Wednesday, September 3, 2014 | MyConnection 3
Community Connection
The perfect speech on Belisle. The Providence Journa l newspaper tra nscribed what followed. Here’s what the coach said without any rehearsal: “Heads up high. Heads up high. I’ve gotta see your eyes, guys. There’s no disappointment in your effort — in the whole tournament, the whole season. It’s been an incredible journey. “We fought. Look at the score – 8-7, 12-10 in hits. We came to the last out. We didn’t quit. That’s us! Boys, that’s us! “The only reason why I’ll probably end up shedding a tear is that this is the last
Sometimes we have plenty of time to write the perfect speech for the occasion. Sometimes, we have no time. This is about one of those “no time” times. The hometown team of Cumberland, Rhode Island was playing in the Little League World Series. They’d won their region and were representing New England. But they lost this game. And they were going home. Then their coach, Dave Belisle, called them over. Cameras for ESPN filmed the kids surrounding their coach on the infield and zeroed in
On the bright side day. That’s the best “winwin” story I’ve seen in a while. In other happy animal news, a group of orphans in Kenya who live at a home sponsored by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust just rescued over 100 baby elephants who lost their mothers to poachers. The elephants were relocated to property owned by the wildlife trust. Now, the human and elephant orphans visit and play together every day. The story included lots of pictures. It’s hard to tell who’s happier – the kids or the elephants. Closer to home, Raymond Burse, president of Kentucky State University, decided the school’s lowest-paid employees deserved more than a pat on the back for their efforts. Instead of asking the state legislature to boost the pay of non-faculty employees, Burse took a $90,000 annual pay cut with instructions that the money go to lowincome workers. Burse said he wanted university workers to know the school’s board and president “care about them and want to do the very best by them.” It’s refreshing – and rare these days – to see someone put their money where their mouth is. Thanks, President Burse. In ot her happy educa-
Sleeping pill sales must be off the charts. Anyone who watches the news for more than five minutes gets such a dose of trouble it’s hard to drift off to dreamland unassisted. Current stories range from race riots in Missouri to missiles striking Israel (again) to the videotaped beheading of an American journalist by Muslim terrorists. No one predicts that things will get better anytime soon. So wh at ’s a person to do? Easy. Keep reading. I recently hiked off into cyberspace in search of “good news.” Guess what? It’s actually out there on a website called www.sunnyskyz.com. These stories are good enough to share, so join me. They might just make your grits, granola or high-fiber supplement go down a little easier. Let ’s sta rt our tour of HappyLand in north Texas, w h e r e a n e ve n t c a l l e d “Empty the Shelter Day” was organized by people trying to get more animals adopted from 32 private and public animal shelters in the DallasFt. Worth metroplex. They held a one-day event on August 16. The big attraction? Adoption fees were waived for the event. The results? Over 2,000 animals adopted in a single
JOHN WINTERS time I’m going to coach you guys. But I’m going to bring back with me, the coaching staff is going to bring back, you guys are going to bring back that no one other team can provide – that’s pride. Pride. “You’re going to take that for the rest of your lives, what you provided for the town of Cumberland. You had the whole place jumping, right? You had the whole state jumping. You had New England jumping. You had
ALEX mcrae
tion news, Nashville, Tenn., elementary school teacher Nancy Flexer got the shock of her life when she walked through the classroom door on the last day of her teaching career.
ESPN jumping. OK? “You want to know why? They like fighters. They like sportsmen. They like guys who don’t quit. They like guys who play the game the right way. If everyone would play baseball like the Cumberla nd A merica ns, t h is would be the greatest game. “The lessons you g uys have learned along the journey, you’re never going to forget. We’re going to have some more fun. We have two more days of fun. When you walk around this ballpark in the next couple of days, they’re going to look at you and say: ‘Hey, you guys were awesome!’ “Everybody has said: You guys are awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Absolutely awesome.
“It’s OK to cry, because we’re not going to play baseball together anymore. But we’re going to be friends forever. Friends forever. Our Little League careers have ended on the most positive note that could ever be. OK? Ever be. “There’s only going to be one team that’s going to walk out of here as World Series champions. Only one. We got down to the nitty-gritty. We’re one of the best teams in the world. Think about that for a second. In the world! Right? “So, we need to go see our parents, because they’re so proud of you. One more thing. I want a big hug. I want everyone to come in here for one big hug. One big hug, then we’re going to go
celebrate. Then we’re going to go back home to a big parade. “I love you guys. I’m gonna love you forever. You’ve given me the most precious moment in my athletic and coaching career, and I’ve been coaching a long time – a looooong time. I’m getting to be an old man. I need memories like this, I need kids like this. You’re all my boys. You’re the boys of summer. “So, for the last time, we’re going to yell Americans: One, two three – Americans! “OK. Good job. Let’s go. Time to go.” M ay we a l l h ave t h at coach. May we all be that “coach” in whatever we do. Until next time.
Instead of an empty room, she was greeted by students from every class she had taught during her 41-year career. Former students were there in person, on the phone or on video to say “Thank You” for the difference she had made in their lives. If savoring these stories doesn’t lift your load, there is one more thing you can do to chase those blues away. Move to another state. Data recently compiled by the CDC was studied by
researchers at Harvard and the Vancouver School. The researchers’ goal was to determine the happiest state in America. The winner? My home state of Louisia na ca me out on top. Yay us, y’all. By the way, Louisiana’s happiest cities are Lafayette, Houma, Shreveport-Bossier City, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria. The study is packed with st at i st ics a nd tech n ic a l details to explain the find-
ings, but anyone who’s spent a Saturday night in Cajun country knows you’ll look long and hard to find a group of people who enjoy life – and each other – more. Life is what you make it. In Louisiana they make it a joy. The state’s unofficial motto is “Laissez les bon ton roulette,” French for “Let the good times roll.” The evidence shows that following that piece of advice can put a smile on anyone’s face.
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