Don't Stop Believing
Thanking those who helped, inspired, or encouraged you.
On our morning walk, my wife asked me if I had ever been a morning person. I thought about it for a moment and said that the summer between my freshman and sophomore year in high school, my Dad and I got up early Monday through Friday. He’d drive, and I’d run about a mile and a half to Community Park, where our home cross-country course was set up as a warm-up. I’d then run about three miles hard for time. It was the only time I could remember actively being a morning person until my wife and I started a morning workout routine.
It got me thinking about my eight years running cross-country in high school and college.
As I was entering my freshman year in high school, my uncles (who played professional baseball and coached baseball and basketball for years) suggested I go out for cross-country to prepare for basketball season. Reluctantly, I showed up for my first high school cross-country practice, not knowing the first thing about competitive running.
That first practice was running on the track until we got bored. I remember Jeff Kyle, our number one runner and Journey enthusiast, complaining loudly, “Run? On the track?!” I had never been sorer in my life afterward. Soaking in the tub and nursing tight quads and broken blisters, I didn’t think this was the right thing for me. However, my Dad encouraged me to keep at it.
I ended up twisting my ankle in my first race and finishing dead last. I was inexperienced and had no idea how to pace myself for three miles. Talking to my Dad after my disastrous first race was not fun. Not because he expected perfection or demanded excellence, I was just embarrassed. Vowing to do better, I steadily worked harder in each practice. I never finished last again.
Toward the end of my freshman campaign, there was a unique all-day meet in Mr. Vernon, Illinois. There wasn’t just one big race. It was set up for all the number 1 runners on each team to race, then the number 2 runners, and so on, with the rest of the team racing at the end. As you might have guessed, I was not in the top five on my varsity cross-country team and expected to run in the “rest of the team” race. However, on this day, I got called up because someone on the team couldn’t make the meet. I had no time to mentally prepare.
Additionally, my family drove down to watch this race. So, my parents and my brother were there to cheer me on. My recollection is that I felt good that day. The course was flat with several trees and a long stretch and turn. I have no idea what my time was, but I did finish in the top 15 of all the number 5 runners. It was the best I’d done all year, and it was the moment I fell I love with high school cross-country.
When basketball try-outs came around, I quickly realized I was not going to make the team. Still, I was in excellent shape. Plus, I’d found a way to participate in high school sports since I was never going to play football or basketball. I liked cross-country, but I wasn’t naturally good at it, so I wanted to get better.
The summer after my freshman year, I worked with my Dad in the mornings. On Sunday, I’d run five or six miles. For fun. I was only a little bit better by the time my sophomore cross-country campaign rolled around in the Fall. I was still among the top three or four runners on the team. However, my times were significantly better, and I earned my Most Improved award that year. Overall, I developed into a decent runner over my high school career.
In college, I decided at the very last moment whether I was going to run cross-country or not. I had seen the open call for student-athletes and walked down to the Student Union. There was Al Rosenberger, Coach Rosy, sitting on one of the couches. He had on an Illinois College baseball hat, a buttoned-down shirt, and jeans. In his late 60s, he was acting like a kid excited about Christmas, unlike what I had envisioned for a college coach. It was just the second year of the program, and they needed athletes to come out, and I fit the bill perfectly.
His sales pitch worked. As a college sophomore, I was the MVP of the team. As a college senior, I was the team captain. I ended up being the first four-year letter-winner in cross-country at Illinois College. I even held the four-mile record for a year.
I’ve had coaches who yelled, mentored, pushed, and couldn’t care less. I’ve seen my Dad coach a bunch of middle school kids in tournament baseball games, and I’ve seen my brother coach up his frosh-soph baseball team and instill a fire in a high school football special teams squad as they played for a state championship.
I’ve been lucky enough to have people in my life who believed in me. My Dad believed in me and took time out of his day to help coach me. Coach Rosy believed in me. I was saddened to hear that Coach passed away in 2002.
Take a moment and thank that parent, coach, mentor, or other people in your life who helped, inspired, or encouraged you. Give them a call. Send them a note. They’ll be glad to hear from you.
Be seeing you.
The Tragedy That Is the Death of the Small-Town Movie Theater
The only movie megaplex in the Mattoon-Charleston area, AMC Showplace 10, closed its doors permanently this past week. It made Will Leitch a little wistful about the Cinema 1–2–3 in Mattoon, Illinois, a movie theater that even I don’t remember. It’s not really about theaters. It’s more about the fact that there aren’t any places anymore that young people can hang out at for fun on a Friday night. When I was in high school, you could cruise downtown or go to the mall, where there was an arcade, a movie theater, and even an indoor theme park for a while. Where can kids go today?
Dodge This!
What do you get when you combine dodgeball with Asteroids? I’d say something pretty close to Dodge This. You are the green ball avoiding being hit by red bullets. The bullets are traveling fairly slowly, but they are coming from all directions. Whoever is shooting at you is not particularly well-aimed, either. You could survive a half-minute or so by not moving at all. But once you are hit, the game is over.
Trump to Give Kennedy Center Honor to Guy Who Hates His Guts
While Ace has said publicly that he’s a Trump supporter, Paul definitely is not. Gene basically changed his tune over the years and really doesn’t like Trump and has said as much. Peter won’t say anything because I’m sure someone will honor the band during the ceremony by singing, “Beth.” I am curious who will step up to play “Rock and Roll All Nite?” My guess is Dave Grohl with a few Foo Fighters in tow.
The History of The Onion You Didn't Know You Needed
Plenty of people think Saturday Night Live is the pinnacle of satire, but in my opinion, The Onion often surpasses the show with pitch-perfect satirical stories that often go viral. This piece is an interview with Christine Wenc about her new book, Funny Because It’s True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire. It’s not just a history of the publication, but also the industry it satirizes and how news has evolved over time. The book is in my Amazon cart.
Will Varley - Machines Will Never Learn To Make Mistakes Like Me (Official Lyric Video)
Clever title. I could see Paul Simon writing a track like this.
Possible
Robert Rosenthal loves Illinois football. He is a bit beside himself with the latest ranking. “The AP Poll has Illinois #12 in the poll released yesterday. Number TWELVE. We are in the 12-team playoff era, and as of right now, we begin the season expected to be the 12th-best team in the country. I understand the excitement it brings. I understand the anxiety it brings. I'm here to help you with all of it.”
Welcome to the Era of Big Stupid in America
Dave Holmes in Esquire thinks getting rid of scientific studies and research grants and the highly educated people who come here to do that science and research is bad. I tend to agree. “When you make smart and ambitious young people feel unwelcome in America and give them no indication that they’ll have a job in this country at all—much less one that can’t be eliminated with a keystroke, much less one that would be free from the input of Eric Trump—they may eventually decide not to come here. The innovation and brainpower have to go somewhere, and the rest of the world is making our brain drain their gain.”
Steve Buscemi Stars as Alien Overlord Whose ‘Scamageddon’ is Blocked By Telstra
Steve Buscemi plays an alien overlord hellbent on sending a “scamageddon” to Australia in Telstra’s latest blockbuster campaign. But cunning as his plan may be, he and his bumbling minions are no match for Telstra’s security network. These ads are pretty funny and I’ve never even heard of Telstra.
Famed NASA astronaut and Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell has died at age 97
Jim Lovell Jr., the NASA astronaut who famously led the Apollo 13 mission through a life-threatening crisis in space, died at his home in Lake Forest, Illinois. What a life this man lived.
