Well I am writing again about one of my passions; college football. I am also writing about one of my favorite coaches; Coach Mark Richt of the Georgia Bulldogs. I have classified Coach Richt as a hero because he understands what is most important in life. He has put Christ first, family second and his career as a coach third. This does not mean that he does a bad job in his career, he does it with excellence, having produced an average of ten wins per year for the past several years.
It is difficult for me to believe but there are some folks here in Georgia that are ready to show him the door because he has not produced a national champion and probably because last year produced only eight wins. I can tell you there are many college teams that would love to have the Bulldogs record the past ten years. Many even blame his devotion to God and family as part of the problem. God help us if we start selecting leaders and don't consider these qualities as extremely important in choosing who will lead us and our families. I think this may have happened in the 08 presidential election and we can see the results of using the wrong criteria to make a crucial decision.
I can tell you that my favorite team (the Arkansas Razorbacks) won only national championship in football (1964), one in basketball (1994) and more that any other team in track and field but I do not live and die by this being the measure of a successful team or coach. I guess I may be archaic in my beliefs, but I want to see what kind of citizens the coach helped produce via his influence. It breaks my heart when I hear of student athletes being arrested. At one time in Arkansas we had so many arrested for shoplifting or theft that it was rumored that the University had purchased a 7-11 for the sole purpose of allowing the athletes a way to legally shoplift merchandise....thankfully this was only a rumor and not true. The point is what the coach does with the young person and what kind of people they are when they leave school are the most important factors when evaluating a coach. Now I will say that if the coach is not capable of getting maximum effort from the players and does not have the skills to effectively coach, then as in any job he should be released.
Now back to Coach Richt; I have lived in Georgia since 2004 and I have come to truly appreciate the Coach of the Bulldogs. I have recently been reading about his family and how they came together and it is an inspiring story. Two of the Richt children are adopted from the Ukraine. The young girl they adopted had a facial birth defect that really effects her appearance. The Richts said that her parents dropped her at an orphanage because of the defect, possible because they could not afford the cost of medical treatment for her condition. The Richt's have helped provide numerous surgeries for this little girl. Coach does not toot his own horn but thankfully others have noted the sacrifice made by this family. They are doing what is right in raising their children and Coach is doing what is best for the young men he coaches.
While it is true that my favorite team are the Razorbacks, you can guarantee when the Georgia Bulldogs are playing anyone else I am a supporter of the Dogs and Coach Richt and his family. I invite you to see the two attached videos about the Richt family. Forgive me for the commercials that may be attached to the videos. I hope you are fired up about the football season (starts Sept 2) as I am.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2008/10/25/mark-richt-family-and-adoption/
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/at-home-with-mark-richt-family/12m40thk
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