Trophy Time
This is typically considered the dead zone with sports. Yes, I’m aware of baseball and the recent and upcoming drafts in basketball and hockey. The seemingly year round soccer leagues, championships and many “cups” that are at play along with the PGA golf season, I guess car racing and whatever other sports that are in play and float your boat. For the most part though, the “big” ones, football, hockey and basketball are on their summer hiatus but a few recent stories made the views on this lull a bit different.
The beginning of Summer is also the end of the Spring seasons; not just in professional sports but also at the high school and college levels. With those endings also means for most amateur athletes the end of their sports “careers”. A little more than 6% of HS athletes even play sports in college so those last days of play at “Anywhere High” are typically the last ones. I was inspired by reading a column by a high school parent recently who commented on just this. It wasn’t the team’s record, the batting average or the goals scored that stood out when it was all said and done. It was road that was taken to get there. The pasta dinners, the bus rides and the locker room times that are things that will long be remembered, kids will always recall the “glory days”.
I was blessed to have 2 daughters that played sports in both High School and College and though the 6 am lifts, wet cleats and endless laps are not the best memories that come to their mind, the good times and not so good ones spent with teammates who in some cases became friends forever are what they think about. I will never forget the countless tailgates with friends sharing the same bond; our kids. The scores are in the books and the details of the games are starting to fade but the memories of those usually rainy days will always be there.
We, myself certainly included get caught up in the finish line. The championship for a precious few, the losses for most others. We gauge successes in records and points. Who remembers the runner ups when you can focus on the winner and so it goes season after season. Recently, a journeyman pro on the PGA tour won his first major and was overcome with emotion as his entire family looked on. He said in an interview after the finish, that he was most proud over the years of persevering when things were not going well. He was proud of his accomplishment that day but he was more proud of work he put in to get there.
The Patriots signed a new punter, Bryce Baringer, in the recent NFL draft. Though his hang time, average distance & net returns are all important stats contributing to him achieving his lifelong dream of being drafted to the NFL, the road he took to get there was equally important.
When attending a pre-college kicking camp like so many others with visions of Saturdays on campuses and Sundays in NFL stadiums, Baringer roomed with an older player, Mike Sadler, who like him had tried to make it big but now was a coach at the camp. He was a mentor to Baringer as they navigated through the rigors of the camp. Unfortunately, he died in a car accident the last night of the camp at 24 years old. Baringer become close friends with the boy’s mother who encouraged him to continue to follow his dreams keeping his friend in mind as a guiding force. She followed him throughout his college career staying in touch, always with Mike at his side.
Baringer held a draft party at his parent’s home and when his name was called and he was selected as the first punter in the draft by the Pats, Karen Sadler was there along with Bryce’s family and friends sharing the joy of the moment.
Call me a sucker for a good story but sometimes I think it is good to look past the medal stand and see how it happened. Sometimes… the journey is the prize…
