Endings are not always sad
This summer I wrote about how this would probably be Brett Favre's last season to play football and I went into the long list of memories I had of him playing throughout his career. In the last paragraph, I wrote that "endings are always sad". Last month something happened that made me change my mind.
I coach middle school girls and boys basketball. In the four years I've been there we've had some pretty good teams. At the end of every season we would take our teams to the T-N-T state middle school tournament outside of Nashville. Last year our girls won the tournament to finish 21-0 on the season. The feeling at the end of the game was great, but I also felt a little empty...like, "what do I do now"? At the end of every season, I feel a little disoriented and it takes a couple of weeks to move on. This year was different. It was the first year I didn't feel that way.
Our girls team this year was not as good as last year's team talent wise, but finished a very respectable 14-6. I had more fun this year than I did last year. The girls were very coachable and improved a great deal over the course of the season. Their attitudes were great and they played hard every single game. We decided not to go to the T-N-T tournament this year because it stretches our season out too long and the drive every week-end is not worth it. At the end of our last game we talked to our girls in the locker room and I haven't felt more satisfied about a team. We left the locker room knowing we had given our best the whole season and won more games than we probably should have.
Joe North and I coach both the boys and girls, so after we left the girls in the locker room we went out to coach the boys. Our boys team was talented, but small. I believe we finished the season with a losing record, but it didn't feel that way. The team we were playing that night was 0-18 and we knew we would end our season with a win. Before the game, their coach (who I knew from college) approached me and told me that he was going to let his manager dress out for this game. His manager was named Cody and Cody has Down's Syndrome. The coach told me he was going to put Cody in at the end of the game and he (the coach) asked if we would let him shoot a few shots. I told him of course and so we told our players what the plan was. By halftime, we led by 20 and at the end of the third quarter the game was all but over. Our 7th grade players were in by the time Cody entered the game. Garrett (the opposing coach) had marked an "x" with athletic tape so Cody would know where to stand on the court. We called a time-out and told our kids what to do. We lost the ball and Crockett County (the opposing team) dribbled down and passed it to Cody. He shot and missed and we got the rebound, then lost the ball back to him and he shot and scored. Every fan in the gym stood and cheered. I looked down at our bench and every one of our players was standing and cheering. Crockett County got the ball back and Cody scored again. He jumped up and down on his "x" that had been marked for him. We got the ball and went down the court and I noticed Cody staying on his end giving a thumbs up sign to his coach. Then I saw him leave the "x" and drift to the three point line. His teammate passed him the ball and he shot a three that was only about an inch short. He got it back and heaved the ball again. Nothing but net. The gym was deafining. I was jumping up and down, our kids were jumping up and down. The whole place was excited. The buzzer sounded and the game was over. Cody's teammates hugged him. Our guys gave him high fives and we went to our locker room to close out the season. I think everyone in our locker room knew we had ended the season the way we were supposed to. As I was walking across the court I saw Cody and his coach share a hug in the doorway of the locker room. You couldn't have scripted it better.
The next day Cody's mother emailed the school and thanked us for doing what we did. We should've thanked her and her son for helping us make the end of our season worthwhile. Endings aren't always sad. They're only sad if you have regrets about not doing the right thing.
I coach middle school girls and boys basketball. In the four years I've been there we've had some pretty good teams. At the end of every season we would take our teams to the T-N-T state middle school tournament outside of Nashville. Last year our girls won the tournament to finish 21-0 on the season. The feeling at the end of the game was great, but I also felt a little empty...like, "what do I do now"? At the end of every season, I feel a little disoriented and it takes a couple of weeks to move on. This year was different. It was the first year I didn't feel that way.
Our girls team this year was not as good as last year's team talent wise, but finished a very respectable 14-6. I had more fun this year than I did last year. The girls were very coachable and improved a great deal over the course of the season. Their attitudes were great and they played hard every single game. We decided not to go to the T-N-T tournament this year because it stretches our season out too long and the drive every week-end is not worth it. At the end of our last game we talked to our girls in the locker room and I haven't felt more satisfied about a team. We left the locker room knowing we had given our best the whole season and won more games than we probably should have.
Joe North and I coach both the boys and girls, so after we left the girls in the locker room we went out to coach the boys. Our boys team was talented, but small. I believe we finished the season with a losing record, but it didn't feel that way. The team we were playing that night was 0-18 and we knew we would end our season with a win. Before the game, their coach (who I knew from college) approached me and told me that he was going to let his manager dress out for this game. His manager was named Cody and Cody has Down's Syndrome. The coach told me he was going to put Cody in at the end of the game and he (the coach) asked if we would let him shoot a few shots. I told him of course and so we told our players what the plan was. By halftime, we led by 20 and at the end of the third quarter the game was all but over. Our 7th grade players were in by the time Cody entered the game. Garrett (the opposing coach) had marked an "x" with athletic tape so Cody would know where to stand on the court. We called a time-out and told our kids what to do. We lost the ball and Crockett County (the opposing team) dribbled down and passed it to Cody. He shot and missed and we got the rebound, then lost the ball back to him and he shot and scored. Every fan in the gym stood and cheered. I looked down at our bench and every one of our players was standing and cheering. Crockett County got the ball back and Cody scored again. He jumped up and down on his "x" that had been marked for him. We got the ball and went down the court and I noticed Cody staying on his end giving a thumbs up sign to his coach. Then I saw him leave the "x" and drift to the three point line. His teammate passed him the ball and he shot a three that was only about an inch short. He got it back and heaved the ball again. Nothing but net. The gym was deafining. I was jumping up and down, our kids were jumping up and down. The whole place was excited. The buzzer sounded and the game was over. Cody's teammates hugged him. Our guys gave him high fives and we went to our locker room to close out the season. I think everyone in our locker room knew we had ended the season the way we were supposed to. As I was walking across the court I saw Cody and his coach share a hug in the doorway of the locker room. You couldn't have scripted it better.
The next day Cody's mother emailed the school and thanked us for doing what we did. We should've thanked her and her son for helping us make the end of our season worthwhile. Endings aren't always sad. They're only sad if you have regrets about not doing the right thing.
posted by Gabe at 1:21 PM
2 Comments:
Wow, that's a great story man. Like that one kid who drained six threes or whatever and made Sportscenter. But in (your) real life.
By the way you better be makin' me proud at least once or twice a year by going all Bobby Knight and getting tossed like a bum on the street.
That almost made me cry, very poignant. It made me really think about why people are so elated to see people like Cody have a sort of success. (Also, we're still waiting to see those pics of Jordan!)
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