Growing up in Grainola it is clear from my other stories that I was always a rather large person for my age but luckily a lot of folks caught up with me in high school like Frank Ball, AJ Jacques, Dave Jacques, Jody Price, Julian Codding, and I am sure several more but one time when Coach Gilbreth was at Grainola with one of the Shidler teams he made one of those comments to me that made a big difference.
We were probably in the 6th or 7th grade and he had a Shidler team playing Grainola and I would have to admit we were outmatched. In fact I remember PeeWee Robinson, Steve Chrisco, AJ Jacques, Jim Whitt, Ricky Cottle and more who just ran circles around us to the point it was embarrassing. The only good thing going was that I was about 18 inches taller than all of them and I could bully myself on them and block shots and physically knock them down. Yes they beat us and they always beat us as far as I can remember. Their team was made up of kids in one grade where our team was made up of kids from the 6th, 7th and 8th grade and maybe even the 5th and 4th grade, it was not fair and LIFE IS ALWAYS FAIR, just kidding. Anyway after the game Coach Gilbreth came up to me and told me I should play football for him. I did not know much about football but I knew I liked to compete and I liked to hit folks in sports as it was my best weapon. You see I was never fast enough to out run anyone but I was taller and bigger so I could push folks around like Hugh Allen Jones. The good thin about Hugh is he liked to fight and not in a mean way but he loved the conflict. I guess that is why he became a great United States Marine.
Well that conversation stuck with me. I started thinking I could be good at something and I started watching football on TV and occasionally going to Shidler for a high school football game. One of my fondest early memories was Ronnie West who was like greased lightning as a running back and what seemed like a really nice guy. That is something to think about. Here he did not even know my name but I was four years or five younger than he and I was watching how he acted on the field and off the field. He was my mentor and did not even know it. Somehow we need to let young people know they are mentoring someone even when they do not know it.
Also consider that Coach Gilbreth was a mentor and he made a big difference in my life with just a little bit of encouragement. Also when I went to Shidler and played for him I thoroughly enjoyed how he would always put me up against different people in one-on-one drills and let us go after it. He would just laugh and as I remember there was a coach Bouer (not sure how to spell it) who particularly enjoyed watching us young rascals fight it out in those uniforms. They probably should not have been paid to have so much fun, just kidding. I loved the pep talks where he would challenge us to do our best and push us to run faster and longer than I thought was humanly possible. To be truthful going to football practice was actually a relief from work and I would gain weight each year when football practice started because I was already in shape from the farm work. I would also say that the running all the time is what was hard for me. I could haul hay all day or run a tractor but running was a different sort of pain and suffering. In the end I learned a lot about myself and working as a team.
Well I just have to say thanks to all the coaches and especially Coach Gilbreth for taking a little extra note of a big insecure boy and encouraging him he could be good at something.
So what do you learn in the Osage? This is really a long list but I will keep it short.
Thanks for your time and thanks for all those who quietly and not so quietly mentored me in the Osage,
gary@thepioneerman.com
We were probably in the 6th or 7th grade and he had a Shidler team playing Grainola and I would have to admit we were outmatched. In fact I remember PeeWee Robinson, Steve Chrisco, AJ Jacques, Jim Whitt, Ricky Cottle and more who just ran circles around us to the point it was embarrassing. The only good thing going was that I was about 18 inches taller than all of them and I could bully myself on them and block shots and physically knock them down. Yes they beat us and they always beat us as far as I can remember. Their team was made up of kids in one grade where our team was made up of kids from the 6th, 7th and 8th grade and maybe even the 5th and 4th grade, it was not fair and LIFE IS ALWAYS FAIR, just kidding. Anyway after the game Coach Gilbreth came up to me and told me I should play football for him. I did not know much about football but I knew I liked to compete and I liked to hit folks in sports as it was my best weapon. You see I was never fast enough to out run anyone but I was taller and bigger so I could push folks around like Hugh Allen Jones. The good thin about Hugh is he liked to fight and not in a mean way but he loved the conflict. I guess that is why he became a great United States Marine.
Well that conversation stuck with me. I started thinking I could be good at something and I started watching football on TV and occasionally going to Shidler for a high school football game. One of my fondest early memories was Ronnie West who was like greased lightning as a running back and what seemed like a really nice guy. That is something to think about. Here he did not even know my name but I was four years or five younger than he and I was watching how he acted on the field and off the field. He was my mentor and did not even know it. Somehow we need to let young people know they are mentoring someone even when they do not know it.
Also consider that Coach Gilbreth was a mentor and he made a big difference in my life with just a little bit of encouragement. Also when I went to Shidler and played for him I thoroughly enjoyed how he would always put me up against different people in one-on-one drills and let us go after it. He would just laugh and as I remember there was a coach Bouer (not sure how to spell it) who particularly enjoyed watching us young rascals fight it out in those uniforms. They probably should not have been paid to have so much fun, just kidding. I loved the pep talks where he would challenge us to do our best and push us to run faster and longer than I thought was humanly possible. To be truthful going to football practice was actually a relief from work and I would gain weight each year when football practice started because I was already in shape from the farm work. I would also say that the running all the time is what was hard for me. I could haul hay all day or run a tractor but running was a different sort of pain and suffering. In the end I learned a lot about myself and working as a team.
Well I just have to say thanks to all the coaches and especially Coach Gilbreth for taking a little extra note of a big insecure boy and encouraging him he could be good at something.
So what do you learn in the Osage? This is really a long list but I will keep it short.
- Persevere, you can always do more than you think you can
- Mentoring someone is not a big deal to do but it is a big deal to do for someone
- YOu are always mentoring someone, even if you do not know it, even if you are a bad mentor. If you want your kids and kids friends to grow up to be good citizens take a look in the mirror first.
- Small talk is big talk when a child is listening
Thanks for your time and thanks for all those who quietly and not so quietly mentored me in the Osage,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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