Yeah Verdugo won. Yeah yeah yeah. I got the call. I hadn’t talked to this guy in a while. Not since I was the head coach of his JV Team last season. The head coach of the CV Baseball Team called me to congratulate me on “a helluva season”….
I was asked back to coach at the high school for the ’92 season but declined. We were on good terms with one another.
I mean it was a good call. It was good in that he made the call and that he was like “jeez coach you’re 22-3……I’ve been reading about it and following it in the papers all season long.” It was nice that he acknowledged what we had accomplished.
We spoke for about a half hour or so. He was curious about some of the players he had coming back next season. I don’t blame him for it. I gave him whatever information he needed or wanted and was happy to discuss where everyone was at in their “careers” and shared a few funny stories that had happened during the season.
“well who do you guys play next?” he asked……….
I told him but I was getting a little “concerned”……
“where is it being played? what time” By this time I was really bummed out. I couldn’t say to him “look….do me a favor and don’t show up…..I think it will be a distraction to the players”
I couldn’t say to him what Nancy Canale said to me on more than one occasion when she said “the players look forward to playing Legion more than playing for the high school because it’s like they let the animals out of their cages”
Don’t get me wrong I was happy that he acknowledged our season. I got along with him I would say very well. He knew me well enough from my coaching days with him to know about my propensity to establish “rituals” with the team. And how I was very superstitious.
We knew each other well enough to where we could both let the four-letter words fly, too. I knew what I could say to him, and what I couldn’t.
I tried like hell……
“hey coach you know how I feel about winning streaks” I told him……”yeah I sure do” he laughed…..”you know how I always say ‘you don’t fuck with a winning streak’ right” I said ……”oh yeah” he said.
“I’m going completely over the top to keep everything exactly the same before every game coach…..I wanna make sure they don’t SEE anything different, or HEAR anything different ….you wouldn’t believe the lengths I’ve gone to keep this winning streak going coach…I think we’ve rattled off six in a row now coach…..all we need is one more win…..and after we win….I don’t care what happens…..I’m just trying to protect these guys and this streak……You know what I’m saying coach?” laugh laugh laugh laugh
“Oh yeah I know……” he laughed
He didn’t get the message …..and I’ve spent the last 33 years wondering…..why the fuck did I answer the phone that day.
verdugo288 