learn from the master

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/07/20/dean/

Many of my readers are sports fans, and many are not. All of you, however, are readers. Do yourself a favor, no matter where you place yourself on this divide, and read the above article. Joe Posnanski is an amazing writer. He's mostly a baseball writer, and I am most certainly not a reader of baseball blogs, but he is on my Reader: when he writes about other topics it is so worth my time. I promise it will be worth yours.

Since my sister headed off to UNC for college, I have been a fan of Coach Dean. I consider myself lucky to have been at a UNC/Virgina game in the Dean Dome (I even snuck in on one of her roommate's student passes-- I felt like such a rebellious college kid!) while he was still coaching. I won a basketball pool based on the infamous Chris Webber timeout call. The man is all class, and always has been. I did not know just how classy until I read this article, but knowing that he recruited the first African American scholarship player in North Carolina was all I ever really needed to know.

One of the diseases that scares me is dementia. I've always been known for my memory (certain friends call me when they need a phone number because it's quicker to ask me than to look it up) and the idea of losing that mental edge is worrisome. That the Fates subscribe to irony is certainly distressing, and they seem to have thrown their hats into this match. It is incredibly sad that he can't remember everything anymore, but he seems to be handling it with the grace with which he handled every other event in his life. It is comforting to know, however that the man does live up to his legend.

Forget about me... just go read Poz's post.