One of the methods I have used to capture
memories, to gather details, and to learn is to journal. For several seasons,
in years past, I would journal all my interactions with a team, and at the end
of the season I’d print the journal and give it to the head coach for his
review.
People will occasionally ask me, “What is a
typical weekend like for you?” For the purposes of this week’s note, I decided
to journal this past week’s experience with Saluki Football as we traveled to
play the University of Memphis in Tennessee. The journal of those days follows.
I hope it is some value to you.
I attended practices on Wednesday and Thursday
afternoons, speaking with coaches and players while observing the drills.
Friday – The
usual Friday walk through was at 8:45 this morning and it was followed by
breakfast at 10:00. The three buses of players, coaches, and athletic trainers
departed at 11:00. A couple of hours down the road, we stopped at a truck stop
in the Missouri boot heel for sandwiches and Gatorade. As we rode the bus, I
read a book, wrote some tweets, did some thinking, and did some more reading.
As we crossed the Mississippi River bridge we picked up a police escort with
seven motorcycles and two cars. They led our buses to weave around and through
city traffic on the way to the stadium. We arrived at the Liberty Bowl and did
a simple walk around to see the field, the locker room, and other facilities we
would need for tomorrow’s game. We bumped into four former Saluki Football
players from around 10 years ago and had a great chat with each.
We re-boarded the buses for the trip to our
hotel. We arrived at the Hilton Memphis, picked up our key cards and I went to
my room. I took some time to relax until it was time for the 5:00 dinner. I
reminded some players to remove their caps and asked them to lower the volume
of their voices. The head coach asked me to bless dinner and I prayed. We
enjoyed the team dinner as I sat with our director of football operations,
strength coaches, a graduate assistant, the cornerbacks coach, and the head
coach. The dinner was followed by a team meeting at 5:45, and position group
meetings followed that. I returned to my room to relax and went to bed early.
Saturday – I was
up at 5:30, made coffee in the room, sent text messages and tweets as I do each
morning from the Proverbs, from Heart of a Champion, and from Corazon
de un Campeo’n. I checked on some Southern Illinois high school football
scores, and went to the coffee shop for better coffee. At 8:00 another former
player and a former coach texted us that they were in the lobby. I talked with
Jason Emert and his wife, and with Coach Larry Warner for a while. I went to
the 9:00 staff meeting where they analyzed last night’s agenda and timing. The
coaches see opportunities for us to make plays against a very good Memphis team
tonight. They discussed ways to protect our players from today’s heat and
potential fatigue by going to the field a little later in the day. After the
meeting wrapped up, I walked across the hall for breakfast, scheduled for 9:30.
Fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, turkey bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and spaghetti
with meat sauce were on the buffet. During breakfast I chatted with a couple of
coaches and Alicia Hill, the head coach’s wife.
After breakfast, I returned to my room to
prepare for the day. I was shaved, showered, and dressed way too early. I did
some reading and watched some early college football. I finalized my plans for
this afternoon’s chapel and gathered all my gear. At around 1:30 I checked out
of my room and went to the banquet room to prepare for chapel. I laid out the
chapel handouts on each table at each place setting.
At around 2:30 my three invited guests arrived
for chapel and I introduced them to the coaches. John Goode, Mark Gagliano, and
Brodie Gruver were each former football players at SIU and are now dear
friends. After special team reminders from four different assistant coaches
were completed, Coach Hill addressed the team, clarifying our goal for the day –
Win the game. After he finished, he gave me the floor and I launched into the
chapel.
o Introductory
thoughts on this theme – “Be a Man – A Man Loves Deeply.”
o I
introduced Brodie Gruver for the opening prayer. He is a man who loves deeply.
o I then
introduced Mark Gagliano and John Goode, both former Saluki Football players and
both All-Americans. Both are men who love deeply.
o I then
introduced Withney Simon, Saluki Linebacker #42, the young man who was most
often mentioned by his coaches and team captains as a man who loves deeply. I
asked his teammates to tell me when and how they observed Withney to be a man
who loves deeply. We heard several excellent responses from the team.
o I then
asked Withney to return to his seat and I spoke of Jesus being the best
possible example of a man who loves deeply and quoted John 15:13. I spoke of
how Jesus used this language to challenge His teammates, and then demonstrated
His love by dying in their place the following day. I said that sacrifice is
the stuff of loving deeply, and that would be key to today’s contest.
o I
finished the chapel with prayer.
Pregame meal followed chapel and it included
salad, fruit, spaghetti and meat sauce, baked potatoes, and baked chicken
breasts. It was all very well done. After the meal, we had some time to relax.
I went to the bus while the team had some final position reminders. At 4:30 we
were all aboard the buses and we followed our police escort to the Liberty
Bowl. I walked around the field, prayed, chatted with coaches, and then had a
great talk with Braxton Brady. He and I met several years ago at a Champaign,
IL church’s men’s event. Between sessions in that event, we discovered we were
each serving as team chaplains. We have stayed in touch ever since. He has
grown his volunteer chaplain role into a full-time staff position as the player
relations director for Memphis Football. He is serving well and faithfully.
After more waiting, I helped Coach Flyger identify
key players from the opponents. The warm up period continued and I made my way
to the locker room, located the countdown clock inside and helped coaches with time
to kickoff reminders. We called the players together in the locker room at
seven minutes to kickoff, the head coach did a brief talk and then all the
coaches and players knelt and held hands to say the Lord’s prayer. We left the
tunnel for the field at three minutes to kickoff.
We scored on our first possession, and then
prompted Memphis to a three and out on theirs. We led 17 to 14 at the half.
They dominated the third quarter, and a kickoff return for a touchdown after we
had just drawn within three points really hurt us. We competed strongly, right
to the final play of the game, but lost 44-31. Through the game and across the
24 seasons of serving with this program, I have accumulated a number of tasks.
o I am the
“get back coach.” I work to keep the coaches and players in their proper
places, so as to not interfere with the officials’ movements on the sidelines.
o I call
up various special teams units, according to down and distance situations.
o I carry a
bottle of water to coaches, officials, and the chain gang on the sidelines
during timeouts, quarter breaks, etc.
o I carry
and mark changes on a special teams depth chart, and communicate with the
trainers, to help the coaches know who is available for each of those units.
o I keep
the scoreboard game clock on my wrist watch during pregame and half time so as
to keep the coaching staff on time for their responsibilities.
o In
encourage, challenge, pray, shout, jump and down, gesture broadly, and
otherwise serve the coaching staff and team.
After the game, back in the locker room, the
head coach talked of the pain of the loss, but focused on the task ahead, eight
straight weeks of Missouri Valley Football Conference games. We have the
University of Northern Iowa next week at our place. We all knelt to say the
Lord’s Prayer. I spoke to a couple dozen players at their lockers and then went
back to the field to speak to a few friends who were still there. I cut the
tape from one of our captain’s ankles, picked up a box of Chick Fil-A and a
bottle of water for dinner, and ate it on the bus.
We drove away from the Liberty Bowl, again with
a police escort, near 11:30 pm. We arrived in Carbondale just before 3:00 am.
By 3:15, Sharon and I had chased a stowaway cat from our home. After the
feline expulsion, we finally went to bed, hopefully to rest well. Now, four
days later, we are still dealing with the foul odor the cat left for us.