February 27, 2012

Chili on the Frio River

I had this conversation with a coach, about a coach at an unnamed school, at a JUCO game some time ago:

Me: “Do you know Coach X”

Coach: “Yeah, Coach X is a real good friend of mine.”

Me: “Have you talked to Coach X lately?”

Coach: “Yeah, Coach X and I talked for two hours on the ride over here.”

Me: “I heard his son was having some medical problems, how is he doing?”

Coach: “Damn, that right?  I didn’t even know he had a son.”

So you had no idea that your real good friend had a son, much less that his son had some medical problems.  I think it that would be a good point in time to re-evaluate the status of your relationship. 

That conversation really bothered me.  It really made me start to think about the value I put on many of my relationships within our business.  “Who are my real friends?”  Of course it would be my group of people that I grew up with in Meadow, TX, and the group of people I had at Texas Tech, but who are my real friends in coaching? 

The journey I then took thinking back to all the places I have been and things I have done with my group of friends in coaching really gave me a great release from the grind of late conference play.  It was fun for me.  I think about the basketball camps my book club put on in Austin, TX, the Coaching Clinics I had spoke at in South Padre Island and the impromptu escapes to Acuna, Mexico, Luckenbach, TX and various other places.  But the best of times I have had with my brothers in coaching were shared on the banks of the Frio River. 

Some people like to write this blog to give updates about their teams.  Some people like to give in game strategy or ways to improve your program.  When I decided that I would do this blog, I wanted to write about my life.  One of the greatest weekends in my life are on Memorial Day Weekend in Concan, TX.  Ten or Fifteen coaches make a journey down to a small town in the hills of Texas.  On that journey we listen to great music, eat incredible food, slide down a dam, play washers at a general store and drive down a road with one of the most breathtaking views of the Texas Hill Country. 

At that time we aren’t a group of coaches.  We aren’t chasing players or stealing inbounds plays from one another.  We are enjoying life together.  After the 12 round bout that is a college basketball season, and after a crazy end to the spring semester, we come together to cleanse our souls in the cold waters of the Frio. 

We aren’t trying to get players to block out, we are climbing 20 feet up in to an oak tree to hang rope lights.  We aren’t stopping in at the Burger King across from campus, we are eating the Bear’s Chili which is made on a camp fire.  We aren’t fighting hectic traffic all over Las Vegas to get our eyes on as many players as we can, we are floating in a rubber tube down a river.  We don’t have to avoid the sports talk radio because we don’t want to listen to others talk about our program, we are listening to Gary P. Nunn.  We have escaped our own realities and have slipped into a world where the only thing to worry about is if I have enough wood to cook the fajitas on the campfire and if there is enough ice to keep our Dr. Peppers cold.

I lose perspective on my life during a basketball season.  I obsess over the numbers that are being put under W and L.  I make myself sick over whether a 17 year old kid likes me and if I have seen enough film on a conference foe to finish my scout.  My life revolves around an iPhone4, and I forget how to breathe.  It is on the banks of the Frio River where I am not Coach, but I am simply Bear (as my good friends call me).  My profession turns into camp cook (my chili is quickly gaining fame by the way), and my purpose is to bring a little horse sense to our group. 

It makes me a better person, husband, father, friend and coach.  I hit the reboot button on my body and I leave that weekend ready to fight the world again.  I look at the stars and figure out that numbers are numbers and all that really matters is if you made positive difference in your certain situation.  Most the time if you have done that, then everything else will follow. 

I know I took you down a few different roads, but this is what I want to you know from this blog entry: Know who your friends are, and find a release from the pressures of our profession.  And that I will put my chili up against anyone in our profession.  Till next time.

Clif Carroll

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