When I think back on the impact that this sport has had... not only on me personally, but on multiple generations of boys and young men throughout the course of our American story, it's difficult not to think of just how much blood and sweat and tears has been absorbed by countless game and practice fields across our great landscape. For so many there must be thoughts of glory days that they are left with as memories, that which was and that which almost was....perhaps even much moreso they recall the lessons of life that were learned....that this world can be incredibly harsh and frequently unfair, that you're going to get knocked around from time to time, and that you've got to figure out a way to pick yourself up and somehow go on....that pain and sacrifice can instill and cement character and in so doing you quite possibly find yourself and find yourself prepared to face the world and your own life as a well developed individual with an incredible sense of self and self-worth. I shall forever be indebted to my Little League football coach. Coach "Mac" McCluskey didn't just prepare us to play football games on Saturday's during the fall...he was preparing us to face the world. He was a wonderful male role model and I thank him for so many fine lessons...so many quotes that still ring true to my ears as I ponder those days that are now long gone. Perhaps the most memorable of his lessons is this, "You know there are days that I have unbelievable pain. My back just kills me. I unload trucks for a living and there are times when I don't want to get up and go back to that dock because my back just doesn't seem to want to let me. Odds are your parents have some kind of pain too that they find overwhelming.... yet day after day they still get up, they still go to work, they figure out how to get there and get it done...to get those bills paid and try to give you a good home, a good upbringing, a good education....even though they don't want to be there and find their circumstance seemingly unbearable...the miracle is that they make it all happen....somehow....and that's what this game is all about...it's about learning to play the game with pain." Little did I know then just how prophetic those words would be. He was a great coach and a great mentor....I'll never forget him. Thank you Coach Mac.
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