It was the end of practice, my last practice for Brockport State. Coach D had called us into a circle as was his way. He talked of the upcoming game the next day, the last game for many of us on that team. I think Carl Kuras and Joe Ballard, co-captains, were called on to speak; maybe even Tom Buntich, I'm not sure as all three of them were leaders of men and Coach D knew it. Coach Brogan and Coach Hank also spoke. We'd had a long, hard season. You can all identify with that. We had painful 1 point losses, and we had losses where it was hard to hold your head up high.
The daylight was fading fast, I looked up and Coach D was looking right at me. I will always remember that look. He then said, "Scott , what about you ? You've been around a long time and conquered many hardships. Would you like to say anything?" or something of that nature. I replied, "Coach, I want to WIN and I want to win big ".
I've carried with me for almost 50 years the respect that Coach D showed me that evening. His eyes locking on mine, and I can see them now. He knew. He'd been there, he knew what I'd been through, what we'd all been through and with a glance and a word acknowledged it. So many of you know just what I mean. Don't you? We won that last game, and we won big, but I carried away so much more from those times as Coach D sent me out into the world. He'd transformed a boy into a man.
Scott Dingman, #42
Class of 1969
Sarasota, FL