This past weekend we had a reunion of sorts for the 91,92,93 TIAA Conference three – peat baseball Champions at Howard Payne University. The teams were recognized prior to Howard Payne’s double header against LeTourneau University as the Sports Teams of the Year. I was lucky enough to have been the Head Coach of those teams, so I got to join in on the festivities.
Current HPU Head Baseball Coach Stephen Lynn did an incredible job of making us “ol – timers” feel welcomed. The baseball program is in great hands with Coach Lynn, and along with his staff they have developed Yellow Jacket baseball into a premier DIII program.
Do the math, it’s been thirty years, plus some change since we played those games. A lifetime ago. I had not seen most of the players since they were in uniform running around the bases as college kids. Now they are all grown up! Careers, families, and stories.
What I found so interesting is that those three years were just a blip on the radar screen of life, a hiccup of time. We all sat around a table in the clubhouse eating lunch prior to the ceremony, and the players shared memories of the good, the bad and the ugly.
I was a bit embarrassed by some of the things I did and said back then as a young coach, so I was grateful that they found it humorous today, even though it may have not been so funny back then.
I was tough on them, and a few of my tactics would most likely get me called into the Athletic Director’s office today. I wasn’t mean or unfair, I just believed it was my responsibility to relate to my players what it takes to win – from my perspective.
I do not believe I could coach today, at least not in the manner I did back then. One of my good friends who began coaching the same time I did put it this way. “You can’t love ‘em anymore.”
He was talking about tough love, making things uncomfortable for kids in hopes that they respond with fight and learn the lessons you are trying to teach them.
But the number one thing to remember is that without the love for your players first, then the tough won’t work. Tough without love only makes you mean.
One of the most popular stories shared around the table that day was when I forced my teams to eat bologna and bread on a trip back from San Antonio. I was so angry with how they played that I felt it necessary to teach them a lesson. They did not deserve a hot meal as far as I was concerned, so I sent our Athletic Trainer to the grocery store to pick up six loaves of white bread and six packages of Oscar Mayer bologna.
They had just played a double header and had a three-hour drive back to Howard Payne in cramped vans with no air conditioner.
We stopped at a roadside park, and I handed each player two pieces of bread and two slices of bologna. They drank lukewarm water from the cooler using paper cups.
I told the players that if they wanted to eat steak, then they had better play like they earned one. “Today, you earned bologna.”
Nobody said a word, they just ate.
I was trying to make a point, not sure if it worked or not, but it is a great story today. Plus, nobody died of starvation, and not a single player ran home and called their parents.
Those years at HPU were meaningful, and it had much more to do with just winning championships. Sure, winning is nice, but the sacrifice to win is what you remember the most.
My ex-players did not talk about wins and losses, they talked about the memories made and the unbreakable bond developed between teammates. It was just a blip on the radar screen of life, but when you are sharing sacrifice and adversity with others you love, the impact can last a lifetime.
I am lucky. Those young men who played for did more for me than I could ever have hoped to do for them.
I love you guys.
Coach Howey
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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].
