The score was tied. The basketball game was in overtime. There were fewer than 30 seconds remaining on the clock. Hancock High and Elbow Lake were the opponents. With the clock winding down, Elbow Lake took a shot at the basket. Missed shot. The Hancock center pulled down the rebound, dribbled a few steps and found the right forward open so passed the ball up the court. The 6'2" forward drove toward the basket but a guard and forward from Elbow Lake came up to meet him. Neither was sure who was to stop this right forward and they paused for a split second. The forward pushed through them, jumped straight up and rolled the ball off his fingertips. Swish. Two points. Buzzer goes off. Hancock wins. Yes, that right forward was me.
I had left Glenwood by car, headed straight west to Ortonville on the South Dakota and Minnesota state lines. There I had the greatest visit with my old math teacher and basketball coach Jay Ross. He told the story above as one of his favorite coaching moments over 30+ years of coaching.
I wanted to tell Jay, or, Mr. Ross, as it was back in the 60s, in person how much his math and coaching had influenced my life. Math was so critical in my early experience as a computer technician. Everyone knows the decimal system, but binary, octal and hexadecimal are challenges for most. My graduate school computer science courses like Graphics Programming and Algorithmic Processes were math based and very difficult.
I also wanted to point out to Jay that the teamwork I learned as a basketball player under his tutelage were instrumental to my success as a director level manager.
Do you have a teacher who greatly influenced your life? Write me about it.
Jay Ross won't see this post so I can say this. Jay, you make me look better than I really was. Then again, that is the mark of a great coach.
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