24-year long game of tag: Friends who flew across the world to avoid being 'it' By David Mccormack and James Daniel A group of 40-something men have spent much of the past 30 years engaged in one of the longest running and most elaborate games of tag ever. The idea of a bunch of grown men traveling the country attempting to tag each other may sound strange, but it has helped to foster an enduring friendship between the ten buddies. They call themselves, The Tag Brothers. The high jinks started back in high school when as teenagers they would entertain themselves by playing the schoolyard game during breaks at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington. The tag brothers: A high school game of tag is continuing more than twenty years later between a group of friends who fly across the world and dress up in disguise to avoid being 'it' Who's it? High school buddies and hardcore tag fans (from left to right) Bill Akers, Patrick Schultheis, Sean Raftis and Mike Konesky The perfect bromance: The friendship between the ten men has endured since they were at school in the 1990s During a free period between classes, they were encouraged to either study or go to mass. Joe Tombari says they opted to play tag instead. "We would scatter like mice, this way, take off running that way," he said. Joey Caferro says the stakes were always high: "It became like, oh, just chaos for five minutes. You know, you could just chase people all through the halls. There was people knocked down, there was mayhem. It was fun! "Back then we used to get up to some crazy things like running through the halls, but after we graduated we went our separate ways," says Mike Konesky, who has the dubious honor of currently being "It." Game on! The game all began in between classes at school in Washington State in the 1990s The long-running game of tag started back in the early 1980s at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Wash. The competition initially ended on the last day of high school in 1983 and for the next seven years, college and careers got in the way of childish pranks. Reunions were rare, and missed. So over a few beers one night, they figured, why not get everyone back in touch Then a school reunion in 1990 sparked an idea to reinstate the competition, partly as a way for everyone to keep in touch and partly because the guys missed the competitiveness of trying to outwit each other. Ever since the men have competed in the friendly competition, although they limit the game to the month of February because more adult responsibilities such as jobs and families tend to get in the way. "Nothing can be trusted the last four or five days of February," said Bill Akers. Tactics: The men will actively sneak up on one another in order to tag their unsuspecting friend "I would let my dog out every morning, out the front door, and let him check out the front yard to make sure nobody was out there," said Chris Ammann to CBS News. Mark Mengert said, "It's hectic. Very hectic. It's, like, it starts immediately, and it's just a sprint 'til the end. You can't wait 'til the 28th! "You really are looking over your shoulder," said Father Sean Raftis. What haunts them is very real, even if it makes them looks just plain creepy to outsiders -- looking under cars, sprinting through parking lots. The players have all signed 'The Tag Participation Agreement" which outlines the spirit of the game and remains fundamentally the same as the schoolyard version they played all those years ago. There are three simple rules: "February only. No touch-backs. And the rule of honesty," he said. So if I ask you, 'Are you 'It'?' you've gotta answer truthfully and reasonably promptly, and if you don't, you can't tag me. Stalkers: The guys can be followed absolutely anywhere by the other nine for an entire month The rules may remain the same, but the game has certainly grown more elaborate over the years. Wives have been enlisted as spies, assistants at work are ordered to bar players from the office and sometimes players will travel the length of the country or even abroad in the hope that they can surprise and tag another player. "You're like a deer or elk in hunting season," Joe Tombari, a high-school teacher in Spokane, told the Wall Street Journal. He admits he sometimes locks the door of his classroom during off-periods and checks under his car before he gets near it during the month of February. Joe Tombari (or Joey T., as he's known) even hid in the trunk of Patrick Schulteis' car, "coiled like a rattlesnake ready to fire out at him as soon as that trunk opens," he said. Back in the mid-1990s, Tombari and his wife, then living in California, got a knock on the door from a friend. A neighbor invited them to inspect his new car, but what they didn't know was that Father Sean Raftis, then the current 'It,' had flown in from Seattle and was hiding in the trunk. He jumped out and tagged Tombari, whose wife was so shocked that she fell and tore a knee ligament. The most ambitious attempt at a tag ended in failure for Tombari when he traveled all the way to Munich, Germany to tag Konesky. The tag ceased for several years after the boys left Gonzaga Preparatory School but it started up again in 1990 after they had a high school reunion On that occasion Tombari managed to tag his rival, but it wasn't allowed to stand as it occurred on March 2nd. Tombari hadn't been able to get the time of work during February and as a result his trip didn't count. Another cross country trip involved Konesky traveling from his home in California to pay a visit on Chris Ammann who was living in Boston. Konesky spent two days in the bushes outside Ammann's apartment, sitting in his friend's favorite bar and driving up and down his street, but with no success. Ammann had gone out of town for the weekend and as a result, Konesky was 'It' for that year. Imaginative: The guys will go to extreme lengths to ensure that they are not 'it' - here Rick hides in a parking garage waiting for Chris Gothca! Rick Bruya, was hiding in a Seattle parking garage waiting to ambush his buddy Chris Konesky has plenty of experience of being 'It' and recalls many years ago that he even went as far as breaking into someone's house in an attempt to tag one of his rivals. In the early hours of the morning Konesky tiptoed toward Brian Dennehy's bedroom, before flipping on the light and bursting through the door. Dennehy's wife screamed at him to run, but as Konesky recalls: 'There was nowhere for Brian to run.' Patrick Schulteis even got tagged at his father's funeral. I was in the front row, and so the guys were going up to communion, and patted me on the shoulder. And Joey comes up and patted me on the shoulder and mouthed to me, 'You're 'It.' I kind of looked at him and I said, 'Are you kidding?' And he said, 'Uh-uh, you're 'It'!' So I was It at my dad's funeral. Which was fitting. My dad would have thought that was funny. No one knows the "it" feeling better than Konesky, who's currently "It" -- for the second year in a row. He was tagged just hours before midnight on the very last day of February this year -- with no time to tag anyone back. Schultheis, as a first-year lawyer drafted 'The Tag Participation Agreement' back in 1990. Every February he instructs the office manager at his work that he doesn't want to see his friends. Another one bites the dust: The men have a lot of fun throughout February as they surprise each other and tag in the most unexpected locations Creative: Chris Ammann, disguised as a vagrant, tagged Joey Caferro outside a bar Revenge: The next day Joey Caferro dressed up as an old lady to tag Chris Ammann back! Tombari has admitted that he once tried to talk his way past her, but she refused to let him in. 'She knew it was tag time,' he says. Unfortunately for Tombari he wasn't so lucky when another member of the gang, Mark, managed to convince the security guard at Joe's work to let him into the building. Rick Bruya, was hiding in a Seattle parking garage waiting to ambush his buddy Chris The goal of the game is simple -- to get rid of the tag before the end of the month, or live with the shame of being "It" all year long. The key is the element of surprise, hence the disguises. Fake mustaches are a favorite - and now even dressing up as old ladies is legit. One of the guys even dressed up as a panhandler begging for money outside a coffee shop. You'd better go in disguise: Mustache's have proven popular in recent years Friendship everlasting: Call it crazy or even childish, but the men have stayed friends for more than thirty years and the game helped to strengthen the bonds between them all Some may dismiss the groups behavior as childish or even crazy, but there is something to be said for a group of ten guys who have managed to keep in touch for such a long period of time. "I'm pretty proud of the fact that I still keep in touch with ten really good guys," said Brian. And if that's not the definition of maturity and loyalty, I'm not sure what is. Joe Tombari is now a teacher at the high school where it all began in Spokane, Washington. He believes there's a message the game offers for those coming up through the ranks. "Be friends," he said. Care for each other. Don't be afraid to push yourself to go out and connect with somebody. Tell 'em you care about 'em. None of the ten participants enjoys the prospect of being ridiculed for a year and ending up as 'It' come the end of February, but all are agreed that it is much more important that the tradition is maintained and their friendship is preserved for many years to come.