There are profound moments in life that make a difference for your entire life and in particular make you or me the way we are. One of those moments happened to me and as I look back I think it explains a lot of how I try to treat other people. The event may mean very little to a guy named Ricky Cottle but it meant the world to me .
When I was in the 8th grade and in dear old Shidler High I was the new guy and I was also one of the biggest guys in the class outside of Frank Ball and Tim Davis. Between the three of us we had to be the biggest linemen on an 8th grade football team in the state of Oklahoma. I don't know how big those two were but I was always pitted against them when it came time for those drills where you line up across from each other and charge forward. Frank was the fastest and Tim was the toughest and I was just trying to get along with everyone because I was new and did not know any of the guys. Plus I did not want to get killed as they knew what they were doing. Well I was about 205 lbs. and 6' 2" (about the same size as when I graduated in 1971). The bad thing about being new and big is lots of folks wanted to test you. I had never been in a real fight and I was especially annoyed about the number of folks wanting to see how tough I was. Mostly I was just afraid of getting in a fight because I never knew how to fight. I also have to tell you there were two guys who I really learned to like but when I first got to Shidler they did their best to get me in a fight. They were Joe Center and Pee Wee Robinson who were the two smallest guys in the class but they were fast and great at basketball. I figured if I fought either of them and beat them up everyone would be mad and if I lost I would look like some sissy. So in my mind I lost no matter what.
OK, back to Ricky (I know most call him Rick). Well we were in the old gymnasium during a high school basketball game and one of the upper class guys was bullying me around and trying to get me to fight and Rick was sitting next to me. So what happened was Rick told the guy to leave me alone or he could just have a fight with Rick. And that is precisely what happened. Rick went outside and punched the guy a few times until he put his tail between his legs and said he had enough. A couple of things happened inside me because of that. Number one Rick became one of the best guys in my mind that ever came out of Shidler. Rick did the right thing because he could see I was intimidated by this guy. Since that experience I have always tried to be especially kind to folks that were new or not as popular as the other folks or maybe not as pretty or handsome as they would like to be or maybe just a little awkward or different. Rick actually made me feel important and more worthy and not an outsider. As Clint Eastwood would say, "..make my day", Rick made MY DAY. Here is a picture of a hero in my book:
Now he may not look like much, just kidding, but Rick had character and he stepped up for the little guy, me. Actually Rick was probably about 135 lbs. when this happened but he was scrappy.
When I was in the 8th grade and in dear old Shidler High I was the new guy and I was also one of the biggest guys in the class outside of Frank Ball and Tim Davis. Between the three of us we had to be the biggest linemen on an 8th grade football team in the state of Oklahoma. I don't know how big those two were but I was always pitted against them when it came time for those drills where you line up across from each other and charge forward. Frank was the fastest and Tim was the toughest and I was just trying to get along with everyone because I was new and did not know any of the guys. Plus I did not want to get killed as they knew what they were doing. Well I was about 205 lbs. and 6' 2" (about the same size as when I graduated in 1971). The bad thing about being new and big is lots of folks wanted to test you. I had never been in a real fight and I was especially annoyed about the number of folks wanting to see how tough I was. Mostly I was just afraid of getting in a fight because I never knew how to fight. I also have to tell you there were two guys who I really learned to like but when I first got to Shidler they did their best to get me in a fight. They were Joe Center and Pee Wee Robinson who were the two smallest guys in the class but they were fast and great at basketball. I figured if I fought either of them and beat them up everyone would be mad and if I lost I would look like some sissy. So in my mind I lost no matter what.
OK, back to Ricky (I know most call him Rick). Well we were in the old gymnasium during a high school basketball game and one of the upper class guys was bullying me around and trying to get me to fight and Rick was sitting next to me. So what happened was Rick told the guy to leave me alone or he could just have a fight with Rick. And that is precisely what happened. Rick went outside and punched the guy a few times until he put his tail between his legs and said he had enough. A couple of things happened inside me because of that. Number one Rick became one of the best guys in my mind that ever came out of Shidler. Rick did the right thing because he could see I was intimidated by this guy. Since that experience I have always tried to be especially kind to folks that were new or not as popular as the other folks or maybe not as pretty or handsome as they would like to be or maybe just a little awkward or different. Rick actually made me feel important and more worthy and not an outsider. As Clint Eastwood would say, "..make my day", Rick made MY DAY. Here is a picture of a hero in my book:
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| Rick Cottle |
Now one of my favorite stories about Rick was when we were freshmen and Coach Smith was our basketball coach. Rick could have his back to the goal and jump high in the air turn around and shoot and then make a goal. Coach Smith was not quit as impressed as I was so he got all over Rick. Rick responded, "why not? if I can make the shot". Well you know how it goes, Coach Smith was ticked off and told Rick if he could do it three in a row he could do it in a game. Rick just smiled his big teeth smile and proceeded to shoot three in a row. It was great seeing Rick being a little cocky and challenging the coach but it was also great seeing a coach who could handle a situation. Coach Smith did the right thing as well. He gave Rick a chance to prove him wrong and then was humble enough to allow the "proof to be in the pudding". Good character on Coach Smith's part in my opinion.
Well I better let you go but Rick was and I am sure still is one of the best. I was proud to know him and grow up with him.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
- Pretty obvious, do the right thing
- Stand up for the odd guy out
- Be kind and thoughtful
- You never know how a small act of kindness can make such a big difference
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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