|
The
KSU-Black Lions PT Challenge, 3 Months'
Later!
(See"NEWS")
|
|
An Openly Homosexual
Coach at a Big 12 College!
(See"NEWS")
|
"Receive my instruction, and not silver; and
knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better
than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are
not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses
10-11)-
 April
24, 2007 -
"When wealth is lost,
nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost;
when character is lost, all is lost. " Rev. Billy
Graham-
- more
info--->
 <---
more info
-
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA - APRIL
28
- The
2007 Coach Wyatt Southern California Clinic
will be held Saturday, April 28 in Valencia
at West Ranch HS, 26255 W. Valencia Blvd.
Stevenson Ranch, CA 91381 - Room 603 (near
the gym)
-
- DIRECTIONS:
From the I-5 freeway, exit Valencia Blvd. Go
West one mile to the end of the street. The
West Ranch High School Campus will be located
on the right side of the
street.
-
- Valencia
is about 20-30 minutes north of Burbank
Airport. For those needing a place to stay
her, there are a Residence Inn, Comfort
Suites and Hilton Suites all within 5 minutes
of the school.
-
- PACIFIC
NORTHWEST - MAY 19 - The
2007 Coach Wyatt Pacific Northwest Clinic
will be held Saturday, May 19 in Vancouver,
Washington at Vancouver Christian High
School
|
 COMING
FRIDAY: Exclusive photos of my day doing a "ride-along"
with two of Chicago's finest as they troll the ghetto in
plain clothes. (Yes, that's a bullet-proof vest I'm
wearing. The REAL police officers know how hot the damn
things can get, and they wear tee-shirts under
them.)-
- ALSO FRIDAY: Chicago clinic photos
-
- *********** I have already mentioned the growth of
boys' lacrosse, and now I notice in my travels that it
has spread to Minnesota. This was its first year as a
varsity sport in Minnesota high schools, with 32 teams,
mostly in Twin Cities area, and about 20 club teams
aspiring to move up. (For pusposes of comparison, 379
Minnesota high schools play baseball.)
-
- The growth of the sport (numbers are comparable for
girls, who play a non-contact version) is causing
enormous problems for ADs in locating fields.
-
- To deal with the fields problem, at least one AD has
suggested the possibility of adding a fourth season, or
even playing lacrosse in the summer, in the way Iowa
plays its high school baseball.
-
- One other problem that the separate season would deal
with is the way lacrosse is eating into track
programs.
-
- The coach of a defending state championship track
program says he routinely asks freshman in his PE classes
to go out for track only to have them say, "I'm going to
play lacrosse."
-
- He says, "I've heard that far more this year than
'I'm going to play baseball.'"
-
- He adds, ominously, "If the coach if the state
champions is concerned about losing athletes, shouldn't
everybody be?"
-
- But with a summer lacrosses season, he says, "Just
think - lacrosse kids could do track, baseball or tennis
and still do lacrosse."
-
- I might add as a warning to coaches of other sports -
lacrosse, while a great sport, is a potential strangler
sport - one of those with the potential to involve kids
(and families) year-round, from the time they are
small.
-
- *********** If that pompous ass Alec Baldwin had just
kept his word and left the country, as he said he would
if George Bush were elected, he might not have the scolds
all over him as they are now.
-
- *********** Coach, I don't know what kind of baseball
fan you are, but the Sox and Yanks are at Fenway for the
weekend. Big stuff for us New Englanders. When my folks
went on an Alaskan cruise a few years back, my Dad spent
an evening in a sports bar that had ESPN to watch the
Sox/Yanks, rather than do the "cruise" thing.
-
- Anyways, a few minutes ago Jerry Remy (color man and
former Sox second baseman) asked Bob Cousy, their guest
in the booth, what motivated the great Celtics teams of
the 50's and 60's, year in and year out. Cousy offered
several thoughts, but the one I can quote is the
best.
-
- "In those days, when the coach yelled you listened
and you performed!"
-
- This from a guy that made $35,000 in his final year
of playing pro ball (the most he had ever made).
-
- Hope you are well.
-
- Patrick Cox, Tolland High Football, Tolland,
Connecticut (In these days, when the coach yells, you
quit. HW)
-
- *********** I find it instructive that I have not
heard anyone blaming "Koreans" for the evil act of one
Korean immigrant.
-
- At the same time, I have read of numerous Koreans and
Korean-Americans who have expressed sorrow and shame at
the actions of one lone Korean.
-
- How different might things have been if the Muslims
among us had reacted in a similar fashion to attacks on
America by Islamic evildoers?
-
- *********** In "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?",
his first book in 20 years, famous auto executive Lee
Iacocca refers to America as "a nation of overeating,
pill-popping, TV-watching, iPod-wired, shopaholic,
attention-deficit-disordered people."
-
- He left out "praise-addicted."
-
- *********** I wish that some of my friends in Europe,
who know only the NFL and don't even know there is such a
thing as college football, could see these attendance
figures - for spring games-
-
- Alabama - 92,000... Ohio State - 75,000 (at $5 a
ticket)... Penn State - 71,000... Notre Dame -
41,000
-
- *********** Perhaps you remember the story from back
in January about the Kansas State football players taking
part in a joint PT (Physical Training) exercize with the
Black Lions who were training at the time in Fort Riley,
Kansas. It is three months later. The K-State Wildcats
are in spring practice, and the Black Lions are in Iraq,
and Howard Richman of the Kansas City Star did a great
follow-up story on what that trainign exercize meant to
both groups:
-
- By HOWARD RICHMAN The Kansas City Star
-
- MANHATTAN, Kan. - They worked out, side-by-side, a
couple of young men preparing for two entirely different
journeys. Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman was
gearing up for spring football. Pfc. John Harrison for
staying alive. For the few hours he spent with Harrison
on a frigid, icy January morning, Freeman gained a
greater appreciation of how Harrison operates. "We're
playing a game. They're preparing for war," Freeman said.
"They could die."
-
- Harrison is a member of the First Battalion, 28th
Infantry Regiment from Fort Riley, Kan., that worked out
with the Wildcats football team three months ago. Now, as
Freeman gets ready for K-State's spring game at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Harrison already has had a brush with death in
Iraq. He recently took a bullet in his back in Baghdad.
He was one of the lucky ones. Four members of that
battalion, also known as the Black Lions, have since
died, Alison Kohler, assistant community-relations
officer for public affairs at Fort Riley, said
Wednesday.
-
- Harrison's unit deployed Feb. 9 to Iraq, less than a
month after the K-State experience. It is a motorized
infantry company that works out of Humvees and on foot,
ordered to secure the streets of Baghdad. That assignment
comes with peril. Harrison, as much as anybody, knows.
"It was the 24th or 25th (of March)," Harrison said by
phone from Iraq. "We were trying to get a better
position. I stood up in the back of the truck and took a
round in the top right-hand corner of my back."
-
- Harrison was wearing a bullet-proof vest. "Yeah, you
could feel it pretty good," he said. "It just turned into
a little bruise."
-
- The bruise, in time, will vanish. But the memory of
spending part of a day with K-State football players
lingers for him, even when he is in harm's way. "It was
neat to show them what we could do," Harrison said, "and
they showed us they could push themselves just as hard as
we did."
-
- A football program's theme for its coming season was
born out of its day at Fort Riley. Once Wildcats coach
Ron Prince got the phone call about training with
soldiers, he never wavered. Prince's father was an
emergency medical technician at the hospital at Fort
Riley, so his bond with that place is ingrained. "It was
one of those opportunities for us to learn because
obviously they're in the business of training leaders,"
Prince said.
-
- The K-State football team did the rise-and-shine
thing at 4:30 a.m. and bused 20 minutes to Fort Riley.
The 4-hour experience included a series of tasks
stretched over nearly 4 miles. Players carried 45- to
50-pound backpacks, ran sprints across frozen ground,
carried soldiers on their backs for half a mile, climbed
ropes as part of an obstacle course, and hauled and
installed large tires on a disabled trailer.
-
- "I liked the camo gear they issued to us," K-State
defensive end Ian Campbell said. "It was cold, and I
remember (linebacker) Reggie Walker slipping and falling
into a creek. The whole thing was tough, but it was
fun."
-
- Capt. Tim Wright originated the idea of bringing
K-State to Fort Riley. "It was an impressive group,"
Wright told The Star by cell phone. "They toughed it out,
were rock-solid, put out a 100-percent effort. "Across
the board, it was an incredible effort by one unit that
came together."
-
- And that's where the "Power of One" theme
enters.
-
- "We're really trying to understand that we have one
team," Prince said. "While we tactically have an offense,
defense and special teams, we have one team. We're
playing for something bigger than ourselves, and we have
an obligation to do things and do them first-class. Those
young men (at Fort Riley) taught us a little something
about that."
-
- It was a day that Freeman can't forget. "I guess they
thought they'd have to pull us along. I guess we showed
them some stuff," Freeman said. "What did we get out of
this? I don't expect to see any quit in this team. At
all."
-
- In the K-State dressing room, Prince posts updates on
how the Black Lions are doing. The news lately is
sobering. Pfc. Daniel A. Fuentes, 19, was killed April 6
by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad. He became
the fourth member of the battalion to die, and as of
Wednesday morning, was among 93 soldiers from Fort Riley
who have died since troops were sent to Iraq in 2003,
according to Kohler.
-
- "It's an eye-opener," K-State offensive lineman Logan
Robinson said. "We walk in from practice yesterday
laughing, and we see someone has died. It was just like,
'Wow, we worked out with those guys.' They're my age. The
courage those guys have sticks with me."
-
- The Black Lions have a standing invitation to come to
K-State and work out with the football team. When the
unit was deployed, it was supposed to be for a 12-month
period. That would have meant it would return to Fort
Riley next February. But, according to Kohler, it has had
its tour extended by three months.
-
- "I know they couldn't wait to get us back to their
place," Wright said, "but our deployment delayed that
plan. They still owe us one."
-
- Harrison hopes he will be there for it. Yet he knows
there is no guarantee he will return and get that chance
at K-State. But he won't forget what those players meant
to him. "They showed me a competitive spirit, a drive,
and pushed themselves just as hard as we did," Harrison
said. "You'll still hear people here talking about how
much they enjoyed that day."
-
- To reach Howard Richman, K-State reporter for The
Star, call (816) 234-4701 or send e-mail to
hrichman@kcstar.com
-
- *********** Howdy Coach! Joan and I were honored to
be asked to NYC this weekend so we could see Ross Perot
Sr. receive the Semper Fidelis award, presented by the
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Ross did a terrific
job addressing the crowd, but I was completely in awe of
the Commandant - General James T. Conway. General Conway
had a "presence" about him that made me want to grab my
M-16 and catch the first plane to Bagdad! He spoke of
things like honor, integrity and courage. And he spoke in
details about his plans for the Corps, which were both
visionary and "old school". What a great leader!! There
were some vets of Iwo in attendance, along with 2
recipients of the Medal of Honor. Overall, it was a night
that brought back some great memories, and reminded me of
why I love this country - and why I love the Marine
Corps. The Drum and Bugle Corps performed, and they were
awesome as usual. One last note -- Eric Gleacher
(Gleacher Partners) received the Colonel Joseph File
Memorial Award. Mr. Gleacher is a former Marine as well.
When he was talking about how great this country is, he
said he was reminded by Warren Buffet how lucky we were
to be born in this great country . He said Buffet told
him, "we won the uterus lottery"! I thought that was
great!
-
- Here are a few pics of our evening - http://homepage.mac.com/gnik/Leatherneck/
-
- By the way -- The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
is a great cause. It provides scholarships to children of
Marines who would not otherwise be able to afford college
education. It is needs driven, with the average family
income of the recipients being just over $35k per year.
The foundation will award over $3M is scholarships this
year!!! How terrific is that!! Marines helping Marines!!
You can read more about this cause here: http://www.mcsf.com
-
- SEMPER FI, Coach -- Scott Barnes, Rockwall,
Texas
-
- *********** I was reading a review of a book called
"Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough," by Jonathan
Tisch, Chairman and CEO of Loew's Hotels, and I
recognized some things that the billionaire Mr. Loew had
to say that certainly could apply to football
coaches:
- Don't be afraid to stand for something
- When you find a formula that works - stick with
it
- *********** Don Shula may not have realized what he
was saying in an interview in Providence Monthly given
when he opened a new restaurant in Providence recently,
but it's apparent he is no fan of former Dolphins' coach
Nick Saban...
-
- On why Miami went from a lofty pre-season ranking to
a bust of a season: "All the statements that he (Nick
Saban) made... the guy talks so much and he put himself
on the line, and then he didn't do the things he said he
was going to do. This was embarrassing to anyone who was
a Dolphin fan, to me in particular, because the Dolphins
have always been in such high regard and the fans have
always been so loyal. All of a sudden they are dealing
with a guy where they can't believe what he says. So it's
been god riddance for me."
-
- *********** Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times
thinks television sucks ("television is its own
punishment."), and he writes...
-
- "I was going to complain about the syrupy coverage of
the Virginia Tech memorials - now there's something we
could do without - but decided that complaining about
specific content of TV programs is like complaining about
the red-velvet flocked wallpaper in a brothel. You
shouldn't criticize it, because you shouldn't be there in
the first place."
-
- *********** Mike Mulligan, in the Chicago Sun-Times,
wrote that Bears' general manager Jerry Angelo admitted
drafting "troubled" Tank Johnson in the second round back
in 2004 ''was about as far to the left as I ever went on
the first day with a draft pick.
-
- ''But every once in a while," Angelo went on, "you're
going to take a look, take a chance. Part of that has to
do with the environment that you presently have, your
locker room. I remember [former Dallas] coach
[Tom] Landry once said something. We were talking
about a player, a great player, and there were some
issues about him and he said we could handle them here
because he said our locker room could absorb them. He
said with Drew Pearson and Roger Staubach and with Randy
White we could handle that. And we took that player and
he had a great career there and it kind of stuck with
me.''
-
- *********** I heard on the radio that an Oakland
pizzeria owner will not be charged in the shooting death
of one of three men who tried to rob his restaurant.
-
- Police have identified the deceased: I forget his
name, but he was "an accused batterer" (which could mean
nothing) on probation for a drug charge. He was also -
shockingly - "an aspiring rap artist." Christopher
Anderson, Palo Alto, California (I see this "aspiring
rapper" tag so much nowadays, in describing some young
lad who has run afoul of the law - or gotten himself shot
- that if I didn't know what liberal weenies reporters
are, I would suspect that it was their code for "a guy
who is obsessed with having all sorts of material things
but has never considered having to do anything so menial
as work in order to get it." HW)
-
- *********** For some time, there had been some rumors
about the lacrosse coach. He had been seen at a local gay
bar.
-
- Otherwise, though, the coach was discreet, making
sure that when he posted on "Outsports.com" he used the
screen name "Frustrated Coach."
-
- But last June, he used his real name, and since then,
the University of Missouri's lacrosse team (a club
program) has had the dubious distinction of being the
only college sports program headed by an openly
homosexual coach.
-
- And now everyone knows that he's in a "committed
relationship" - he's been "dating" the same guy for eight
months now. (It is not easy for me to type this.)
-
- Result A? According to an AP story, "Missouri has
become a magnet for gay high school lacrosse
players."
-
- Result B? Perhaps partly because of Result A, a dozen
players did not return this year. (Club players at
Missouri must pay $2,000 a year dues)
-
- Interesting questions to ponder:
-
- Should a gay coach be allowed in the same locker room
with his players?
-
- Is it "negative recruiting" simply to note that an
opposing coach is gay?
-
- *********** MOMMY! DADDY!
NOT SO FAST!
-
- BEFORE YOU SIGN UP LITTLE 8-YEAR-OLD SKYLER (MALE
OR FEMALE) FOR THAT SERIES OF SESSIONS WITH A PERSONAL
COACH, BEFORE YOU SIGN HIM/HER UP FOR CAMP, BEFORE YOU
COMMIT TO SPENDING THOUSANDS ON TRAVEL TO FARAWAY
GAMES...
-
- YOU MIGHT WANT TO GLANCE AT THIS ARTICLE I FOUND
IN THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL...
-
- Specialization for young athletes can have
not-so-special effect
-
- BY CAROLYN THORNTON - Journal Sports Writer
-
- Experts say there are a number of potentially
damaging ... consequences to spending too much time
concentrating on one sport.
-
- SCENARIO 1: Look at how hard my son throws. I
think he could be the next Jonathan Papelbon. As soon
as Little League is over, we're going to set Billy up
in an offseason conditioning program. And it's great
that the new rules will allow him to play on his AAU
team at the same time that he's playing for his school
team. That will get him a few more games next spring.
Red Sox, here we come!
-
- SCENARIO 2: Get ready University of North
Carolina. I think my daughter could be the next Mia
Hamm. Suzie was the leading scorer in our town's youth
soccer league this fall, and she's about to start
playing indoor soccer. We've been in touch with some
of the top local clubs and plan to get her onto one of
those teams, as well. College scholarship, here we
come!
-
- Specialization in youth sports.
-
- It's become a growing trend: Parents who feel
their son or daughter is showing promise in a
particular sport decide that they need to concentrate
exclusively on that discipline, even as young as 9 or
10, often playing it year-round because they feel it
will give them an advantage.
-
- But is it a good idea?
-
- Both empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests the
answer is no.
-
- The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that
children avoid early sports specialization, citing a
number of potentially damaging physical, emotional and
psychological consequences.
-
- Although further studies must be done, the
organization's Committee on Sports Medicine and
Fitness has concluded from existing research that the
costs just may far outweigh any potential gain.
-
- In stark contrast, the American Academy of
Pediatrics says in its policy on Intensive Training
and Sports Specialization in Young Athletes: "Those
who participate in a variety of sports and specialize
only after reaching the age of puberty tend to be more
consistent performers, have fewer injuries, and adhere
to sports play longer than those who specialize
early."
-
- Not convinced? Let's begin by exploring what
happens to the body when a child sticks to just one
sport.
-
- When broken down, every sport consists of a series
of repetitive movements, whether it be swinging a
racket, throwing a pitch, running laps, landing
dismounts off of a balance beam and so on.
-
- Over time, the constant wear and tear caused by
those repeated motions placing stresses on the same
areas of the body, often coupled with a lack of proper
recovery time, results in what are known as overuse
injuries.
-
- With the increase in specialization, children are
increasingly being treated for such conditions as
swimmer's shoulder, Little League elbow, runner's
knee, jumper's knee, tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis
and shin splints.
-
- "I can definitely say in the last 10 or 12 years,
there's been more and more and more injuries," said
Dr. Marta Sowa, a Lincoln (RI) pediatrician who has
been in practice for two decades. When a young athlete
specializes in one sport, "the same particular areas
are vulnerable. The tendons, the ligaments that are
the rubber bands that hold those bones together to
protect the joints and the growth plates get overused
and they can get sprained, strained, fatigued and can
let go."
-
- The very nature of a child's maturing body makes
them more susceptible to injury than adults, Dr. Sowa
said.
-
- While they are developing, kids have open growth
plates - the area of growing tissue near the end of
the long bones that eventually closes when growth is
complete, sometime during adolescence, and is replaced
by solid bone.
-
- Before that happens, however, those areas serve as
weak spots -- in fact, the weakest of the growing
skeleton -- and are more prone to injuries, known as
fractures.
-
- Depending upon the severity, bone fractures, which
can be caused either by a blow to the area or from
overuse, can either heal normally with the help of a
cast to hold it in place or at the other extreme can
result in deformity or the premature stunting of
growth, possibly requiring surgery.
-
- Pediatric sports medicine physicians say they are
treating injuries in children that at one time they
saw only in adults. Some of these injuries can result
in permanent damage, leading to chronic problems, such
as arthritis, later in life.
-
- "Playing sports is a wonderful thing. I just see
how some of these kids are training," said Dr. Sowa,
who usually isn't consulted by her patients' parents
until the situation has already gotten out of hand. "I
see their schedules and they're just, 'Gotta go. Gotta
go. Gotta go.' They're practicing sometimes twice a
day, but that's not all right. These kids' ligaments
and tendons are unable to take it. Their growth plates
are still open."
-
- And what is early sports specialization doing to
children psychologically? While not always the case,
it can indeed result in a "slow, developing burnout,"
says Richard Ginsburg, Ph.D., co-director of the
Massachusetts General Hospital Sports Psychology
Program and co-author of Whose Game is it,
Anyway?
-
- Unrealistic expectations, especially by parents,
can create feelings of anxiety and pressure, leading
to depression, withdrawal, irritability and difficulty
sleeping.
-
- Suppose the gamble doesn't pay off? What if, after
all of these sacrifices, the child does not achieve
the level of success that was expected?
-
- Even if it is explained to a child that only a
small percentage of athletes ever get chosen for their
high school varsity team and that an even smaller
percentage advance to the college level, even if he or
she realizes that a degree of luck is required to move
up the sports ladder regardless of how good a player
is, none of that may lessen the feelings of
failure.
-
- To help avoid these potential downfalls, children
should be "encouraged to participate in sports at a
level consistent with their abilities and interests,"
says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
-
- "We're always trying to emphasize that
grade-school age is to try out different things, but
not to necessarily get so specialized in one thing or
another," Dr. Sowa said. "Let them try it on for size
and see if it's what they like. But a lot of times I
find by the time I hear about it, they're already
doing it. And my concern is how are you balancing that
with schoolwork, with reading time, and with just
plain old down time?"
-
- cthorn@projo.com
-
-
- *********** Over the years, since he was working for
the New Haven Register, I have become friends with Ned
Griffen, now sports reporter for the New London (CT) Sun.
Ned is my authority on Connecticut football...
-
- Howdy, Read the write-up about Saturday's
(Providence) hootenany. Would've liked to have attended -
I began missing football before the Super Bowl even ended
- but work kept me away.
-
- The previous two weeks were ones for the book
-
- Surprised Mike (Emery) made it given the timing of
Raheem's death
-
- I giggled that Jack Tourtillotte attended. My parents
began vacationing in Boothbay Harbor when I was around 10
or 11 years old
-
- I joined them for, oh, maybe seven of those
trips
-
- One would pass by the high school whenever they pull
into town and see the Seahawks logo out front. I last
visited in 2005 and would honk at the school every time I
drove past it as I knew it was a double wing school
-
- Love, love, love Maine. Laid back, hard working folk.
I hate summer and hot weather, so the state's climate is
right up my alley
-
- I've attached two articles about Raheem from The
Day
-
- I should also note that Connecticut's top two teams
last fall - Ansonia and Greenwich - were both running
teams
-
- Greenwich, which won both the Fairfield County
Interscholastic Athletic Conference (one of the two best
leagues in the state) and Class LL (the state's biggest
division), has been a Wing-T team for some time now
-
- Ansonia, which finished No. 1 and was the state's
only unbeaten team, used the I with junior Ryan Thomas
carrying the ball most of the time. He's one of the best
backs I've seen. Bob Barton, the state's unofficial guru
of Connecticut high school football (and a Yalie), said
Thomas reminded him of Tebucky Jones (formerly of New
Britain)
-
- Thomas isn't big enough to play at the top D-I
schools, but get this - he may end up at Yale. He's one
of those kids that's too good to be true. Great student.
Great athlete. And, most importantly, a great and humble
kid
-
- IF he goes to Yale (and it really wants him), it
would have two of the best players the state has produced
over the last few years
-
- Yale junior Mike McLeod led New Britain to the 2005
LL title and was the state player of the year that
season. He ran like a savage. I don't think I've ever
seen any player in the state run with as much ferocity as
he did
-
- Thomas ran for 2,431 yards and 36 TDs this past fall.
His numbers are even more impressive when you consider
that the state's new horse bleep "50-point" rule limited
his carries
-
- (A coach of any team that won by 50-or-more was
suspended for the next game unless the coach could prove
he wasn't trying to run it up. The rule came into play
only twice. One coach appealed and was rightfully cleared
of any wrongdoing. Another coach served his suspension as
his school, for whatever reason, wouldn't appeal on his
behalf)
-
- Any ways, in past seasons, Ansonia would put up close
to 50 in the first half (it plays in a weak league) and
its backups would score a few, too
-
- Ansonia had to play it safe this season, so after
seven games, Thomas had less than 70 carries. He also ran
for almost 1,000 yards during those first seven games,
including 343 on 13 carries against a pretty good Seymour
team
-
- I was fortunate to see that Seymour game and the kid
put on a show. Ran for touchdowns of 60, 28, 97, 55 and
17 yards
-
- Only reason Thomas wasn't the state's Gatorade Player
of the Year was because of Bristol Central tight end
Aaron Hernandez. He's going to Florida (after reneging on
an oral commitment that he made to UConn) and is a
physical freak. Never seen a kid in this state who could
get you a first down every time you passed him the ball.
He was so big and strong (6-4, 235 pounds), never mind
quick and has hands the size of a seat cushion. He'd be
tripled teamed but would still catch whatever was thrown
his way. He'd run a short 5-yard route and drag the pile
for a first down
-
- But back to Thomas....
-
- Tom Brockett, who took over for legendary coach Jack
Hunt (seven state titles) last season, is no dummy. He
had a good QB and some quick receivers, but he emphasized
running the ball as he had Thomas and an offensive line
that averaged 272 pounds
-
- (Ansonia stole my heart because it would run the ball
over 40 times a game and had an offensive line that was
big, strong, nimble AND fundamentally sound)
-
- So in 2008, your alma mater could have quite the
tailback tandem in 2008 if Thomas decides to stay
home
-
- I should also note that sophomore Matt Kelleher, a
reserve QB, was the Gatorade State Player of the Year
during his senior year (2005) at pass-happy Southington.
He holds the state record for passing yards in a
season
-
- I've rambled on far too long. I intended only to send
you the stuff on Carter, but whenever I get started
talking about football....
-
- Vaya con dios....
-
- (NOTE: RAHEEM CARTER DIED TWO WEEKS AGO AT THE AGE OF
25. HE WAS A KEY MEMBER OF COACH MIKE EMERY'S FITCH HIGH
DYNASTY, WHICH MADE IT TO THE CONNECTICUT STATE FINAL
GAME FOUR YEARS IN A ROW, AND WON TWO OF THOSE
GAMES)
-
- A Leader To The End
-
- Cancer cut his life short, but Raheem Carter
accomplished a lot and left behind a message
-
- By Eileen McNamara
-
- Groton - A few weeks before he
died, 25-year-old Raheem Carter realized his battle
with cancer was coming to an end and called his family
and friends to his bedside.
-
- The former star high school
athlete who grew up in the Poquonnock Bridge
neighborhood and went on to become an exemplary police
officer didn't just want to say goodbye. He wanted,
one last time, to advise those he loved about their
future, even as he realized his own was slipping
away.
-
- About 100 people came to see
him.
-
- "He had a lot of friends who
wanted to pursue professional careers and he told them
to follow their dreams," said his mother, Sheila
Perry. "He had friends who were struggling and he told
them to go back to school and to go to church. He left
them with a lot of messages and after that he said he
didn't want to see anyone else and he went back into
the hospital."
-
- Carter, a quarterback at Robert E.
Fitch High School who grew up in a fatherless
household in one of the region's toughest
neighborhoods, who earned a bachelor's degree at the
University of Rhode Island and had become a New London
police officer so he could realize his dream of
helping disadvantaged youths, died Friday.
-
- Known for his gentle spirit and
devout Christian faith, his legacy, his friends and
family said, will transcend his tangible
accomplishments, which include being Fitch's starting
quarterback for three years, leading his high school
team in 1999 to its first championship in 23 years and
breaking the Eastern Connecticut Conference all-time
career touchdown passing record. He also captained the
school's football and track teams.
-
- Rather, his unshakeable belief in
others and his selfless efforts to help young people
are what those who knew and loved him will remember
best about him and what they want people who never met
him to know about Carter.
-
- "He would have been a true
community leader," said Bruce Rinehart, New London's
police chief. "He really cared about people and he
really cared about the department. He was an
exceptional guy. Everybody liked him and everybody is
taking this hard. A police department is like a
family, and we've lost a member of our
family."
-
- "He was always just a first-class
person who cared about others more than he cared about
himself," said Michael Emery, Carter's former high
school coach. "He was a true team player. He always
wanted the attention on his friends, not on
himself."
-
- Carter carried those
characteristics into manhood, Emery said.
-
- "I knew all along he was going to
be successful, no matter what he did," he said. "And I
knew he would always do something to give back to his
community."
-
- At the New Life Church in Ledyard,
where Carter was a member, church leaders intend to
start a scholarship in his name so his legacy will not
be forgotten, said New Life's pastor, Johnny L. Burns
Sr.
-
- "We're going to make sure he's not
just another person who passed through our parish,"
Burns said. "He was the perfect gentleman and it was a
tragedy for his life to be cut off so soon. Raheem was
exceptional in every aspect of the word and in the 25
years he lived, he touched so many lives."
-
- A 2000 graduate of Fitch, Carter
attended Central Connecticut University before
transferring to URI on a full scholarship. He
graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in
2005.
-
- When it become clear that Carter
would not survive the cancer, his identical twin
brother, Rashaad Carter, considered abandoning his
plan to become a social worker and pursue a career as
a state trooper instead to carry on his brother's
legacy. Raheem, however, had other plans for his twin.
He left Rashaad a posthumous letter urging him not to
pursue law enforcement.
-
- "He said he wanted me to get my
master's degree and doctorate in social work." said
Rashaad Carter, who played football with his brother
and attended college with him. "He told me to follow
my heart...to touch people's lives in a different
way."
-
- It was in December of 2005 that
doctors found a tumor in Carter's abdomen. At the
time, Carter was still at the state's police academy,
but had been suffering debilitating back pains. By the
time doctors found the cancer, however, it had already
begun to spread. Carter spent his first year as a
police officer undergoing chemotherapy. For a time, he
beat back the disease well enough that he was able to
complete his on-the-job training with New London
Police Lt. Margaret Ackley.
-
- "He was just a gentle soul with a
courageous spirit," she said. "He had more heart for
the job than anyone I'd ever seen."
-
- Eventually, the cancer spread too
far and Carter remained at home with his mother and
family. He re-entered the hospital on March 26th and
died there, his mother said. Throughout his struggles,
she said, her son's concern was with putting others at
ease about his illness.
-
- And he was worried about how he
would help those in need if the disease killed
him.
-
- "I always said to myself and
others from the first day I was diagnosed that I had
so much still to do," Carter said in an interview last
spring with The Day. "Not for myself but for others,
as far as being successful in my career and life so I
can talk, reach out and help kids and teenagers and
help them through my life experiences."
-
- His family is planning a memorial
service at 10 a.m., Saturday at St. John's Christian
Church in Groton. Visiting hours are 6-9 p.m., Friday
at New Life Church. Interment will be in Elm Grove
Cemetery, Mystic
- Carter's Magnetism Was In His Personality
-
- My fondest memory of him came
during lunch at Mystic Pizza a few years ago. It was
almost comical. There we were, two friends talking,
providing some peaceful scenery for a much bigger
event around us: an impromptu contest among female
members of the wait staff who were doing everything
but singing the Ave Maria to get his
attention.
-
- Two of them, for the record,
slipped Raheem Carter their phone numbers.
-
- It was at that moment that I never
wanted to be someone else as much as I wanted to be
Raheem: a strong, strapping young guy who knew what he
wanted, could be anything he wanted, was clearly
wanted by the feminine gland and yet maintained levels
of dignity, decency and a deeper sense of obligation
to things greater than his own self
interest.
-
- Raheem Carter was, unequivocally,
the finest example of a student-athlete Fitch High
School ever produced.
-
- And it was with inexpressible
sorrow that I learned of Raheem's death last
Friday.
-
- Raheem Carter was 25. He died of
cancer.
-
- I really don't know what to tell
you at the moment. There is no explanation for this.
There is nothing, not even in this age of limitless
information, that can help answer the question, "Why
him?"
-
- We are left to ponder why a young
man who was so full of life had his taken so
inexplicably soon.
-
- We are left to celebrate his life,
too. He did in 25 years what many of us haven't yet
accomplished. He didn't merely touch the lives of
others. After you met Raheem, you had no choice but to
form this enduring image of him in your mind, there to
see every day, like the magnets on your
refrigerator.
-
- Case in point: This is an e-mail
sent here Monday by old friend Steve Nalbandian, a
former sportswriter at the Norwich Bulletin. Steve and
I covered all of Carter's great Fitch
teams.
-
- "I'll never forget the way he
carried himself so respectfully and those teams
followed his lead," Steve wrote. "He was such a nice
kid. I hadn't seen or talked to him since he graduated
but kids like him leave an impression, you
know."
-
- And that came from someone who
hadn't seen him in seven years.
-
- Case in point: Raheem went through
all the training to become a police officer, but was
on the job for a week when the pain of his first bout
with cancer became unbearable. He had no sick time and
no vacation time accumulated. Raheem and his twin
brother, Rashad, also a member of the Fitch
championship team in 1999, had just moved into their
own apartment and had bills to pay.
-
- Lt. Margaret Ackley of the New
London Police Dept. wrote memos and went to the town
council on Raheem's behalf. Soon, city workers were
donating vacation time. Within a week, Raheem had four
months of vacation time. And of his fellow officers,
Raheem once said this:
-
- "I woke up one day (in the
hospital) and there were 14, 15 officers with me, half
of them I didn't know," he said. "They even pinned a
badge on the bulletin board in the room. Every day,
there was someone from the department
there."
-
- It might be true that officers
would support any of their brethren under such
circumstances. But there was this pattern in Raheem's
life that people he barely knew were attracted to him.
It's called a magnetic personality.
-
- Raheem leaves us with this: When
you carry a lamp in life and look to illuminate, you
get it back tenfold. Not just from friends and family,
but from people you hardly know.
-
- There will be a line out the door,
down the street and around the corner Friday night for
Raheem's calling hours at New Life Church in Ledyard.
It was a place of which Raheem spoke fondly. He had a
strong, everlasting faith. It was a faith that enabled
him to say this once about his illness:
-
- "People have been sending letters
and cards, people I haven't seen in five years,"
Raheem said. "It's just been a blessing. My family, my
church, all the support. My brother has stayed strong,
especially early on when things weren't looking good.
I remember him telling me that when he used to cry, he
saved it for the ride to and from work. He really is
my other half and I told him the other day another
great thing about being a twin, if something ever
happened to me, I would still be living through
him.
-
- "When I was down and out after my
diagnosis and the first few cycles of chemo, it was
like the devil would put images in my head showing me
a coffin," he said. "I would hear whispers in my
dreams telling me, 'Just give up and you'll feel no
more pain.' And that's when I would pray and get
through it. I've never asked why this happened, but
there are reasons."
-
- Raheem Carter will live on through
Rashad. And he'll live on through his mom, Sheila. And
his large family. He'll live on through Mike Emery,
his old coach at Fitch. Through all of his old
coaches. He'll live on through his fellow officers.
He'll live on through his teammates at Fitch. He'll
live on through those young women at Mystic
Pizza.
-
- I don't know whether to cry in
sorrow or to cry through a sense of gratefulness for
having shared even a small slice of his life. A little
of both, I guess.
-
- Maybe we think about Raheem now
and take some comfort in a line from a Beth Nielsen
Chapman song called "Godspeed."
-
- "How soft this light of grace
shines through my sorrow. From some amazing place, you
reach for me."
-
- Rest in piece, Raheem.
- *********** Army's gymnastics team failed to qualify
anyone for the NCAA Division I Championships, but the
toughness of senior George Rhynedance is worth
mentioning. On his third release from the high bar, he
missed the bar, and wound up hitting it face-first. So
severe was the collision that it knocked out a tooth. But
he was tough - he got up, spit out the tooth, and
finished his routine. Said his coach, "The crowd went
wild! Several people came up to me and said 'This is the
kind of young man we want defending our country!'"
-
- *********** A friend in Canada, taken somewhat aback
by my social commentary, wrote, "I have always been
fascinated by the strong bond between football and social
conservatism.
-
- I replied, It's because football is a meritocracy,
and until the lefties in education figure out a way to
provide for an equal outcome regardless of ability or
effort, football will continue to be populated by people
who believe that the football way is the truly fair way
to achieve results - on the field and off.
-
- *********** Coach, On your NEWS today you wrote,
-
- " I have to wonder if the idea of self-defense
ever even entered the minds any of those poor victims
at Virginia Tech.
-
- I mean, it does appear that with the exception of
one elderly Holocaust survivor, NOBODY fought back.
NOBODY charged that bastard. Nobody threw anything at
him. Instead, they were slaughtered like sheep.
-
- It was not their fault. After all, as products of
our feminized culture, they had been taught from the
time they were little not to fight back.
-
- They had been indoctrinated in the "violence is
never acceptable... fighting never solved anything"
world that American education has become.
-
- Think the Islamic terrorists don't know
this?"
- Thank you. That is what I have been thinking as well.
You know, I can't help thinking about what I would do if
someone started shooting in my school. I know that I am
not going down without an attempt to take his ass to the
ground and disarm him. And I have a pretty good idea that
there would be several football players (my son included)
who would not sit back in fear either. Any nut job who
starts a shooting spree here is going to have to deal
with a whole bunch of people coming for him.
-
- That punk at VT might have had two hand guns, but
what would he do if a bunch of people attacked him? Sure,
a few of them would likely have been shot, but how many
lives would have been saved? What message does it send to
other whack jobs out there when no one responds by
attacking the shooter in these rampages?
-
- It sure seems to suggest that they can do whatever
damage they want because no one has the stones to stop
them. Just once I would like to see on the news that a
psycho who went into a school to shoot a bunch of people
was stopped when an angry bunch of teachers and students
stormed him and beat him to within an inch of his life!
You are absolutely right about the consequences of
teaching kids to not fight back. I always told my kids
that they had better never start a fight at school, but
if someone started a fight with them I expected them not
just to fight back but to finish it.
-
- Zach got suspended for fighting back and finishing it
in the 8th grade, and when the principal asked him what
happened, Zach said, "He started it and I finished it."
IT IS TIME TO FIGHT BACK!
-
- Greg Koenig, Beloit, Kansas (I think you've got
something.
-
- Maybe "IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK!" should become our
national slogan - bumper stickers, shirts, hats.
-
- Except kids wearing them to school would be sent
home.
-
- Yet it's all right - at least in Portland - to
wear a shirt to school that says, "Gay? Okay By
Me!")
-
- Greg added, Wow! That Mike Viti just looks like a
football coach's dream. He exudes confidence, toughness,
and character. I imagine that he conducts himself in a
very impressive way as well. (Unless you don't like a
guy who goes out there and gives it 100 per cent in
everything he does and doesn't mind blocking and when he
does he knocks people's butts off - and calls you "Sir" -
he is a coach's dream. HW)
-
- *********** GLOBAL WARMING UPDATE (Does Al Gore have
a tough sale on his hands, or what?)
-
- As of last weekend, 100 boats were trapped in ice off
Newfoundland as an Arctic wind froze the ice pack around
their vessels. Two of the five icebreakers ent to rescue
them became trapped as well. "We haven't seen conditions
like this ion over 10 years," said Canadian Coach Guard
officer Susan Keough, in St. Johns, Newfoundland.
-
- *********** Coach, Now that Ive had time to sift
through my notes - I just wanted to say that I fully
agree, the Providence Clinic was the best (at least out
of the 4 or 5 that Ive been to). I was in awe when you
had all of the guys who've taken teams to a state final
raise their hands. Wow - it seemed like a 1/3 of the room
had done so. I also couldn't help but feel indebted to
you for sharing the double wing with young coaches like
myself after reading your exchange with the Coach from
Texas in the news today.
-
- I can't imagine running a "regular" offense and I
feel blessed to know that I have the double wing from the
get go. I was once again impressed with Bill Mignault. I
wish I could spend a season working with you and then
take another season and work with Bill - just for my
education as a coach. Unfortunately/Fortunately - I could
never do that, without leaving my kids in the lurch.
-
- I hope that I am able to coach for 42 years like Bill
has. Actually - I hope that I A. Still have the energy
and the stones to coach and that B. There is still a
place that will have me and that C. I can still make a
difference in kids' lives. I think I learned the most
about improving our passing game and I am excited to do
that, because I believe that like Coach Tourtillotte
says, "you have to be able to pass from the double wing
to win a state championship."
-
- In all of our tough playoff games that we won the
pass was a key weapon. It was often a case of our QB
going 6 for 8 with 90 some yards and a TD or two. The
only thing I regret is that we didn't have more time ---
I really want to learn more about Wildcat - as I plan on
running a decent amount of it this year.
-
- Thanks again for all that you do to help all of us
run the double wing better.
-
- John Dowd, Oakfield, New York
-
- PS - It was also great as usual to sit in a room so
full of other "idiots" who run that "damned offense." As
I walked by a coach (I think it was Mike Pucko) I
overheard him tell a story about being near fans of the
opposing team after that game and have them complain
about his damned offense blah blah blah ... of course
they didn't know that he was the coach. Sounds familiar
doesn't it?
-
|
 All
football programs are invited to participate in
the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion
Award is intended to go to the player on your
team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don
Holleder (see below): leadership, courage,
devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above
all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of
himself." The Black Lion Award provides your
winner with a personalized certificate and a
Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by
Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at
right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti.
There is no cost to you to participate as a
Black Lion Award team. FOR
MORE INFORMATION
|
|
|
|
BECOME A BLACK
LION TEAM
GIVE THE BLACK LION
AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR
PLAYERS!
|
|
|
Will Sullivan, Army's 2004
Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all
winners) in the Army-Navy game
|
(FOR
MORE INFO)
|
The Black Lion
certificate is awarded to all
winners
|
 -
- Take a look at this,
beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner,
Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ
|
***********
By now we've all read of the passing of Eddie Robinson.
It is with great sadness that I, too, note the passing of
"Coach Rob" - a great coach, a wonderful man, and a great
American.
***********
While in Durham, I was able to wangle an invite to a Duke
spring practice. That's Duke coach Ted Roof on the
left.
***********
I don't want to start a barbecue war here, but in my
humble opinion, Durham, North Carolina has the best
barbecue I''ve tasted. And Durham's best barbecue place -
again, it is just my opinion - is the Q Shack. Absolutely
the best ribs I have ever had.
