Playoff Surprise!

Last night, Coach and I were relaxing watching a little T.V. when suddenly at 10:00 the doorbell rang. He quickly got up, mumbling something like, '...who in the world could that be at this hour?" He opened the door and much to his surprise stood the four team captains, A'mon Pimpton, Blake Spears, Brandon Henderson and Will Ford! He brightened up and said, " Hey! What are you guys doing?" Sincerely they spoke, each saying in their own words, ' Coach, we just wanted to come over here tonight and tell you that we've got your back'! ...and you can count on us. We're going to win this game!' Coach was touched. He was patted them on the back, saying "thanks guys that was really nice of you!... and y'all come on in the house!". When suddenly there appeared 40-45 young men saying, "..me too, Coach!", "You can count on me, too!" etc.


It would be hard for me to explain how deeply my husband was touched by this gesture. As our front yard filled up with young men, he simply stood there. Holding back emotion, looking at their faces, and trying to find the words to express what his heart felt. When words were not found he simply said, "Wow! What a surprise! You guys really got me. For the first time ever, I'm speechless. I have no idea what to say!" Everyone kind of laughed for a man of few words he is not. Then quietly he said, "You guys are really special! You don't know how much this means to me. I love every one of you."

He stepped off the porch and began to hug some of the guys when someone, maybe A'mon , said



'Break us out, Coach! Others agreed and without hesitation my husband walked into the center of what quickly became a large, tight huddle. In total silence, with fists in the air, they waited for him to speak. Then, in a loud but muffled voice I heard him say, " Where we go one," and the team in immediate response shouted in precise unision, " We go all!


The crowd began to disperse. We didn't want them to leave. We wanted them to stay! We wanted everyone to come in and hang out for a while (but where would everyone fit?). We needed to say 'thank you' and somehow express our gratitude but in the end words came up short. We walked them down the sidewalk hugging along the way, to the street corner where I attempted to take a group picture.

Then they left us,



akwardly standing there, on a lawn full on love.



An hour later, while dabbing his eyes, he said, "As a coach, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me!"