EDWARDS COLUMN: When times are tough get back on the bus

A new college basketball season is upon us, my fourth as the men’s basketball coach at Francis Marion University, and that means it is time to crank up my weekly column.
I really enjoy our Saturday morning chats, and during the off-season I had plenty of time to think of some juicy topics.
My team and I are on a bus today, traveling to Florida to play our opening two games of the season at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Many NCAA Division I teams opened their seasons last night. NCAA Division II teams, however, have to wait until Nov. 15 to play their first games.
Of course, Nov. 15 falls on a Sunday this year. We red-headed stepchildren of Division II petitioned the NCAA to allow us to start our seasons on Nov. 14 so we could play traditional season-opening tournaments on the weekend. They said no.
Thus, the Florida Tech Tip-Off Classic will be played Sunday and Monday. My team will miss classes on Monday and we will get home about 5 a.m. Tuesday. Didn’t I read something about the NCAA’s commitment to academics?
So this first column was going to be a classic diatribe against the NCAA. But then I received a call from my daughter last night, and then an e-mail from a close friend.
My daughter, a sophomore at Syracuse University, called in tears. It seems she and her longtime boyfriend split up. Her heart was broken and, as any father knows, when your daughter’s heart is broken, your heart is broken.
Remember when your first love jilted you? It has happened to most of us and, at the time, we thought the world was coming to an end. As I explained to my daughter that “this too shall pass,” I heard a bell ringing in the background of our call. It was the door opening on the bus that takes her to Syracuse’s main campus.
Despite very little sleep and very many tears, my little girl had stepped back on the bus to go to an organic chemistry tutoring session. It wasn’t even a regularly scheduled class; just something she felt would help her on an upcoming exam.
Soon after completing that call, I received a forwarded e-mail from my good friend, Bob Valvano, an ESPN radio guy and former coach. The e-mail was from First Sgt. Dave Jobe of Baker Company, one of the last Marine Infantry Battalions left in Iraq.
The e-mail included pictures of the heroes of Baker Company sleeping in mud holes, self-made pits in the sand, and on concrete next to their armored vehicles. There was a picture of a lone soldier trying to sleep during a raging sand storm.
The e-mail ended with an aerial picture of the entire Company spelling out “9-11 We Remember.” The 9-11 part of the picture was made up of boots and helmets in tribute to their fallen comrades.
I showed that picture to my team. Sometimes they moan about having to get up early for practice. A few seem to think going to class is the greatest sacrifice in the world. I want them to know what true sacrifice is and, in doing so, I want to remind myself.
My newspaper is wet; my boss is a bore; the price of gas is too high; my bunions are killing me; the NCAA makes no sense … when we complain about the little problems of everyday life, we need to remember the soldiers of Baker Company.
And when times get tough, I will remember my daughter getting back on the bus.

— Gary Edwards is the men’s basketball coach at Francis Marion University. E-mail him at gedwards@fmarion.edu