“Welcome to history.”
Those were the first words I ever heard someone say to me as we entered the Palestra in Philadelphia. It was January 27, 1984, and as Manager of the Fordham University men’s basketball team I had walked into the hallowed halls at The University of Pennsylvania as we came in to practice before playing LaSalle University the next afternoon. The words were said by a grizzled janitor wiping the floor as we descended the stairs, but what made more of an impact was the man with a wool hat on who looked up and handed me a basketball and said “Take care of this place.”
It was John Chaney. Temple had just finished a walk through…they were playing West Virginia as the first game that next day on ESPN, and the Owls, of Terence Stansbury and Nate Blackwell, were leaving the building. Coach Chaney exchanged some words with our coach, Tom Penders, and headed out the door. That was my first slight encounter with John Chaney and Temple basketball, but it was never the last, and over the years I had come to admire all about what Temple was in North Philly.
I thought about that cold Friday this morning, a cold and sunny January Saturday, when we should be at The Palestra, or Rose Hill Gym at Fordham, enjoying college hoops with friends and family like we would any other year. This year as we know is not like any other, and into that mix of unusual comes the loss of so many, the latest of which was John Chaney, someone (much like another larger than life teacher and Coach, John Thompson, who we lost late last year…and whose biography I am currently reading and learning from) who was made up of such indelible characteristics…grit, smarts, intimidation, love, honesty, compassion and lots of bluster that has inspired so many tributes in the past 24 hours. Just read this one from The Ringer, or this one from Yahoo or this one from Philly.com, they will be great lessons all.
It has been over a year of tremendous loss on so many levels, from people we knew a bit…Kobe Bryant, David Stern, Coach Thompson, Sekou Smith, Jackie Schuerer, Phil Niekro Jim Tsokanos…to so many we knew of and felt we knew…Henry Aaron, Sean Connery, etc etc…that it can be almost overwhelming to think of such a long list. It is so easy to dwell on the loss.
However I have been thinking more about the wins from all these people we touch and who touched us, and how lucky we are to have been in the company in some way, of their greatness in some place or time. We are saddened by the losses because of how they touched us and others, and wouldn’t it be worse if they had not impacted us.
One more thing about Coaches Thompson and Chaney. Their impact of lives lived continue to resonate in the changes we see today. They spoke their minds, they called out for change, but more importantly they taught so many around them, especially people who did not look like them, to get comfortable being uncomfortable, and to not accept the status quo. Sometimes it was loud and gruff, but in the end the means were justified. They were great teachers as much as coaches, and those teachable moments are perhaps the biggest part of their enduring legacies.
“I always say to my guys, ‘The most important day of your life is today. This very minute is the most important of your life. You must win this minute. You must win this day. And tomorrow will take care of itself.”
The loss of Coach Chaney and so many others even this week reminded me of the quote Vin Scully, still with us but grieving I’m sure over the loss of so many in the Dodgers family, including his wife in recent months, used as he left the broadcast booth at Dodgers Stadium two seasons ago.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Keep smiling, great advice from one of our greatest storytellers.
Can’t wait to get back in those gyms.
For now, I will embrace the memories. Welcome to history indeed.
