Father's Days, football coaches of the past.

Father's Day this year held a special significance for me. I can't remember when I have seen him so strong, so happy, so optimistic about life. Really, a wonderful thing to see. And other members of the family have noticed it, too. (How could they not?)

There were moments when it seemed very iffy if he would still be here as of now. So glad that he is. Also, the added time allows me to learn things about him that I never had known or heard about before. Like for instance-- I have always known he was a sports nut (how do you think I got this way?), but I never knew he had been to Columbus, Ohio, to watch the Buckeyes and the Wolverines. This was in the Woody Hayes/Bo Schembechler era, when that game really was the Main Event for those two states. He said that a friend invited him, and they simply flew up on a Saturday morning, and flew back down that night after the game. This was probably '72. Good times...

Speaking of old college coaches, I am suddenly compelled to announce that the three old-time coaches I most wish I had the pleasure of meeting were Jordan of Auburn, Dodd of Georgia Tech, and Hayes of Ohio State. With Jordan and Dodd, I find that I have almost a reverence for the way their lived their life. In the case of Jordan, especially, I think of him enduring cancer in those last years-- not unlike the Kennedy scenario playing out today. Hayes was a "different kettle of fish" as the Brits would say (and I actually did hear one say it, too, just a week or so ago). For one thing, such ultra-intensity could be more than a bit disturbing. And the sad way in which he shamed himself against Clemson in that 78 Gator Bowl. But all in all, he strikes me as a man from whom much -- much that was good and positive and true-- could be learned. You may know that Nixon gave his eulogy when he died in 1987. Another plus in my book.