Sitting at a svelte 265 pounds and 5’10” tall, it was pretty obvious I wasn’t an athlete in high school.
The most exercise I got was lugging my 60 pound duffel bag around the school every day because I didn’t want to use my locker. The bag had all my textbooks, notebooks, any ongoing projects, Disc Man and CD folder, sometimes lunch and more.
As a kid who wore all dark clothes (because surely that would hide my weight), leather jackets in the fall/winter and carried around that behemoth at school, it’s a wonder that I wasn’t subject to routine security checks!
I had friends who were athletes and coaches occasionally asked about me being a blocker in football, but I broke my ankle playing dodgeball so I didn’t think I had the coordination to really be useful.
It wasn’t until I started working here and covering sports that I really ‘got it’ about sports.
As a teenager, I saw the amount of time that my friends spent practicing and wondered what could possibly be worth that investment.
I saw friends come to school in braces or on crutches and wondered why they did that to themselves.
As a man in my late thirties, I get to see the sacrifice and benefits of team sports from the students who devote tons of extra time and effort and from their parents, many of whom I’ve known for years and possibly decades.
There are bonds forged during fierce battles on the court, field or diamond that I never understood.
Talking to coaches about triumphs and defeats help me understand all of this so much better.
I got to witness a stunning win last Wednesday when the Dublin Lions claimed the Area Championship. Then, I witnessed a tough defeat at the Regional Quarterfinals two days later.
The scores were different but the effort put in by our basketball boys looked the same on both nights. Our Lions were 12 down in the final three minutes at Area and came from behind to score the win with less than two seconds on the clock.
Peaster secured a heavy lead in the first period Friday but our guys never gave up, scoring baskets throughout the game and fighting for rebounds to try to close the gap.
I know that each member of that team has learned valuable lessons about staying strong and working together in the face of adversity.
Likewise, our Lingleville teams who both have claimed Area Championship titles have shown growth together throughout the season.
These are lessons and relationships I missed because I thought I wanted my free time more.
Im proud of all of our local athletes and coaches in every win and loss for not giving up on themselves or each other.
Paul Gaudette is the managing editor at the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at 445-2515 and publisher@dublincitizen.com.