or in a yard flying high they say look at that rebel flag.  I personally do have a registered North Carolina tag on my truck with a beautiful Southern or Dixie flag on it.  That does not mean I am a skinhead or a racist, it means I am proud of my southern roots.  I tell my children to always be proud of who you are.  Always be proud of your last name.  Always be very proud that you are southern born and southern bred.

 

What is your favorite food?

Those who know me well like you know that steak, taters and rolls are my favorite foods.  I also like cookies, fudge rounds, Hostess cupcakes, Snickers bars and the list goes on.  You can’t just ask me the question about food, it is not a fair question, you can’t have one without the other.

 

What do you drink with a meal at home?

Water or Milk.

 

What beer do you like?

Killians Irish Red

 

Can you cook and are you good at it?

I can cook a mean breakfast with eggs and pancakes.  But the woman usually cooks.

 

How did the fan come about with you sleeping?

When I was a yonker it would get hot at night in the room, so I would put the fan right on me blowing in my face.  Well I even started to like it on in the wintertime, when it was cold blowing on me as well, even when I had two or three blankets on me.  I tried to sleep without it one time and I could not do it.  The room was too quiet and I am a very light sleeper so I heard everything going on.  So I had to have the thing blowing on high right in my face. 

 

Do you mow your own grass and what kind of mower do you have?

Yes I do, I have a Poulan riding mower.

 

Are you a Democrat or Republican? 

I was never either.  It is like choosing the lesser of two evils.  This year is the first time I voted republican.

 

What is your stance on immigration into the US?

If you are not legally in this country get the hell out because you are killing it.  Illegal immigrants have closed down I don’t know how many hospitals, taking over all the schools.  They take funding away from the poor children in this country.  They bring their gangs here and bring more crime and drugs into our great country.  They have already bankrupt California from what I understand.  New Mexico is right behind them.  But you can’t blame them, our lovely government let’s them roll right and it is not fair to the people coming into the country legally. 

 

Are you into Astrology?

I don’t know.

 

Can you swim?

Like a fish.

 

Do you float?

I have noticed that when I float belly down my butt goes up and I bob up and down like a big fishing bobber, so yes I do float.

 

Do you consider yourself a gassy person?

I am not a real gassy person unless my momma makes me a big pot of beans and corn bread with ham in them.  And if I eat them all day for two or three days, then I tend to be a little gassy.

 

What does your wife call you when nobody is around?

Redneck, Hill Billy, Jethro, Monkey hands, Big Fatty, Freak.  But she calls me those things in public as well.  She can be a little out spoken.  That is the Georgia redneck coming out of her.

 

When you go out to eat with the wife, what do you wear? 

In the summer I wear shorts and t-shirt. In winter it is jeans or Carharts and boots.

 

Where do you take her out to eat most times?

She is not picky, we go to the Outback, she likes the chicken there and knows I can get a steak.

 

What do you like to watch on TV?

A little bit of everything, mostly action movies.

 

Are you a western movie or sci fi person?  Tell a favorite.

I like both of them a lot, but I would have to go with a western.  I grew up watching Gun Smoke, Bonanza, The Rifleman.  To say that I have one favorite is hard to do.  I like all the John Wayne movies, Big Jake, McClintock, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Clint Eastwood Josie Wales is one of the best.  All the old school westerns.  Jeremiah Johnson is probably one of my favorites as well.

 

What are the goals for the coming season and the off-season?

Just to be a better thrower.  I would love to be one of the top ten and get picked to compete in the big PA game.  I know I would not win it, there are too many great guys there who deserve it more than me, but just to say I got picked and competed at the game, I would be just happy as a pig in slop.  I have been training hard this last month and will continue all this off-season.  I have a lot of things I have to fix, hammers, cabers, sheaf, but I will keep working at it bit by bit and with a little help from my friends I am hoping I will be ready to go this coming season.

 

Thank you brother Chris.

Ok brother, there you go.  Oh by the way Yonker means when I was young.  I thought you would like that.  It is 5:00 AM and I am going home.  Happy New Year and I love you.  God bless your family.
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