Black Friday---LOVE that shopping day! Unfortunately, today is another kind of BLACK FRIDAY at Keene-ville. I anticipate our mayor to go through every stage of grief in the next 24 hours. After 7 years, I have came to terms with this "mourning of the season" mode, that I am sure most coaches go through. Did I mention we lost to Canton last night to put another season in the books?
--Shock and Grief--Pain and Guilt--Anger and Bargaining--Depression, reflection, loneliness BUT after about 24 hours of these feelings----he's back---The Upward Turn---Reconstruction--Acceptance and Hope--
When the final buzzer sounds, this is the most helpless feeling a coach's wife will experience all season long. Losing in the first round is torture, especially to a family that has this date marked on the calendar all year long! You have lived all the time, energy, effort, passion, late nights, early mornings, time away from family, and to much more to type-- that goes on behind the scenes of this basketball production.
As time melts off the clock..buzzzz, the box I build around myself behind the bench, is shattered. While waiting on Coach Keene to finish with the team and media, I get the pleasure of listening to all the scuttle after the final game--this part sucks! You know, the people who complain in the stands, under their breath, all year and once the season is over--they voice their opinion to anyone who will listen. Okay--I am off my soap box.
On a positive note, its always nice to hear the good things that people have appreciated throughout the year. I had one parent come up to me after the game and share some touching words. That positive feedback, if you only hear it from ONE person, out weighs all the other. As a coach, if you can only touch one life a season, then all the extra is worth it...yep every last bit!
Well, this post is short and bitter sweet. As Coach Keene is mourning the loss and completion of his 3rd season at Illini West, secretly....I get him back, if only for a few days. Tomorrow is another beginning....THE FIRST DAY of planning for next year! Its a wild ride, but its our journey and I wouldn't trade it for the world!
