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Locker-room Intervention
by
Mark Lane |
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The coach called us all together before the game to have a little talk,
He spit a screamed and got so worked up that he crushed his piece of chalk.
We started getting a little concerned when his eyes began to bulge,
His face turned a purpleish hue and his language I will not divulge.
He told us that “second place is pretty good but we’re here today to win,”
My coach, it seemed, had some father issues that were unresolved within.
Then Lenny, our linebacker, told the couch that he should release the blame,
And asked if we shouldn’t be concerned with the social aspects of the game?
The coach just stood there staring at us as a vein sprouted on his face,
He started to shake, twitch and swear as he turned into a basket case.
Then Barry our all-star tight end who was a giant of a man,
Invited us all to join together by taking the next guy’s hand.
Lenny took over control of the locker room with guided imagery,
“Now coach imagine yourself beside a brook under a willow tree.
And into the brook I want you to drop a stone, one of enormous weight,
The stone is the bad feelings about your dad, don’t let them rule your fate.
Your father did the best he could with the tools that he was given,
And this futile need to please him still is what makes you feel so driven.”
Lenny invited the coach to look around the room as each guy had his back,
He broke down as Lenny broke through with his counseling session sack.
Lenny rocked the coach and as he sobbed and he felt himself unclench,
The other guys gathered around and took one knee or sat down on the bench.
It was the day that we won a victory before we ever took the field,
The day that coach exposed his feelings and allowed them to be revealed.
Sure we lost that day but I think that the other team enjoyed the game,
And the joy of unbound comradery let our team do the same.
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--Submitted by lanet on 2011-02-06.
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Phyllis Beckman:
"Nice sweater coach, Where'd you pick it up?"
Love the way you weave truths (untruths?) into the fabric of poetic licence reinventing the truth.
Whatever it is that is going on, I am nodding, smiling, and loving it.
Posted 02/10/2011 05:58 AM
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lanet:
I've spent a lot of time in football locker rooms and I can say that this never happened. I did have a coach who was fired because he had been arrested for shoplifting clothes. He stopped into the locker room once before a big game and one of the guys said. "Nice sweater coach, Where'd you pick it up?" We never saw him again.
Posted 02/06/2011 07:39 AM
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