 |
| Coach Steve Cain |
As I get back out on the road for a five week hard run I get
this quiet time to reflect on what and who has been important to me in my
life. It helps me to prepare and focus
on my keynotes plus it gives me peace of mind.
There’s those people who come and go into your life and then
there are those who have had a profound impact on your life and they probably
don’t even know it. I met “Coach” when I
was 15 years old, almost 40 years ago (okay you do the math). I didn’t even know he had a last name because
he was “Coach” to me. He has no idea
that I’m even writing this so I may be running a couple extra laps or doing
some extra pushups once I post this blog.
To me he was this giant of a man who knew how to play
football and had an incredible amount of knowledge on the game, technique,
strategy and how to become the best player you could possibly be. What I didn’t realize until much later in
life is that he gave me a gift far greater than being an athlete. All the things he taught me about the game
were important at that time but now reflecting back on it, he was teaching me
about how to live life. I think that’s
what I appreciate the most.
Sure I was a smart ass, I was 15, and how the hell he ever
put up with me I don’t know. I do know
that he is one of the few people I’ve come across through my journey that I
remember what he taught me. Dedication,
determination, perseverance, resiliency and loyalty. To be gracious in victory and humble in
defeat, which neither one of us liked and fortunately it didn’t happen too
often.
Most importantly he taught me how to get up when I was
knocked on my butt. That was the lesson
I needed most in my life. “Coach” used
to run this drill called “Bull in the ring” where everyone is circled around
you, you are placed in the middle and then he would call out a player’s name
and they would rush into the middle for mortal combat (so I thought at the
time) and eventually when you were in the middle of the ring and so many names
were called out for you to battle with, you eventually tired out and would end
up on your butt (I did anyways).
For some stupid reason I always asked “Coach” if we could “Play
bull in the ring”, oh this got him going, a pack of lions roaring had nothing
on him. As I ran those laps around the
field I can still hear his voice correcting me that we don’t “play” bull in the
ring, it’s a drill. You know what, he
was right.
Later in life I was knocked on my butt by my own doing,
self-inflicted carnage but for some stupid reason I remembered the “drill” bull
in the ring and I remember hearing his voice encouraging me to get up, not in a
scolding manner but in an encouraging motivating manner (don’t get me wrong it
was loud). I went through a few years of
self-pity, shame, guilt and all of those other feelings but I remember the “drill”,
keep going and don’t give up.
Today I still get knocked on my butt, however I know how to
get back up because of “Coach”. I owe
him a lot and I can finally tell him.
Coach Steve Cain, thank you for what you taught me, thank you for
helping me save my own life and thank you for now being a dear friend after all
these years, you’re a hell of a man…
Here’s to the drill “Bull in the Ring”
No comments:
Post a Comment