SPORTS SPOTS
various public groups. Sometimes the topic is a preview of the upcoming season. Sometimes it is a student body assembly or a banquet. In these speeches I always tried to inject a thought or fact I thought not usually reflected upon by the average parent or fan.
Often in these speeches, I have given attention to the two classes of kids as they pursue athletic endeavors from their very young years right on into high school: First, it is noted that there are the kids that athletics need. My speeches, as a rule, related to football
The kids who need sports: A few paragraphs latter the attention was directed to the kid who needed sports. That whole section was devoted to a young Savannah Konter. The second baseman of the Lady Jackets provided this old coach with some of my most memorable moments of athletic observation. The interesting fact is Savannah did not fit in only one of the categories. She well contributed to both. To that end I treated both areas in past columns.
The Kid who sports does not need: Sadly, there is another category of youngster that makes their appearance (at least for a time) on the athletic scene: That is the youngster who sports doesn’t need. As many observers fancy themselves as expert appraisers of the who, where and how young athletes should be placed and used on a team, I now exercise my opinion on those whose absence might be beneficial to the team and to themselves.
Who are these who might possibly be those who sports do not need? 1) They are the ones who either they or their parents predetermine how their child should be used on a team. And this determination is pushed to the point of distraction and irritation to coaches, teams and fans.
A sport or team does not need the youngster who wants to decide when they should start on a team. One young softball player a season or so ago fell from a great pedestal in this writer’s mind (not that she cared that much, but I did care) to a place of much lower estate. She appealed to the coach to change the pitching rotation in the state tournament so she would be starting and be the winner of the championship game. If I remember correctly the change was made. The young lady did not win the game. The attitude displayed a lack of a team concept.
The game does not need the youngster who they or their parents are malcontents concerning the way decisions of play on the field are made. This is especially true when it is apparent from expressions on adult faces that they are greatly displeased and irritated. These words are not designed to say parents can or should always be pleased or happy. The words do suggest it is sensible not to act or look angry all the time.
“Be Happy or Be Gone:” A year or so ago when a parent and a player were always disgruntled and unhappy I introduced Coach Terry Weldon to the expression “Be happy or be gone.” That is the best solution to any frame of mind that is not supportive of any team goals.
There are other sayings that come to my mind when people are not happy or make their exodus from a team or organization. There was an elderly black preacher in my brotherhood. Brother Marshall Keeble was old in years when he passed from this life. He was well known and his book “From Mule Back to Jet Plan” depicted a life of travel all over the world to preach the gospel from his youth until he approached the century mark. It was a great privilege for me to hear the man at the Freed-Hardeman Lectureships several years ago.
But it is one of his remarks of wisdom that I want to share with you today.
Keeble said, “It never hurt the apple tree for the bad apples to fall off to the ground below.”
David McBrayer’s comment on Facebook
David McBrayer’s daughter Maggie McBrayer pitched every pitch in all four Lady Jacket victories to win the Class AAA State Softball Championship.
It was David’s statement on Facebook to warm the hearts of all loyal Lady Jacket fans when he said, “Maddie Bumgardner’s eighth-inning home run in the Worth County game was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed in a softball game.
A single swing of the bat changed the tournament for the final four teams and put us in the preferred position. Words do no justice; you had to be there to feel it! That’s how you finish a senior year Maddie! Yes, he well said, “You had to be there to feel it!”