Several years ago, my York College Heritage, my alma mater's alumni magazine, arrived in my mailbox. There was one story I was particularly delighted to see. My college basketball coach, Colis Campbell, and his lovely wife, Dolores, were the first inductees in the York College Hall of Fame. The world does not revolve around atletics but coaches can have a profound impact on youngsters. Sometimes, it takes years for the imprint to be noticed. This morning, I learned some very sad news- Coach Campbell passed away on Monday. This entry, from January 19, 2006, is about Coach Campbell, a man who meant the world to me but I wasn't smart enough to realize it at the time.
This morning on ESPN radio, talk show hosts were ranking the remaining coaches in the quest for the Super Bowl; Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, John Fox, and Bill Cowher. Coaches are defined by one or two moments. Last weekend, I saw Glory Road, the story of the 1966 NCAA basketball tourney won by unknown Texas Western who toppled mighty Kentucky in the finals. One subplot was the battle between the new kid on the block, Texas Western's Don Haskins and the old guard, Coach Adolph Rupp of Kentucky. It was clearly portrayed as good versus evil, black versus white, the future versus the past. The theater audience cheered as the clock ticked down ending the championship contest. Jerry Bruckheimer took a few liberties with facts but the result is an excellent film that will educate this generation about one of the great sporting events and sociological happenings of the past fifty years.
Haskins and Rupp were not the only basketball coaches of the sixties, although they were two of the most famous and, in their own ways, influential. Most coaches are not well known but they still positively change the lives entrusted to them. Few on the national scene ever heard of Colis Campbell but to many in the Midwest, he was York College. Colis Campbell was my college basketball coach. I wish I could say I always appreciated what he did for me but that would be a lie. Playing college basketball was not what I envisioned but there is only one to point the finger at and he is typing. My high school playing experience was extraordinary. I expected playing in college would be the same. While I was a good high school player, my talent was average at best at the college level. On top of that, I quit working hard so I played very little as a freshman. Of course, it was everybody's fault but my own, ESPECIALLY Coach Campbell's. He was different from my high school coach and that was part of my problem. I viewed my coach at York High, Dale Neal, as brilliant. He was right out of college and the definition of intense. I got yelled at in my pre-college days and it didn't bother me. Most boys are used to being yelled at and understand it isn't personal. Coach Campbell not only didn't yell, he didn't raise his voice. I thought he didn't care. I thought his coaching methods were old fashioned. (I had an intellectual dilemma because Coach Neal, who had also played for Coach Campbell, thought he was a tremendous coach.) We had nicknames for Coach Campbell and his assistant, Dave Simpson. They got matching warmups so someone- I think Paul Wade- tagged them 'Yogi and BooBoo,' never to their faces. Like all players, we could imitate our coaches. Coach Campbell came into the lockerroom one day when Lowell Siebert was doing his impersonation. He didn't make a big deal out of it. We had limited success during my two years as a York College Panther in terms of wins and losses but my memories, while not totally pleasant, could fill a vault.
Let me tell you a little more about Colis Campbell. He attended Harding College where he knew my folks. He and his lovely wife, Dolores, moved to this small Nebraska town in the mid-1950's when York College was reopened by members of the Churches of Christ after being closed for several years. He coached almost every sport offered in addition to his duties as Athletic Director, Bible and P.E. instructor, and Director of the Mission studies program. Dolores worked as Dean of Women, the toughest job on any college campus. They spent years in Japan as missionaries and raised two beautiful daughters. Colis was one of the first elders of the East Hill Church of Christ while my dad was the minister. I remember my brother, Dave, and me staying with the Campbells as little boys when my folks traveled. Colis was also the first coach I knew. Dad took Dave and me to YC games from the time I was four years old, still one of the highlights of my life. Coach Campbell amassed a wonderful record in the sixties, recruiting kids to a small and very strict junior college in the middle of nowhere. My first heroes were the young men who wore the Panther blue and white. I fell in love with basketball. My assumption was that I would play at the University of Nebraska before signing with the Celtics. The truth was, nobody else recruited me so at the end of my senior year, Coach Campbell said he would love to have me on the squad. That was the extent of my being wined and dined. We are so much smarter in the future than we are in the present. He, and Coach Simpson, did so much for us and I was never grateful. I know he had to be spending his own money to feed us on trips because we were a poor school with a miniscule budget. I acted like a jerk and he forgave me. I swore LOUDLY one day in practice and he didn't write me off like I might wash my hands of one of my players. There were times when I was an idiot but he never gave up on me. It took my becoming a coach to appreciate the terrific impact he had on my life. In a fashion I could never foresee, I now try to be like him.
Coach Campbell turns eighty this month. That is shocking-I thought he was eighty when I played for him! A number of years ago, I wrote him a letter and apologized for who I was at eighteen-nineteen-twenty. (I also wrote one of my American Legion baseball coaches. If you think I owe you a letter as well, please contact me!) I am sure of this. Without Colis and Dolores Campbell and a small core of families like them, York College would never have survived the lean times and I would not be what I am today. I just finished coaching a game which we won. I lost my voice yelling in the first quarter. That part of Coach Campbell's legacy I have yet to perfect- maybe when I am eighty!
Applicable poem of the day:
A True North
"Our ships are tossed
Across the night,
Our compass cracked,
For wrong or right.
True North is there,
Or over here?
Confusion rules
Our sea is fear.
Then suddenly a beacon bright
Is shining through
This stormy night.
It's pure and straight
To his true course.
The coach is seen.
He is True North."
-Steve Jamison
God bless,
Steve (#12 at home, #13 on the road: YC Panthers)
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
Haskins and Rupp were not the only basketball coaches of the sixties, although they were two of the most famous and, in their own ways, influential. Most coaches are not well known but they still positively change the lives entrusted to them. Few on the national scene ever heard of Colis Campbell but to many in the Midwest, he was York College. Colis Campbell was my college basketball coach. I wish I could say I always appreciated what he did for me but that would be a lie. Playing college basketball was not what I envisioned but there is only one to point the finger at and he is typing. My high school playing experience was extraordinary. I expected playing in college would be the same. While I was a good high school player, my talent was average at best at the college level. On top of that, I quit working hard so I played very little as a freshman. Of course, it was everybody's fault but my own, ESPECIALLY Coach Campbell's. He was different from my high school coach and that was part of my problem. I viewed my coach at York High, Dale Neal, as brilliant. He was right out of college and the definition of intense. I got yelled at in my pre-college days and it didn't bother me. Most boys are used to being yelled at and understand it isn't personal. Coach Campbell not only didn't yell, he didn't raise his voice. I thought he didn't care. I thought his coaching methods were old fashioned. (I had an intellectual dilemma because Coach Neal, who had also played for Coach Campbell, thought he was a tremendous coach.) We had nicknames for Coach Campbell and his assistant, Dave Simpson. They got matching warmups so someone- I think Paul Wade- tagged them 'Yogi and BooBoo,' never to their faces. Like all players, we could imitate our coaches. Coach Campbell came into the lockerroom one day when Lowell Siebert was doing his impersonation. He didn't make a big deal out of it. We had limited success during my two years as a York College Panther in terms of wins and losses but my memories, while not totally pleasant, could fill a vault.
Let me tell you a little more about Colis Campbell. He attended Harding College where he knew my folks. He and his lovely wife, Dolores, moved to this small Nebraska town in the mid-1950's when York College was reopened by members of the Churches of Christ after being closed for several years. He coached almost every sport offered in addition to his duties as Athletic Director, Bible and P.E. instructor, and Director of the Mission studies program. Dolores worked as Dean of Women, the toughest job on any college campus. They spent years in Japan as missionaries and raised two beautiful daughters. Colis was one of the first elders of the East Hill Church of Christ while my dad was the minister. I remember my brother, Dave, and me staying with the Campbells as little boys when my folks traveled. Colis was also the first coach I knew. Dad took Dave and me to YC games from the time I was four years old, still one of the highlights of my life. Coach Campbell amassed a wonderful record in the sixties, recruiting kids to a small and very strict junior college in the middle of nowhere. My first heroes were the young men who wore the Panther blue and white. I fell in love with basketball. My assumption was that I would play at the University of Nebraska before signing with the Celtics. The truth was, nobody else recruited me so at the end of my senior year, Coach Campbell said he would love to have me on the squad. That was the extent of my being wined and dined. We are so much smarter in the future than we are in the present. He, and Coach Simpson, did so much for us and I was never grateful. I know he had to be spending his own money to feed us on trips because we were a poor school with a miniscule budget. I acted like a jerk and he forgave me. I swore LOUDLY one day in practice and he didn't write me off like I might wash my hands of one of my players. There were times when I was an idiot but he never gave up on me. It took my becoming a coach to appreciate the terrific impact he had on my life. In a fashion I could never foresee, I now try to be like him.
Coach Campbell turns eighty this month. That is shocking-I thought he was eighty when I played for him! A number of years ago, I wrote him a letter and apologized for who I was at eighteen-nineteen-twenty. (I also wrote one of my American Legion baseball coaches. If you think I owe you a letter as well, please contact me!) I am sure of this. Without Colis and Dolores Campbell and a small core of families like them, York College would never have survived the lean times and I would not be what I am today. I just finished coaching a game which we won. I lost my voice yelling in the first quarter. That part of Coach Campbell's legacy I have yet to perfect- maybe when I am eighty!
Applicable poem of the day:
A True North
"Our ships are tossed
Across the night,
Our compass cracked,
For wrong or right.
True North is there,
Or over here?
Confusion rules
Our sea is fear.
Then suddenly a beacon bright
Is shining through
This stormy night.
It's pure and straight
To his true course.
The coach is seen.
He is True North."
-Steve Jamison
God bless,
Steve (#12 at home, #13 on the road: YC Panthers)
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
4 comments:
Hey coach hawley are you named after your dad?
I appreciate your thoughtful writes and step by step guide lines. Thanks you.
Sakina
Nice lesson. We all owe some letters or phone calls to someone. I certainly have made a few calls.
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