I'm still here. I'm just no longer coaching for Pitt. Perhaps someday I'll be able to write about what's happened over the last 5 months. Many here in Pittsburgh know parts of the story, but I've kept the whole thing private. I think that I'll have to sell the movie rights to it.
Anyway, there's been a story going on here in Pittsburgh that I would like to discuss. I'm sure that anyone who watched Sportscenter is aware of the shooting of Duquesne's basketball team. The reports now point toward the usual insanity that occurs when guns are involved.
However, I'm taking this opportunity to point to these two articles. Take the time to read.
Notice anything here? A group of young men, from all over the globe, together for a sport. They've only known each other for a few weeks. They haven't even started the season. Out together, spending time with each other, they are attacked after a juvenile confrontation over somebody's girlfriend talking to them. ("You'd better not be talking to my girl" or some such like that. Please. Like women in today's society don't have the right to talk to whomever they please.)
They had turned away from the confrontation. They were leaving. They had done the right thing. And then they were shot. Senseless, insane, tragic are the words that immediately come to mind.
What I find so important, so central to the theme of this horrid chain of events is the response of these teammates. They ran towards the gunfire to pull their brothers clear. They stayed at the scene to tend to others. They gathered at the hospitals, they closed ranks with each other and together with their coaches, they are a family.
That's "team". That is what sport is supposed to bring to everyone who competes at any level. What happens at the competition is secondary. What happens off the court, field or boat, the relationships built between teammates is central to sport. "I've got your back. No matter what. No matter when. No matter why. Tomorrow, next week or ten years from now." That's "team".
Categories: Teamwork, Personal
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