The Maestro
9/29/2006, 10:56 AM
From an article on soonersports.com...This link shows the video of it.
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=289732
Bob Stoops does a lot of nice things that you don’t know about.
The Oklahoma head coach doesn’t want the genuineness of his or his program’s gestures to be fogged by the lights of publicity. He wants to show kindness simply because he wants to show kindness.
Stoops balks at wearing a microphone for television networks during practice because he thinks it sounds “fake.” If anything can be remotely construed as contrived, he runs the other direction.
The other reason most of these acts have to stay under the radar is that there is no way the coach and team can possibly respond to all of the requests for time. It is better to do things quietly than to risk hurting someone’s feelings.
So Bob, I know you don’t want the attention and I appreciate your reasons, but allow me just this one, please.
Last Saturday night after the Oklahoma-Middle Tennessee game, five children, part of the Special Spectators program, came into the locker room to share in the victory celebration.
All five are battling cancer.
For one of the kids, Turner Swink, it was a special day times two. It also was his 10th birthday.
Near the end of the team huddle, Coach Stoops hoisted the frail youngster, outfitted in a Sooner jersey, above the group and announced that it was his birthday. Spontaneously, the team broke into song ... “Happy Birthday.”
It was a powerful moment. The same college players this child has idolized and cheered were now doing the same for him.
Dry eyes were hard to find.
You can argue all day about the enormity of sport. Many of us who work in the profession often marvel at the magnitude of it all.
But the one thing you cannot argue is the wonderful platform it provides its participants. The truly great coaches and players grasp the responsibility that comes with the big stage.
Thank goodness the Oklahoma program is filled with people of that quality, and rest assured it is even though you rarely hear about it.
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=289732
Bob Stoops does a lot of nice things that you don’t know about.
The Oklahoma head coach doesn’t want the genuineness of his or his program’s gestures to be fogged by the lights of publicity. He wants to show kindness simply because he wants to show kindness.
Stoops balks at wearing a microphone for television networks during practice because he thinks it sounds “fake.” If anything can be remotely construed as contrived, he runs the other direction.
The other reason most of these acts have to stay under the radar is that there is no way the coach and team can possibly respond to all of the requests for time. It is better to do things quietly than to risk hurting someone’s feelings.
So Bob, I know you don’t want the attention and I appreciate your reasons, but allow me just this one, please.
Last Saturday night after the Oklahoma-Middle Tennessee game, five children, part of the Special Spectators program, came into the locker room to share in the victory celebration.
All five are battling cancer.
For one of the kids, Turner Swink, it was a special day times two. It also was his 10th birthday.
Near the end of the team huddle, Coach Stoops hoisted the frail youngster, outfitted in a Sooner jersey, above the group and announced that it was his birthday. Spontaneously, the team broke into song ... “Happy Birthday.”
It was a powerful moment. The same college players this child has idolized and cheered were now doing the same for him.
Dry eyes were hard to find.
You can argue all day about the enormity of sport. Many of us who work in the profession often marvel at the magnitude of it all.
But the one thing you cannot argue is the wonderful platform it provides its participants. The truly great coaches and players grasp the responsibility that comes with the big stage.
Thank goodness the Oklahoma program is filled with people of that quality, and rest assured it is even though you rarely hear about it.