The night that Ryan was cryin’ tears of joy at Mohegan Sun Arena
Emotions, unlike lightbulbs or spigots, don't work with somebody at the controls, flipping on/off switches. Rather, they are volcanic, exploding indiscriminately.
A basketball arena at 9:30 on a Wednesday night was the site of this indiscriminate explosion for Ryan Outlow, who joyfully, tearfully and meaningfully hugged it out with family and friends, celebrating the Most Outstanding Player Award on the night St. Bernard recalled its glory days. The Saints earned a 62-55 win over New London in the conference tournament championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena, 3,003 fans in full throat.
This was the Ryan Outlow who began his career at Norwich Free Academy. And then to Ledyard. And now to St. Bernard. A nomadic path. And surely one that invited criticism and cynicism. “Outlow” and “outlaw” do sound alike, you know.
“I've heard ‘traitor.' I've heard ‘what school's next?' I've heard ‘how old are the kids?' because of how old I look. I wasn't ready for that one,” Outlow said in the hallway outside the jubilant locker room. “Going to a different school was the best choice. This has been the best place to succeed. It's been a long road.”
This is perhaps where you cue Teddy
Roosevelt's “Man In The Arena” speech, a timeless message about the courage to face the public eye when the outcome is undetermined. It reads in part, “the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds.”
Lest we forget that Roosevelt spoke of a “man” in the arena. Not a high school kid. Put it this way: Outlow
and his family knew the barbs and darts were coming, three schools in four years. But it still doesn't mean a high school kid is ready to hear the underbelly of society and its moral appraisals.
“Our family is a very tight group,” Outlow said. “My mom always says, ‘the people in this house love you. Some of the people outside don't.' So all that really matters is what your family says. And I've kind of built a family here at St. Bernard. It just takes thick skin to deal with the rest.”
Outlow’s brother, Marcus, is an assistant coach with the Saints and the Director of Admissions at the middle school. Marcus Outlow also played and coached at NFA. He coached his brothers at Ledyard, too. Now it was December, 2022, and big bro hears the word ‘traitor’ aimed at his brother.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve,” Marcus said. “Truthfully, hearing that stuff early on was hurtful. But we did what we did for a reason. Now people can say what they want. It doesn't really bother me anymore. We are competitors in my family. Our Saints family are competitors. So as long as we're winning, that's all that matters to me.”
Ryan Outlow bore perhaps his biggest responsibility Wednesday night, opposing New London center Richard Taylor, who had six blocks in the Whalers’ win in the semifinals. Taylor is long and athletic, leaving St. Bernard coach Mark Jones plenty concerned. But then, perhaps Jones wasn’t aware that his coaching brethren, the ones who selected the ECC all-star teams, became the match that met the Exxon Truck.
“Ryan sacrificed a lot to be in the position he is. He easily could have stayed (at Ledyard) and shot the ball every play and was a high pointsper-game guy,” Marcus said. “But his mentality was ‘if I want to prepare for the next level, I have to be around other guys that can do what I do.’ So it requires sacrifice.
“You know, he didn't he didn't make the (ECC Division I) first team. He felt like he should have made honorable mention or first team. He came up to me and said ‘look, bro, I'm not having anybody deny me of this all-tournament team.’ I'm just overwhelmed with joy right now to share this accolade with him.”
Ryan Outlow: “We played Waterford, they had Juan (Morel) and he’s 6-8. We played Lexi (Mangual) at Windham. Big body. Now we see Richard — he had six blocks the other day. But I know if I can win my individual matchup, we have a pretty good chance of winning.”
Now he’s Ryan Outlow, MOP. With one tournament — the biggie — remaining.
“I'm gonna enjoy this until I leave Mohegan and then it's right back to work,” Ryan Outlow said. “The main thing all year has been to win the two championships. Obviously the ECC is big, but you really, really, really need that state title. We need to get one for coach Jones because he didn't get one as a player and that's the main thing that really bothers him. So if we can get him as a coach, that'd be a really big thing. And that's our main goal.”