One of my biggest hero's

What can I say than hasn't already been said? Probably nothing, but as any of you who know me well realized a long time ago, it just isn't my style to stay silent! Monday morning I got a text message saying that Bill had passed away. I was riding the bus to school and it took me back for a minute and I struggled to keep my composure. I got to school and Mike had sent an email with the story from the paper and I teared up a little bit, but kept it together pretty well. Today, seeing the picture in the obituary, I lost it. As soon as I saw Bill there, with that million dollar smile he had given me literally a thousand times before, all the memories from the lifetime of interactions I've had with the man cruised through my heart and into my mind. What can you say about a person that has directly and indirectly touched so many lives? The following thoughts are not all my own, but are what I feel from the messages I have received from family and friends alike.

Most of us, and me in particular, came to know Bill because he was our soccer coach. Bill was the one who convinced me to move from my normal role of being an unstoppable scoring machine to that of being a goal keeper. That day my friends, "The Wall" was born! I think it is fair to say that Bill was not the most knowledgeable soccer mind around. He never played the sport, as was evidenced when at an AYSO practice he attempted to show us how to trap the ball and ended up on his butt with a bunch of little kids laughing at him. For those of you who were there, I know you remember that one! It was not his knowledge of the game that made him great, it was his knowledge of people. If anyone knew how to build love and trust, it was him.

As has been said, Bill was the first soccer coach I ever had in my first year of AYSO. He happened to follow our group all the way up through the high school and took a perennially pathetic BHS team to a state championship game. Was it his soccer genius? Or was it that his players loved him so much that they refused to let him down? We all know what the answer to that question is. I trusted Bill as much as I trust anyone in the world. If he would have asked me to run my head through a brick wall, I would have done it because I know it would have been for my own good. And we all know I probably could have used it at times.

As anyone who knows Bill well can attest, he could at times and when needed be a very intense man. All of us knew this and I think in the back of our minds none of us wanted to see it. But that is not why we were so motivated to work for Bill. Bill motivated by complete love. Every single one of us knew that he cared more about us as individuals and people than he ever did about winning a game. Bill knew very well some of the struggles I had in high school as a person and I know he was more proud of me for the decisions I made to turn my life around and be a better person than he ever was when I got all-state. One example of how much he loved me was the second time we played Roy my senior year. We lost to Roy in a shootout the first go-round and Bill was very upset. I'm sure all of you who were there remember the butt chewing we took under the tree out there. The day before the second game we were goofing around a little bit at the beginning of practice and he kicked us all out and just said, "You better come ready to play tomorrow." We showed up for the game and I remember the first thing he said to us as a team was "We won't have one of our biggest fans today, he's in the hospital. Let's go win this one for him." That fan happened to be my dad, and I knew that he didn't care about the win for his own satisfaction of getting back at Roy, he really wanted to win that one for my dad. After we broke and right before we took the field he called me over, gave me one of the patented hugs that have been discussed and just said, "Ty, I'm here for ya." And I knew he was. That game we blew them out 5-0, all of the varsity was out of the game in the second half but he left me in. He knew it was important for me to finish what I had started that day for my dad, and I didn't even have to tell him I needed to do that.

Sorry for the novel, but I have one more. Our only other loss our senior year came up at Logan. They sucked and kicked our butts. After the game there were a few players that were not taking it too seriously and goofing off, and being the hot head that I am just exploded on them. Many inappropriate things came out of my mouth (I know, shocking!) in front of a few parents and also our principle. All the sudden I hear, "Ty, on the bus, NOW!" I walked across the field toward the bus just thinking in the back of my head, "This guy is going to kick my butt!" I get to the bus and a few minutes later Bill came in and I was ready to just get the butt chewing of a lifetime. He told me, "stand up" so I stood up, he once again puts his arms around me and just said, "The losses hurt, don't they?" By this time we both had tears in our eyes because he knew exactly why it was that I was upset, and felt like doing exactly what I had done, but also knew that it wouldn't do any good. We spent some time on the bus together and right before we left, in the way the he always could, lightened the mood a bit by saying, "If you're going to have anymore of these blow-ups, at least make sure the principal is not right next to you when you do it. You're going to get us both in trouble. Now go out and apologize to your teammates." Of course, I got another hug, and I left knowing that I messed up, but also was a better person because of it. But that was his M.O. If you spent any significant time around the man, you were better because of it.

We all have such great memories of Bill, and I apologize for taking up so much of the room here and time for you to read this, but it was very therapeutic for me to do it. With as many people as Bill has influenced in this life, the most comforting aspect of his passing is how much influence he will also have in the next. To one of my, and many or your hero's, God speed brother. We'll see each other again soon enough. Reserve a spot for one more soccer game when we all get there!