Coach

This is blog one in a series of three. Read blog two here. Read blog three here.

Let me tell you about a man. Not a perfect man. Not even close. But a good man. An honest man. A man that was able to look beyond the nonsense and see potential. Potential in the troublemaker; in the borderline student; in the restless; and the outcast. A man that sees potential in the future. In the faces and hearts of young men.

A man that with patience, and understanding, and humor built self-esteem one block at a time. A man that motivates young men to look into themselves and want to be better. Better athletes, better students, better men.

There are no perfect people in the world but some – the lucky ones – have a rare and special talent and they get the opportunity to use it. Not only use it but perfect it and make the world a better place.

Pat has that. You can see it when he’s on the field. Or in a group of his players. Pat’s a coach. Not a “live through the kids” coach. A real coach. One who understands that the sport, in his case lacrosse, is used to benefit the players. Not his desire. Not his ego. Not his agenda.

Pat got shafted – hard! By anonymous. It's a shame that selfish, small-minded people will never understand doing something for the simple joy of doing it. To be a positive influence in the world. To affect change at the human level and doing it with dignity and respect and love.

I’m not done on this topic; not by a long shot. I will find anonymous. I have a pretty good idea but thinking and knowing are different and since I have morals and a code of ethics that informs my life, I won’t say. They know who they are.

They harmed a good and decent man and his family. My family. And that is unforgivable.

More important than that (yes, more important than my family) they harmed other people’s children. Boys – young men – that had a positive, amazing man in their lives and now they don’t.

Shame on them.