I grew up in NJ and was a Football and Track guy. As a freshman, I broke the county record for freshman in the 400M and took Gold in the 100, 200, & 400 that day. Literally out of nowhere. Something clicked.
Fast forward to winter of the next season (indoor season), things were going great and we made it to the finals of the 4x400 at the State Championships hosted at the time by Princeton U. As many of you know, indoor tracks are generally 200 meters so each leg runs two laps in this event.
I ran with 3 other seniors of whom 2 would go on to earn Div I scholarships. Our team was no joke!
I led off the race. As leg one in the relay, I had to stay in lane for the first lap then all competitors merge in for the remainder of the race. The good news is, we won breaking a long standing Group III / school record. The bad news is, I cut in too soon and our team got disqualified.
Three seniors and their last hurrah deleted because of me! The whole bus ride home, no one spoke a single word to me. Not even my coach.
The next day at practice, one of them, during warmups, elbowed me in my back HARD. "Don't ever do that shit again MFer!"
I was sick. I went home sulking and had a talk with my dad. I told him, "I'm thinking about quitting."
My dad was a very mellow guy and didn't push me to do sports. But, he loved it and came to all my games/events. But when I told him I wanted to quit track, he got as visibly disappointed as I've ever seen him.
He said, "NO FUCKING WAY. Son, if you don't want to run next season, that's fine. But you started this season, and you will finish the season."
I was so pissed. But I went back. And soon after States, we started the outdoor season. A few months later, we went on to win Outdoor State Championship as a team, 3 individual golds (not me), and we won the 4x400 of which I was privileged to take part in. The closeness of that team after we won has remained with us decades later. I wouldn't have been a part of that if my dad had let me quit like many parents do. "Do what you want son" would've been the worst thing to happen to me.
That moment made me a better teammate, leader, entrepreneur, and man moving forward in life.
All that to say, THANK YOU DAD FOR NOT RAISING A COWARD AND A QUITTER. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY IN HEAVEN
God Bless you and your family. What a great story.
I wish every new father could read this!
That’s a great father day story. Good bless from Sweden
It's always sunny in Stockholm. Vi köttar på. God Bless!
What a beautiful story, and in sharing it with us, one of the loveliest tributes to your father. Thank you.
Sports can teach us some great life lessons.
All athletes eventually learn that you WILL take some losses along the way, and you have no choice but to get back up and fight.
Very similar to how life works.
Hopefully his teammates also learned to be less salty. Their behavior, like elbowing him, was inappropriate.
That’s a part of life. I never resented them for it. I reject the notion that we should shelter our children from everything. Raise them in protected environments.
Yo DCsucks, your story I was meant to read man.. I did the exact same thing as you but as a senior. Our 4x400 team was best in state, we won our race running a 3:23, fastest in our school history but was dqed bc I ran second leg and cut in before the cones supposedly, which the rule was 2-3 consecutive steps and I only did 1 but whatever. It sucked man, had the same feelings you did. We won by 50 meters too.. But liked your story and felt like you'd like to hear it
No, No No..... Brothers are obligated to call you out. He f$#%^ed up. He grew. He didn't blow the whole dang thing the next time he stepped up.
They didn't call him out. They passive aggressively ignored him. I don't know what you'd call the elbowing, but it is hardly positive masculinity.
Yeah, because his dad gave positive masculine advice and supported his son to rise above their childish behavior.
Well, they were 17/18, so yeah…. They’ve probably learned along the way too
Winners never quit. Quitters never win.
Terrible advice. The TRY is everything. Quitting is exactly that, a coward whose afraid of losing. Don’t be afraid of losing. Heck, everyone needs to lose, because it puts what’s important in focus. Never quit. Trying is everything. God will let you know when you need to walk away and try something else.
I get what your saying, but you made your point badly.
There is value in recognizing when to cut your losses short. In business (or life) there will be times when it’s better to recognize that your time/efforts are better off somewhere else.
But that wasn’t his point. And he did the right thing in that situation. He had an obligation to his team, and clearly was one of the fastest kids on their team.
He made a mistake… that happens in sports. The only way you don’t ever lose in sports is to not play.
So you should only try - if you are GUARANTEED to WIN.
Got it.
LOL
Very good For sticking with it…. And shame on those other teammates for giving you such a bad time. What that was, it was poor sportsmanship.
What I’ve learned in life when one door closes, another one opens 👍
Boys will be boys. I’m not sure i properly articulated what was on the line that day. They were seniors. I was not. It wasn’t a painful shot. But it was a painful reminder. Don’t do it again!
I would argue that the world is worse off now because they don’t allow this kind of thing to occur. Sanitized environments at school make children weak.
I wholeheartedly agree. Also, damn you making me cut onions.
That's a great story.
Just one more reason to work hard to keep that bond, despite all the DS efforts to alienate children from their fathers. Children need it, mothers benefit from it, and dads are fulfilled by their children being loving, respectful and obstructive. So many societal problems from the DS driving a wedge. Don't let 'em do it.
Good story and good timing.
sounds like you were lucky to have such a wise man as a Father. Happy Father's Day
Great story! Thanks for posting!
Dam great dad is all I can say !!
Awesome story, man! Thanks for sharing it with us.
💕
What a spectacular tribute to your father!
He raised a wise son.
❤️❤️❤️
H
We've all got an inner quitter inside us. Telling them to shutup is always a win.
You know, I can’t remember my dad ever giving me a lick of advice for anything and I think I turned out pretty ok anyway. Would have been nice but it is what it is. Glad yours pushed you to excel.
Thank you so much for this story.