As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate the rules. I don’t mind that there are cameras everywhere catching everything that I do. I don’t do too many stupid things, so film away.
When I was young I didn’t play by the rules. I wasn’t cautious and I didn’t care if I got caught. I was just a stupid kid.
“When you go out that front door there isn’t anything special about you
… people don’t care who you are… you’re nothing special!”
That was the phrase I heard whenever I gave my dad attitude. My Oldman didn’t put up with my shit and that straightened me out.
In 1990 a young kid was playing for the New York Yankees. The White Sox were in New York and Carlton Fisk was the Chicago catcher. Fisk was well into his forties and was a grizzled veteran when the two teams met.
The rookie didn’t respect Fisk or the untold rules of professional baseball. Fisk hated the Bronx Bombers, but respected what those pinstripes symbolized. This flashy batter didn’t and they ended up clashing.
The seasoned veteran and the cocky rookie. The juvenile thrived on the attention and rightfully so …. the spotlight was always on him. He was a member of a small club of men that played both professional baseball and football.
Thirty three later and the former (so called) punk is still in the spotlight. Over the weekend he won his first game coaching the University of Colorado football team.
The coach is now in his mid fifties and he could be retired living off of his fortune. Instead he has taken the role as a coach, but more a mentor to the young men that play for him.
The cocky punk that pissed off Carlton Fisk has brought a Foundation built on Faith, Family and Friends. He teaches the fundamentals of football, but he is also grooming his players to be good men.
This is a great example of how some men can leave their childish behavior and develop strong character.
I’ll find more people who despise Deion Sanders, but I respect him and love the atmosphere he brings as a father figure to his team.
If I had a Mount Rushmore of coaches who I respect, I’d put Coach “Prime Time” up there with Wayne Woodrow Hayes, Robert Montgomery Knight and James David “Buddy” Ryan.
Life plays a funny way of turning cockiness into confidence. I’m sure glad I lost my childish ways before cell phones and ring cameras.
I might not have pissed off Carlton Fisk at home plate in Yankee Stadium, but I did my share of pissing people off.
Like the great Stanley Kirk Burrell often said back in the day,
“Too legit... Too legit to quit!”
