Aw, c'mon, coach!!

I don't think I ever told you all about one of the funniest times I ever had as the head wrestling coach at Troy high school. We had a dual match one evening between my guys and the wrestlers of Springfield North High School, and it was at their school.

There were some people around the area who might not have known my team, because they were saying that Springfield was far and away the better team. My guys and I obviously knew better, but it was kinda funny watching the Springfield guys warm up with a real cavalier attitude, laughing and not knowing that they were in for a real bad whoopin'.

So, just in case we needed any motivation, I kinda made up a little story and fed it to them.  

Springfield North in those days was a pretty affluent school.  They went out and recruited all the good athletes in that town (which was a pretty good sized district) and they kinda walked around with their noses up in the air. Plus -- they had something that pretty much no other high school in that part of Ohio had -- a swimming team and their own pool, right in the middle of their athletic building. 

So, I was pretty sure my guys knew they had a swimming team and a pool, but I was also pretty sure they didn't know where that pool was. I told them that it was under the floor beneath the wrestling mat they were competing on.  They would just push a button and the floor would retract, revealing the pool's waters. I'm pretty sure that I also told them it had been reported that there had been instances in the past where the floor just started to open and the mats fell into the water. I told them that they had better go out there quickly, get the takedown, get the pin and get off the mat -- just in case.

It was a thing to behold.They went out there like mad men.  It might have been the quickest meet we ever had,  Even the referees were amazed. Out of the 13 matches we had 6 or 7 pins, with several of them in the first period.

After the meet was over and the guys got dressed and came out to the gym to get ready to leave, I saw some of the sophomores kinda lifting the mat, looking for the place where the floor came together.  And just when I was about to tell them the story, some of my seniors  came running out and jumped up and down behind them.  The Sophs thought the floor was opening and hightailed it right off that mat!! Everyone had a big laugh. I doubt that anyone other than the sophomores believed my story, but they didn't let on.

Oh yeah, we educated some doubters that night and made it happen.

There are three types of players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who wonder what just happened. (Tommy Lasorda, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager and two-time World Series champion.)

Hooah

A journey Rudy would have been proud of ...

In the world of football, whether it is Pee-Wee league, high school, college or professional, discipline, imagination, drive, courage and teamwork are all key ingredients to success.  Pundits, coaches, parents and "Monday morning quarterbacks" will "cuss and discuss" the merits of each trying to make a case for one of these being more important than any of the others, but when asked for my opinion, I vote for discipline followed closely by perseverance and teamwork.

So let me make the case for this point of view.  My last civilian employment was as the principal of Anna High School, a small school in west-central Ohio.  When I went there the high school pretty much and about 45-50 students per grade and did not have a football program.  It had been 30 years since I last played the game, and 21 years since I last coached it, but I remembered how much fun it was, especially playing on Friday nights under the lights and then going to school dances in the gym.

So when the opportunity came to start up a program, I took it.  Our campaign got a lot of help from our superintendent who also happened to be a football guy.  Once we got the program off and running, there were lots of funny experiences along the way, ranging from having to show players how to put their pads on, to playing one of the early "varsity" games at a school that had a dog show for the half-time entertainment!

None of those things cited above or below would have happened, though, if there had not been an intense drive tempered with discipline over a long period of time.  It would have been real easy to throw in the towel after a season of "two-a-days"  or a winter of pre-school day lifting and running.  After all, this had never been done at Anna before.  While their friends at other schools were running around all hours of the night, doing who knows what, these young men were now introduced to a new discipline that made certain new demands of them. Men who were good or stars at another sport now had competition for the glory.  They had to learn new skill sets, all of which required dedication and DISCIPLINE. I had coached that in my earlier years, but our traditions had been established long ago and everyone knew what was expected.  As the principal, I could watch the development from the sidelines, but I really got to see what was going on when I talked to my community friends and my next-door neighbors.

One of the exceptionally great things that happened was our next-door neighbors had three boys and all of them have played or are still playing for the school.  The oldest is now graduated and attends University of Toledo.  When he was a senior, the team tied for the championship of the MAC (Mid-American Conference), arguably the most powerful football conference in Ohio (based on the number of schools who have won state championships and the total number of championships won  -- 34 state championships just in football). 

Jarred, #23 (3rd from right) is the oldest of the boys.  He played for several years including 4 yrs. in high school.  Here he is with the other seniors on that team as they display the co-championship trophy, the first such award in the school's football history.

He was also joined by two younger brothers, Dylan and Carter.  While all three boys were beset with injuries during their careers, the younger two have had more than their share.  Dylan missed pretty much the whole second half of his Junior year and Carter was injured in a pre-season scrimmage and missed the whole season (and all of his basketball season due to the virus plague).  Both boys also play baseball and will miss those seasons too.

The boys are holding this year's (outright) MAC championship trophy.  I am looking forward to following them next year.  This could be fun -- Carter is a quarterback and Dylan is a center.

But this year's team had a unique goal or battle cry -- "Leave no doubt." It seems there was some talk arond the league that Anna wasn't really a co-championship last year because they were just lucky or some other schools had injuries, or whatever.  So this year, they set their goals high and were determined to leave no doubt as to who was the champion.  Discipline.  And why stop with just the league, why not be state champions.

 

I think the pictures speak for themselves.  Not only did they win the Division VI state championship, they did it in a rather convincing manner with 4 "running clocks" in the state play-offs. Quite a feat for a team that only started football in 1999, and played its first varsity game in 2000. Oh, by the way, Anna is the first school in Shelby County to win a football state championship in any division.

Really glad I was able to play a small part in this.  Way to go, guys.

"Leave no Doubt" -- not a bad goal for a season (or life) well played.

Hooah

You just never know how things will turn out...

I was in church last Sunday and a friend came in with some of his family with him.  One of the people was a lady, probably in her late 30s, who looked familiar.  Now, before you start shooting harpoons at me being a dirty old man, remember I was in church. So, cut me some slack.

As I was looking at the young lady, trying to remember a name, she said "I know you. You're Mr. B."  So that narrowed it down to the low thousands of people it could have been.  If I had remembered who she walked in with, I probably would have remembered quicker. 

Anyway, it seems that she was a student at THS back in the day.  She reminded me that when I returned to work (I was the Assistant Principal there) following a deployment for Desert Storm, I happened to be observing a teacher who was conducting a math class.  The students were asking that time honored question:  "When are we ever going to use this stuff."  I asked the teacher if I could answer that and proceded to tell them how important math was in figuring azimuths and back azimuths in something called land navigation, a skill that was very important in the military.  Of course, that was then and this is now.  All they have to know is how to turn on a GPS.  Progress?

I taught the class for the next two days and then I took the class out to the football field where I had laid out a compass course and let them have at it.  As they came to the correct location, they were either given a front azimuth or a back azimuth and they had to figure out which one they had and then find their way to the next spot.  If they navigated the course correctly, they got a candy bar at the end. 

She said she has remembered that course and how much fun it was.  Then, surprisingly, she told me she now is a math teacher.  Go figure. With all the pressure on teachers today to be "accountable" and teach for the "test" I doubt she could take time to teach something like this.  Too bad.

And then, just when we finished talking about that, another friend who was listening to all of this said he was talking to a young person up town  who said they were from Anna.  He said if that was the case, then you probably know Mr. B.  The young person said yes -- he used to have writing contests at the school and the one who won would get a plane ride from him (back when I had my pilot's license).  I also would take the middle school student of the month up for a ride.  That was fun and the kids really enjoyed seeing Wal-Mart and their grand parents' farm from 3,000 ft.

Those were some really great times and I thoroughly enjoyed working with young people. I think some of them learned a few things and really liked flying.  I enjoyed any excuse to take the plane out.

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.

Hooah

And yet another side ...

If you've been following these entries for a while, you could get the impression that my whole career was devoted to the U.S. Army. You'd probably be pretty close, but there is/was more to me than just being a soldier.

I may have mentioned a few entries ago that I was also in the teaching/coaching business. I began my teaching career after graduating from THE Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. My first serious job offers came from school districts in Australia, Xenia, Ohio and Troy Ohio. I figured the distance to Australia would have been too much to overcome, and the Army wouldn't let me out of my contract, so that one was out. Too bad, mate. The second offer I was considering was from Xenia and I am very glad God was watching out for us as I chose the Troy offer. It was not too long after that that the Xenia tornado hit and wiped out most of the town, and probably the area I would have lived given my financial outlook at that time.

Troy was a great town to begin a career. I met some real nice people, and the school was absolutely superior. I began my coaching career doing freshmen football. Jim Turner and I coached them in the single wing and went undefeated and only gave up two touchdowns. That was pretty good considering the powerful league we were in at the time (Western Ohio League) -- one of the best "big schools" leagues in the state.

I picked up wrestling at first as a volunteer coach at the junior high. I had never wrestled before, but thought it would be a tough sport and I would like it. After about 5 years as an assistant coach at the high school, I took over the position. We conditioned during the off season and worked very hard. I had some of the best, toughest, most determined young men in the school. They came from good families (not all of them had both parents, but they were good just the same). They were great in the classroom, and were super role models before that became popular. In fact, a LOT of them gave back to the sport either by having their own kids go into it and do well, or by becoming coaches themselves.
Did I say we were tough? Oh yeah, we were successful too. We won the W.O.L. , a feat that has never been done by any other wrestling team at TROY. We also finished second 2 times. We had a DIV. I state champ -- again something no other wrestling team in THS history can claim. We had a number of other place finishers, to include a second place one year which was won by a 155-pounder who wrestled the last two periods of regulation and the whole overtime with a separated shoulder!

One of the most gratifying things about being the head wrestling coach for 13 years was the ties I built with those guys, their families and the others associated with the program. I was very fortunate to have worked with such fine people. But I also appreciate how they made me a better father, teacher, and person. I have been away from that town for a little over 12 years now, but I can still go there and run into people who want to stop and talk about those teams.

Coaches are always trying to inspire and motivate their players, and there are lots of ways to go about it. Now I'm not saying I was all that good at this area, but these sayings seemed to work for my guys:
1. Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.
2. Get better or die.
3. If you can't, that's my fault. If you won't, ...

HOOAH