Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
A couple years ago the college football scene was filled with good stories. In fact so much so that 3 guys who were Heisman Trophy finalists seemed to be just the guy you would want your daughter to bring home. Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy all seemed too good to be true. All were great players, great leaders, and had great character. As I watched the Heisman presentation show, I found myself questioning if each guy was in fact a knight in shining armor. When the presentation was over Sam Bradford was chosen as the best of the best. I didn’t feel too bad for Tebow, his mantle already had one bronzed halfback on it, but I did feel a little bad for Colt McCoy. He was as gracious in defeat as he would have been in victory and he set an example for everyone on ESPN!
My heart went out for McCoy and I found myself wishing that he had won. However, I got over it quickly and moved into Lacrosse season and really didn’t think about McCoy until this past season rolled around. I watched Texas a couple of times this year and was more impressed with Colt each time. I was certainly impressed with his decision making and his arm but as I looked closer I became more and more impressed with who he was as a leader. I feel like every college athlete in the country should emulate McCoy.
So it seemed like a story book ending was in sight. He was back at the Heisman presentation and back in the National Championship game for the first time as a starter. Just as it happened the year before McCoy was not awarded the Heisman. This time I didn’t feel so bad. Ingram from Alabama was nasty all season and who really cares about an individual award when you have a chance to play in the National Championship game? Having watched Colt carefully throughout the season, I knew he didn’t care he just wanted to win with his teammates and he had his chance.
Well, that chance came to a painful crash in the first quarter of the biggest stage Colt will ever see. For those of you who don’t know Colt’s career at Texas came to an end with a huge hit that sidelined him for the rest of the game. McCoy had to watch his team play for the National Championship. Just as I thought, Colt led his team from the sideline and helped his back up QB Garrett Gilbert with his reads. But there was only so much he could do and when it was all said and done he missed his chance at a National Championship but what was even more devastating was that Colt missed his chance to play one more time with his teammates.
I am a tough critic and a hard person to win over. I had my doubts about Colt McCoy all the way until the end. That was until he gave the best post game interview I can remember a college kid giving. (I have the link below.)
You could just hear in his voice how devastated he was that he couldn’t play. He was obviously upset that he didn’t win the National Championship but he was even more upset that he missed the opportunity to play one more time. He said more than once in the interview that he would have given anything to play in that game. In particular play one more time for the school that he loved and with the teammates that he loved. All of us who participated in college athletics know that feeling. It is the worst. I will never forget the way I felt the day my college career was over. I remember thinking those same things Colt said in his interview. 5 seconds after his career was over and while blinded by Alabama players, fans and confetti Colt McCoy earned up to the tag the best of the best! McCoy didn’t just sum up the way we all feel when it is over but he looked to the sky for a second and came back with a courageous statement about his faith. “I always give God the glory. I never question why things happen the way they do. God is in control of my life and if I know nothing else, it is that I am standing on the rock.”
Wow!
Filed under: "The Boring Whistle" With Dan Sharbaugh
Hello to all my loyal followers. I apologize that I haven’t written in a while but when you hear my reasoning not only will you be understanding, but you will realize this was the best possible situation for all parties involved. First off, I stopped writing right before the holiday season because I feel like the holidays are for families to reconnect and spend some quality time together. So I stopped writing because if there was a new blog up, the whole family would be sitting at their computers reading, laughing, crying, and possibly getting really worked up about what I had written. The second reason is the main reason I haven’t written one. At the end of every blog I usually give a video and a birthday shout out for someone in the Eastern Lacrosse community, or a celebrity that I deem cool enough to get a birthday shout out. In the last few months, I haven’t heard about any such birthdays. If your birthday did fall in this time period I’m not saying you aren’t cool enough to get a shout out, it’s just that I was unaware of your birthday. So really it is everyone else’s fault for no blogs being written lately. So now, I can sit here in my new blue snuggie, and jot down a few thoughts that will hopefully get you through the continuation of life after vacation.
Due to the extensive news coverage on CNN and ESPN, you all know by now that I was in attendance at Eastern’s winter graduation. Not only was I in attendance, I actually received a little fold that is supposed to have a diploma in it eventually. I was very excited to receive that folder since it has cost me tens of thousands of dollars over four years. Graduation was okay, the highlight was definitely Dr. Frederick Boehlke falling asleep within the first five minutes of the ceremony. For those who don’t know Boehlke, he is around 87 years old (literally) and the cutest little old man in the world, he resembles the cartoon. Magoo very closely. (http://www.zacharybass.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mrmagoo.jpg). I can’t blame him, he has had to sit through too many of these and I was at my only one and I was almost asleep. The worst part was at the end when I was sitting at the end of the row of chairs as all the professors walked by. This was cool since I got to see a few professors that I am going to miss, but I also had to see some of the professors I went to war with over the half decade I spent at Eastern. A few offered congrats and I gave the most pathetic attempt at sincerity and thanked them.
I know you have all been trying to get in contact with me to see how my winter vacation went and all the great stuff I got and all the silly and immature antics I partook in. In all honesty I did next to nothing for the past few weeks, just sitting around and getting fat has been my only activities since I graduated. One thing I did get to do is go to the wedding of a former players brother. And I also got to spend a lot of time with some of my favorite people in the world. No I’m not talking about my family (they are by far my favorites), but I also got to spend time with the Jersey Shore cast and cast of Keeping up with the Kardashians. If you haven’t seen these shows, stop reading immediately and get to a tv to watch these.
That being said, school starts Monday, and for the first time in a while I will not be there (well, I may be there because I don’t want everyone to miss me too much). If you would like to know about how I feel about the first week of a semester you can refer back to an earlier blog “Sharbs starts his victory lap.” But spring semester has a few things that fall doesn’t have. The first signs that it is officially spring semester is when the soccer goals are removed from the field and the lacrosse goals are allowed to stay there, there are a few new faces because of the transfers who have come from around the country to Eastern, and everyone is sporting their new clothes that Santa game them.
But the best part of spring semester at Eastern comes with the small amount of snow that accumulates over the month of December. As a New Englander, the snow in this area is very minor and it doesn’t cause me for too much excitement. One reason people enjoy the snow is so they can go sledding/snowboarding on the hill next to Breezeway, I have participated and it is a pretty good time, but there is another thing that entertains me more than the sledding. With the snow on the hills on campus (not just the one near Breezeway) they become a little more slippery and muddy. I find the most entertaining part of these hills is spotting from a distance as various people, in a hurry for class may lose their footing and partake in some of the most epic wipeouts I have had the privilege of seeing.
In response to coach Childs last post, I have decided to provide you with all my picks for the upcoming season. I’m not trying to be funny for once, I am going to offer my actual picks for this season.
Who will be the big time team on Memorial day: Coach says it’s Virginia, but my pick is John’s Hopkins. It’s Baltimore, they are always set up to succeed by the NCAA in the tournament, and if they can get into M&T Bank stadium in Baltimore, they will have the most ridiculous home field advantage ever. Also Cuse is always in the mix even though I don’t like them.
Who will win the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2010?
Coach thinks it will be Ned Crotty. Fortunately for coach I agree with him. He has switched positions and still made an impact at Duke and I think Duke is going to be another team to watch this Memorial day weekend.
Who will be the surprise team of 2010?
Coach goes with Harvard, Brown, Albany, UMBC, Denver, and PENN. I agree with Harvard as I have seen them play a few times. Denver will be nasty with the new coach. Brown and UMBC both made the tournament and were in the top 20 last year so I won’t call them surprise teams, and I think Brown will drop a bit. But one team I think will exceed expectations by leaps and bounds is Princeton. They have so much talent at every position. I feel like a lot of people think that they won’t do well without Tierney but I think they will do great. Also Dartmouth will turn some heads. I have no legitimate evidence to make this pick, but I like them since they are from New Hampshire…
Coach of the year?
Coaches pick Dom Starsia. I disagree for one reason he has a job where it isn’t that difficult to succeed. All he has to do is tell a recruit where he is from and he can probably get them. They get anyone they want almost. The coach of the year as coach talked about earlier is John Tillman. He took over a team that went 5-7 and turned them into a 8-5 top 20 team with his first recruiting class (something Coach Childs will do this year no doubt). He has built this program from a punching bag team to a team that will take the IVY league over Cornell, Princeton and Brown this year.
One category coach forgot: drop off team of the year?
I pick Cornell, after pretty much winning the national championship and then letting Syracuse lift the trophy, I think they have lost too much as 6 of their top 8 point getters are gone. I also think that Notre Dame who went undefeated last year will get rocked in the newly formed Big East conference. Notre Dame beat such powerhouses as Dartmouth (not this year!), Vermont and Quinnipiac (twice) and beat only North Carolina as impressive wins. This year they have to go through Cuse, Georgetown, Rutgers, and St. John’s.
Now to the most important part of my blog…birthday wishes: Happy birthday to: Chris Hannon, Nate Trunfio, Chris Franklin, Lebron James, and Tiger Woods (come on, he may be a weirdo off field but he is a nasty golfer).
I have two you tube clips for you to get excited for the upcoming Vancouver Olympic games:
First the resurgence of United States hockey (sorry Rivest):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K06XI-vuOpE&feature=related
Also, the US bobsled team is getting ready to do some damage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFZvRpH9a9I
Respect
Filed under: Uncategorized
Hello to all my loyal followers. I apologize that I haven’t written in a while but when you hear my reasoning not only will you be understanding, but you will realize this was the best possible situation for all parties involved. First off, I stopped writing right before the holiday season because I feel like the holidays are for families to reconnect and spend some quality time together. So I stopped writing because if there was a new blog up, the whole family would be sitting at their computers reading, laughing, crying, and possibly getting really worked up about what I had written. The second reason is the main reason I haven’t written one. At the end of every blog I usually give a video and a birthday shout out for someone in the Eastern Lacrosse community, or a celebrity that I deem cool enough to get a birthday shout out. In the last few months, I haven’t heard about any such birthdays. If your birthday did fall in this time period I’m not saying you aren’t cool enough to get a shout out, it’s just that I was unaware of your birthday. So really it is everyone else’s fault for no blogs being written lately. So now, I can sit here in my new blue snuggie, and jot down a few thoughts that will hopefully get you through the continuation of life after vacation.
Due to the extensive news coverage on CNN and ESPN, you all know by now that I was in attendance at Eastern’s winter graduation. Not only was I in attendance, I actually received a little fold that is supposed to have a diploma in it eventually. I was very excited to receive that folder since it has cost me tens of thousands of dollars over four years. Graduation was okay, the highlight was definitely Dr. Frederick Boehlke falling asleep within the first five minutes of the ceremony. For those who don’t know Boehlke, he is around 87 years old (literally) and the cutest little old man in the world, he resembles the cartoon. Magoo very closely. (http://www.zacharybass.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mrmagoo.jpg). I can’t blame him, he has had to sit through too many of these and I was at my only one and I was almost asleep. The worst part was at the end when I was sitting at the end of the row of chairs as all the professors walked by. This was cool since I got to see a few professors that I am going to miss, but I also had to see some of the professors I went to war with over the half decade I spent at Eastern. A few offered congrats and I gave the most pathetic attempt at sincerity and thanked them.
I know you have all been trying to get in contact with me to see how my winter vacation went and all the great stuff I got and all the silly and immature antics I partook in. In all honesty I did next to nothing for the past few weeks, just sitting around and getting fat has been my only activities since I graduated. One thing I did get to do is go to the wedding of a former players brother. And I also got to spend a lot of time with some of my favorite people in the world. No I’m not talking about my family (they are by far my favorites), but I also got to spend time with the Jersey Shore cast and cast of Keeping up with the Kardashians. If you haven’t seen these shows, stop reading immediately and get to a tv to watch these.
That being said, school starts Monday, and for the first time in a while I will not be there (well, I may be there because I don’t want everyone to miss me too much). If you would like to know about how I feel about the first week of a semester you can refer back to an earlier blog “Sharbs starts his victory lap.” But spring semester has a few things that fall doesn’t have. The first signs that it is officially spring semester is when the soccer goals are removed from the field and the lacrosse goals are allowed to stay there, there are a few new faces because of the transfers who have come from around the country to Eastern, and everyone is sporting their new clothes that Santa game them.
But the best part of spring semester at Eastern comes with the small amount of snow that accumulates over the month of December. As a New Englander, the snow in this area is very minor and it doesn’t cause me for too much excitement. One reason people enjoy the snow is so they can go sledding/snowboarding on the hill next to Breezeway, I have participated and it is a pretty good time, but there is another thing that entertains me more than the sledding. With the snow on the hills on campus (not just the one near Breezeway) they become a little more slippery and muddy. I find the most entertaining part of these hills is spotting from a distance as various people, in a hurry for class may lose their footing and partake in some of the most epic wipeouts I have had the privilege of seeing.
In response to coach Childs last post, I have decided to provide you with all my picks for the upcoming season. I’m not trying to be funny for once, I am going to offer my actual picks for this season.
Who will be the big time team on Memorial day: Coach says it’s Virginia, but my pick is John’s Hopkins. It’s Baltimore, they are always set up to succeed by the NCAA in the tournament, and if they can get into M&T Bank stadium in Baltimore, they will have the most ridiculous home field advantage ever. Also Cuse is always in the mix even though I don’t like them.
Who will win the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2010?
Coach thinks it will be Ned Crotty. Fortunately for coach I agree with him. He has switched positions and still made an impact at Duke and I think Duke is going to be another team to watch this Memorial day weekend.
Who will be the surprise team of 2010?
Coach goes with Harvard, Brown, Albany, UMBC, Denver, and PENN. I agree with Harvard as I have seen them play a few times. Denver will be nasty with the new coach. Brown and UMBC both made the tournament and were in the top 20 last year so I won’t call them surprise teams, and I think Brown will drop a bit. But one team I think will exceed expectations by leaps and bounds is Princeton. They have so much talent at every position. I feel like a lot of people think that they won’t do well without Tierney but I think they will do great. Also Dartmouth will turn some heads. I have no legitimate evidence to make this pick, but I like them since they are from New Hampshire…
Coach of the year?
Coaches pick Dom Starsia. I disagree for one reason he has a job where it isn’t that difficult to succeed. All he has to do is tell a recruit where he is from and he can probably get them. They get anyone they want almost. The coach of the year as coach talked about earlier is John Tillman. He took over a team that went 5-7 and turned them into a 8-5 top 20 team with his first recruiting class (something Coach Childs will do this year no doubt). He has built this program from a punching bag team to a team that will take the IVY league over Cornell, Princeton and Brown this year.
One category coach forgot: drop off team of the year?
I pick Cornell, after pretty much winning the national championship and then letting Syracuse lift the trophy, I think they have lost too much as 6 of their top 8 point getters are gone. I also think that Notre Dame who went undefeated last year will get rocked in the newly formed Big East conference. Notre Dame beat such powerhouses as Dartmouth (not this year!), Vermont and Quinnipiac (twice) and beat only North Carolina as impressive wins. This year they have to go through Cuse, Georgetown, Rutgers, and St. John’s.
Filed under: Uncategorized
It is the start of a New Year and with it a start of a new lacrosse season. Personally, I have been waiting for this season to get going since the last ended back in May. Being that I am a Division III coach, I thought I would blog from a fan standpoint and bring up some thoughts pertaining to Division I lacrosse.
College lacrosse is growing in popularity quicker than the Avatar hype. There are more games nationally televised each year and the rosters of the top teams in the nation are more diverse than ever. There are top players from every team in the country from all over the country. We now have multiple games a year in NFL stadiums and this year the Final Four has pushed back their start times in order to make it even more of an event. With that being said Lacrosse is big time!
So who will the big time team be on Memorial Day?
I am going with Virginia. This was a hard pick to make. It came down to UVA , North Carolina, and Duke for me and after looking at the rosters and the new recruits, I felt like UNC was still one year away. With that being said, the Tar Heels will make an appearance in Baltimore on Memorial Day weekend and Billy Bitter will most likely be a repeat as a first team All-American. Now for the Blue Devils, Duke will be a top team and will score goals like crazy this year. Ned Crotty and Max Quinzani will be one of the top duos in lacrosse this spring. Look for huge numbers from Duke this season. When it was all said and done I jumped on the Bratton brothers’ bandwagon. Both of the Brattons had great years last year and are primed and ready to take UVA to the National Championship game. Despite losing Garrett Billings and Danny Glading, the Whaoos will have no problem scoring goals from their attack. Steele Stanwick is back and playing the position he is most comfortable with and whoever fills the other two spots you bet can score off of the attention the Brattons will get. If the Cavaliers can win Face offs they will win a lot of games and are my pick to be crowned champions in the end.
Who will win the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2010?
This award usually goes to the guy that is Mr. Everything for their team. Insert Max Seibald and Paul Rabil here. With this in mind, my pick is Ned Crotty from Duke. No matter how hard you try to stop him you can’t. He can score, he can feed, he can ride, he can do it all and this do it all attackmen will get the votes for this most prestigious award. Crotty is not a shoe in by any means. I think that Billy Bitter’s and Shamel Bratton’s highlight real goals will get them a lot of attention. Cody Jamieson from Syracuse will be in the mix. Despite that fact that we have only seen him in five games, the fact that Desko gave him the number 22 tells me a lot.
Who will the surprise team be in 2010?
Harvard! Harvard has been getting recruits like crazy and John Tillman’s reputation as a great recruiter has been proven. So why shouldn’t I buy in to the reputation that he can coach too? Harvard has a lot of young talent and as the Ivy League improves from top to bottom, Harvard becomes increasingly prepared for games in early May. I am not sure if you can consider Georgetown as a surprise team, but I think that this could be the year where Georgetown gets back into the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas are now in the Big East and will have a tough conference schedule that may mean some early losses but down the stretch their talent at Midfield will produce. Other teams that come to mind as sleeper picks are Brown, Albany, UMBC, Denver, and PENN.
Coach of the Year Pick?
I think that the Coach of the Year award should go to the best coach that year. I say that only to contradict myself immediately. I am going to pick Dom Starsia. This goes along with my pick for the National Championship team. Coach Starsia has been doing it for years now. He always lands the top recruits and he always has his team in the hunt for the National Championship. It seems like this award goes to the up and coming coach a lot and I think this year the award will go to the guy that not only wins it all in 2010 but who has been winning for years. Potential winners could include, John Tillman, Joe Breschi, Lars Tiffany, and Bill Tierney.
So there you have it. My very unprofessional un-investigated look at what the stories will be in 2010. I hope that there are some feel good stories this spring that you can’t possibly forecast but most of all I hope for further growth in this great game and a new level of national recognition for the best game on earth!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Looking back at a great Thanksgiving and moving into the first week of advent I wanted to make a list of things that I am thankful for……..
My Wife Duke vs Carolina Dr. Pepper
PTI Knight, Whitely and Watson My Family
The Best Friends HD TV Mike and Mike
The Baltimore Ravens Shane Claiborne College Athletics
Rain on our Wedding Day April 2003 Joe Flacco
McDonald’s Dollar Menu Mike Santello And of Course Jesus!!
Have a great Holiday Season and enjoy every second of it!
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
I just wanted to direct each of you to Eastern Lacrosse’s latest story. We got a tough 2010 schedule and 2 great captains.
http://www.goeasterneagles.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=19&Itemid=19
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
http://www.goeasterneagles.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1519&Itemid=19
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Last Monday I lost my Grandmother. Bernadine Janiski passed away and she is so happy today. In preparing for this day, I came across a story that stems from Malachi in the Old Testament.
Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”
This verse puzzled many people in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women in the bible study offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; As a side note, does it get any hotter than in the back of Busi’s tuck? Then she thought again about the verse that says:
“He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”
She then asked the silversmith if it was true that, he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”
He smiled at her and answered,
Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.”
As long as I can remember God has held my Grandmother in the hottest part of the flames just like that silversmith.
On Monday morning after 78 years of being held by God in his flames, God saw his own image in my Grandmother and it was time to pull her out of the flames.
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Get Tough!
Fall break is always a welcomed break. The guys are tired after weeks of grueling practices and the academic load begins to really heat up. At Lynchburg College the lacrosse workouts include the “tire workout”. I will spare you all the details of this workout but I can tell you that back in 2004 no words would leave my mouth during a tire workout. I was way too tired to talk! This fall it was common to hear the words “Get Tough” echoing across college lake.
“Get Tough” was something that Junior Ryan Beale would scream during every tire workout motivating his teammates to push through it and work harder. “Get Tough” is something that Ryan Beale will have to ask himself every morning he wakes up. Just three weeks ago during Lynchburg’s fall break Ryan was involved in a serious car accident that has left Ryan paralyzed from the waist down. The last three weeks have been a whirled wind for Ryan and his family I am sure. Last week Ryan was moved down to Atlanta to be placed in one of the best facilities in the country and is showing signs of progress.
My guess is that the first three weeks have flown by and dare I say have been easier on Ryan and his family than the weeks to come will be. I hope and pray that God will give this family strength. More so, I pray that God will make himself so abundantly clear during this time and speak loud and clear to Ryan and his supporters. So many times in life God gives us opportunities to be faithful and declare him as our strength and source to overcome anything. The Beale family will get through this tragedy and they will do it relying on God and they will do it with the support of the greatest community I have ever been involved in!
There are few things I hold closer to my heart than Lynchburg Lacrosse. Simply put, it was the best experience I could have had in a college. Nothing could have gotten better. My time in central Virginia made me a better person and taught me so much. There were so many life lessons that I discovered in those halls or on that field that have shaped who I am today. The greatest of these lessons is perhaps the loyalty we have for each other. There is just nothing like it. We got each other’s back!
What Ryan Beale is going through right now is a nightmare. It is something that no one deserves and no one should be expected to bounce back from. However, I know that Ryan will bounce back. I don’t care what any doctor says and what any diagnosis or test reveals, I believe that through God all things are possible and that with God and his support group Ryan will bounce back quicker than anyone would expect.
I am so thankful that as I visit Ryan Beale’s website (see below) I read so many messages of love and encouragement. It gives me goose bumps to read those that include God’s word and his wonderfully crafted scripture verses. I am very vocal about my teammates and the Lynchburg Lacrosse community and how much I love them. Most of the time I can’t quite put my feelings into words when in comes to Lynchburg Lacrosse. After visiting this website it speaks for itself. The Lynchburg community is one that is built with character, integrity, and care. I am so proud to be a member of that community and to call Ryan Beale a brother.
I ask that each of you will put Ryan in your prayers and ask God to boldly use Ryan to speak to those around him. Ask God to use this tragedy to bring us closer as his children and closer to him as our father. And ask God to use this community to rally around such a terrific kid.
I know that when January rolls around and practice starts for the Lynchburg Lacrosse team the “tire workout” won’t be any easier but those tire workouts will be a lot louder. Get Tough!
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ryanbeale
Ryan Beale’s guestbook is a constant source of motivation for Ryan and his family. I would encourage you to take a look and contribute some words to Ryan and his family.
Filed under: Coach Childs' Corner
Over the last year I have prayed a lot for my brother. It can’t be easy raising two kids under the age of three and coaching 35 kids between the ages of 18-22 at the same time. His mood is totally dependent on a bunch of kids!
He was also living in Clinton, South Carolina an eight-hour drive from his family and a four hour drive from his in-laws. He and his wife were under a lot of stress. So I figured prayer was all I could do to help.
It is amazing how God can answer prayers! However, I have found that he only does so when he sees it fit in his timing. Duke (nickname from the day he was born) applied to become the new coach at the newest Division 1 lacrosse program in early July. Mercer University in Macon, GA. added men’s lacrosse shortly after the 2009 academic year. Just after that Duke threw his name in the hat. This was the ultimate opportunity for HIS FAMILY! I think too many times in the coaching world coaches put their program and their guys ahead of their family. For Duke, Mercer was a FAMILY DECISION.
If he landed the job, he would be an hour from his in-laws and now a cheaper flight from his family. The Mercer job would open so many doors for him and re-connect him with friends and family that he made when he first moved to the south in 2001.
Without going into too many details this job was the “perfect fit” for not only him and his dreams as a lacrosse coach but for his family and their dreams too.
So, July passed and only a 2 and a half hour meeting was all that had developed. August passed and he had heard nothing. Duke was in limbo and in a time of waiting! The more and more time went on the more and more it looked as though Mercer was going in a different direction. On September 1st Duke got a call and heard God’s calling all at once.
Accepting the job at Mercer was a no brainer. He knew he had to go. However, having to say goodbye to a team full of loyal followers is hard! Duke, is an emotional guy and I highly doubt he kept a dry eye. But, just as the same as we relied on God to open this door we relied on God to be with his former players.
Saying goodbye is my least favorite thing to do in life. I hate it! I can only imagine the pain and sadness Duke must have felt. He had taken Presbyterian College from a club program to a division 2 program then to a division 1 program. It had to be hard.
Despite the heartache and the sadness, Duke did what was best for his family and walked boldly through the door that God opened for him. So praises be to God and thanks so much for this opportunity for Duke and his new family!
I cannot wait to see what Mercer University Lacrosse will do in the years to come. At 6:31 pm on October 20th Duke had seven kids committed to play next spring at Mercer. I list the time because I know by the time I hit submit on this post, he will have another top recruit sign on the dotted line!
http://www.mercerbears.com/news/2009/9/8/GEN_0908093721.aspx
