OK, Ill trade
Smokey for Drifter.

I hope you get my point.
That was one of my few attempts
at a serious commentary.
I had my boss tell me yesterday,
(she got all teary eyed, and she's pretty tough, when she told me of their homelife),
that if I expected 2 of my guys to be successful
then it was basically on me,
cuz they have no home support.
It's just the first time
I've really felt the weight.

I remember reading somewhere in a coaches' magazine that we as coaches don't just coach one team, but we actually coach two teams and the community as well. If you let that thought sink in, it's definitely a profound one. It would be tragic if we coaches caused a kid, regardless of another team, to make bad choices later in life because of our actions.

I've been privileged to hear some other coaches in six-man agree on this point. When the coach on the other sideline was just as committed to this philosophy, we had some of the best competitive games I've ever seen on the six-man level. Even when some of those games ended up with our team on the losing side of the scoreboard, everyone walked away knowing they gave their best.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones to believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea . . ."

The thrill of victory is short-lived, but a coach's positive influence can last a lifetime. And that goes for both sidelines.