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
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