And now, I'll take the opportunity to write something close to the heart.
My guys at FC baseball - much love, and appreciation. Class acts, the lot of them -- from the coaches to the players. Each and all. I got invited to come to their pre-regionals function (itself, a very respectful gesture) last night, and I told them I'd come. Then I get blindsided with my own frustrating situation! So me saying I'd be there for 6-630, well, I couldn't hold myself to it because I had to wait for the Sheriff (hour-long ordeal, not a complaint -- this happened in the far-reaches of the county and talking to them isn't a five-minute process either) and then run home to switch cars with the ol' lady, since there was some rain looming! These guys -- they waited for me! I get to the cook-out at 8pm, and Coach Stewart greets me a with warm embrace and surprises me: District Champions t-shirt (oh, that still feels really nice!), team bracelet that the players and coaches wear, and a ticket for the game at Princeton. They didn't have to do any of that, but they did!
I get to talking with Coach Stewart and Coach Messerly, not even a couple minutes go by and, the next thing I know, the team is there in the garage with us! I actually can't remember the exact frame-by-frame transition of what happened over the next 30 seconds (overcome with serious emotion and appreciation, just blown away by it all) but the next thing I know I'm talking to the team. Telling them all how proud I am of not just the way they play, but they way they carry themselves on-the-field and off-the-field.
Each and every single one of them. And, its... I can't do justice in words to paint the picture. They're all smiling, listening to every single word I say as if I'm one of their teachers or coaches. How proud I am for their perseverance (very small roster, have dealt with injuries), their hard work in the off-season and throughout (small roster means you need to have serious versatility, especially in the infield) and most importantly -- even more important to winning, to me -- how they carry themselves on the diamond and off of it. Despite the disrespect that gets shown to them there and on Twitter by other teams they play, sometimes teams they play twice. Let 'em know they're a credit to their parents, teachers, friends, coaches and everyone in their corner.
I told the team that there were a lot of well-wishes from the Wave of Newark Catholic, up north, from their coaches, players, alumni, parents, both after the game in-person and in messages sent to me from them (often the case they reached out to me, knowing I could tell the team. Hat tip to my good friend
@gils 17, too, always been really respectful of us) that they wanted to see FC win it
all. And you could see the eyes beam with confidence, already at its own fever-pitch, further brighter and wider.
That, itself, was a really cool and genuine moment that I'll hold dear. As was the kindness and thoughtfulness of Coach Stewart, his staff and the team to get me the gifts that they did. If anything could top that, and I didn't even think it was possible, afterwards I have players coming up to me and shaking my hand. Telling me a sincere "thank you!" for the backing of their team. And
bear in mind, I hadn't really talked to any of these guys before last night -- I talked to some after the NC District Title game, everyone I could find. And we're on first-name basis right in our first conversations, ever. LOVED IT! Get to talk with them on their seasons, their game and what they liked about the past school year. Really cool to talk to the kids with the comfort and genuineness that I was able to (I had nothing pre-planned to speak beforehand, either!) I'm really grateful that I was able to have that moment, and that I was able to rise to that moment for the guys that love me.
Somewhere amid the pandemonium of the moment (I think I was only there for about 20 minutes, but it had the riches and experience of 2000 years), I receive a standing offer from the coaches that I can hitch a ride to Cincinnati with them if my car situation can't get resolved (the ol' lady of course had something scheduled this afternoon, so I couldn't take hers down to Cincy) in time. I think the exact quote is "whatever it takes, we wanna get you down to Cincinnati, Tom, so you can be there with us like you have been all year-long." And the guys on the team are clapping and hollering. Man!!
I always kind of wondered what it would have been like to get to talk to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their path to the Stanley Cup titles. You know. How cool it would be. This experience, it gives me a pretty good idea of what that's like. Except, this was 10x the experience that hypothetical could have been.
Beyond awesome. Thanks so much, guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means the world to me, and what's equally impressive and meaningful to me is you guys knew how much it meant to me. How much I loved that school with the White Cross on the side, as the seasons pass, and how much I always had pride in a solid baseball program as the representation of everything that FC has been to me and what I always wanted everyone to see out of FC. This will forever mean everything to me.
