milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
Growing up I lived in several tiny towns. Our family would always go to the basketball games because one sister played in the band and the other sister was a cheerleader. A few times a year a huge rival came to town. It was the town where my mom grew up and where my grandpa still lived so I knew the town well. It was always a rough night because these guys were good. I mean they were like a well oiled machine. It seemed like they never got tired. You often wondered if they ever missed a shot. Every player played the same way. As a kid with an analytical mind, I was in awe.
When I was a freshman in high school, my parents lost everything and we had to move in with my grandpa. This was not really bad for me because among other things, I was going to get a chance to play basketball on this team. My first memory from that school was that NOBODY dared walk on the gym floor without dedicated gym shoes. The coach would see to it that you were suspended if you did. This coach was considered by pretty much everyone to be a world class egomaniacal jerk. (It turned out he paid to have the floor resurfaced very often out of his own pocket so his teams would always play on the best court possible. This was not public knowledge)
Here are some other, "highlights" that I remember. All basketball players had to be at school by 6AM to practice free throws every day during the season. Every player from varsity to freshman had to be home by 10PM every night. He would randomly call your house and if you did not speak to him on the phone you did not play that week. If the game was on a Friday night, the entire team stayed at the school until the games were over. You had to be there the whole time even if you did not play. I remember running until I threw up doing a drill where you shot free throws until you made 10 in a row. If you missed one you ran a set of sprints and started over. This one REALLY made me mad. I did not understand it at all. What a JERK he was! He was yelling all the time! It seemed like we never ran fast enough or stayed in defensive position long enough or shot accurately enough for this guy! You could never please him! (or so it seemed)
Now for (as Paul Harvey once said) "The rest of the story." At the time I started playing, this coach had over 500 wins and just 12 losses. He had 5 state championship teams and 3 of his players were All-American. Many went on to play for Division I colleges. You walked in the locker room and it was a shrine to these teams. He made you believe that you were part of this great legacy, something bigger than yourself. He was not really controlling, he knew that high school boys have no business being out after 10 on a school night and he made sure of it! When he demanded that we all stay at the school hours before games he always had food for us. He had couches, a TV, a washer and drier, a full fridge and he wanted us to "hang out" and build unity. He wanted us to be a family.
The free throw thing... Just when I could not take any more, he made us stop and get in the stands and said, "Okay let me take a turn." We all cheered wildly! Finally this guy was gonna get what was coming to him! He walked up to the free throw line with the ball and began talking to us about details and how little things won and lost games. As he talked, he was looking at us but shooting the basketball. You know that guy made 100 out of 100 shots? None of us ever questioned him again.
The guys that made it through this loved him. He was just as loyal to as as he demanded we be to each other. He would walk through fire for any player not just the stars. He tutored kids for free almost every day. He was always there to listen and we knew it. It came at a price. He was not a gentle guy. He was gruff, demanding, he cussed and yelled. He was a big intimidating man and I don't think I ever saw him smile. He taught me more than I can ever say and gave me more than I can ever thank him for.
Sometimes the people we think are jerks are trying like crazy to make us better.
When I was a freshman in high school, my parents lost everything and we had to move in with my grandpa. This was not really bad for me because among other things, I was going to get a chance to play basketball on this team. My first memory from that school was that NOBODY dared walk on the gym floor without dedicated gym shoes. The coach would see to it that you were suspended if you did. This coach was considered by pretty much everyone to be a world class egomaniacal jerk. (It turned out he paid to have the floor resurfaced very often out of his own pocket so his teams would always play on the best court possible. This was not public knowledge)
Here are some other, "highlights" that I remember. All basketball players had to be at school by 6AM to practice free throws every day during the season. Every player from varsity to freshman had to be home by 10PM every night. He would randomly call your house and if you did not speak to him on the phone you did not play that week. If the game was on a Friday night, the entire team stayed at the school until the games were over. You had to be there the whole time even if you did not play. I remember running until I threw up doing a drill where you shot free throws until you made 10 in a row. If you missed one you ran a set of sprints and started over. This one REALLY made me mad. I did not understand it at all. What a JERK he was! He was yelling all the time! It seemed like we never ran fast enough or stayed in defensive position long enough or shot accurately enough for this guy! You could never please him! (or so it seemed)
Now for (as Paul Harvey once said) "The rest of the story." At the time I started playing, this coach had over 500 wins and just 12 losses. He had 5 state championship teams and 3 of his players were All-American. Many went on to play for Division I colleges. You walked in the locker room and it was a shrine to these teams. He made you believe that you were part of this great legacy, something bigger than yourself. He was not really controlling, he knew that high school boys have no business being out after 10 on a school night and he made sure of it! When he demanded that we all stay at the school hours before games he always had food for us. He had couches, a TV, a washer and drier, a full fridge and he wanted us to "hang out" and build unity. He wanted us to be a family.
The free throw thing... Just when I could not take any more, he made us stop and get in the stands and said, "Okay let me take a turn." We all cheered wildly! Finally this guy was gonna get what was coming to him! He walked up to the free throw line with the ball and began talking to us about details and how little things won and lost games. As he talked, he was looking at us but shooting the basketball. You know that guy made 100 out of 100 shots? None of us ever questioned him again.
The guys that made it through this loved him. He was just as loyal to as as he demanded we be to each other. He would walk through fire for any player not just the stars. He tutored kids for free almost every day. He was always there to listen and we knew it. It came at a price. He was not a gentle guy. He was gruff, demanding, he cussed and yelled. He was a big intimidating man and I don't think I ever saw him smile. He taught me more than I can ever say and gave me more than I can ever thank him for.
Sometimes the people we think are jerks are trying like crazy to make us better.
