On
to Canton
Tony Blank’s full size rental car came in handy on
Saturday when he agreed to shuttle Alan to Canton along with Julie Chase and
Grace the PR manager. The four of them were able to bond a bit, having lived
through the mini tour kick off at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They laughed
about the red carpet and search lights. The rest of the Ambrosia folks were
back in their respective offices in New York City. Grace was on her smart phone
trying to line up interviews with Crain’s Cleveland Business and a sports
writer in Pittsburgh. She artfully finessed the pitch for each. She was hoping
the business writer would be interested in the angle of Alan Edgewater webinars
and growing popularity of his failure philosophy. Whereas, she hoped, the Pittsburgh
sportswriter would be interested in the Hall of Famers who demonstrated the importance
of failure in their lives either before or after their inductions. A fair
number of athletes were among the growing number of failure fans online via
twitter. She also pitched the Failure First Scholarship to be presented later
in the month in St. Louis but that wasn’t news until someone was officially
awarded the prize.
Again, Alan was struck by the names of inductees to
the Hall of Fame, this time for football greats. He knew as he scanned names of
players from those recognized inductees from every generation of gridiron
heroes that there were stories of sacrifice, setbacks and defeat more so than
victory. He knew in his heart that a meticulous statistical review would show
the scales tipping toward failure over triumph. These are the guys that are the
legends of the game. Coaches like Vince Lombardi and Paul Brown and Players:
Jim Thorpe, Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Y.A. Tittle, Jimmy Brown, Lou Groza,
Dante Lavelli, Bart Starr, Frank Gifford, Jim Otto, Bob Lilly, George Blanda,
Merlin Olsen, Sam Huff, Roger Staubach, O. J. Simpson, Joe Namath, Doak Walker,
Joe Greene, Len Dawson, Larry Csonka, Terry Bradshaw, Bob Griese, Walter
Payton, Leroy Kelly, Tony Dorsett, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Montana, Howie Long,
Nick Buoniconti, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Michael Irvin, Bob Hayes, Emmitt Smith,
Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Cortez Kennedy, WarrenSapp. And on
and on.
Coach Siena felt he had died and gone to heaven. He
loved football and was at the Hall of Fame as soon as it opened and took time
to read plaques and view videos and admire the enshrined uniforms from the
early days of the game. “I’ll tell you what,” he said to himself, “these
players, coaches, assistants made this game great. The never gave up.” He was
mumbling an impromptu locker room pep talk. A part of him missed coaching. It
seemed like a long time since he’d worried about the Xs and Os of the game plan
for the next opponent. He realized what he missed wasn’t the competition as
much as the feeling of belonging to a team. His fondest memories were not about
big plays but a thousand little things. Things like running the team three-quarter
speed the last practice before Friday night, the smell of fresh cut grass on
the field, and sounds of parents rooting from the stands. He admired Lombardi,
sure, but he knew in his own heart that winning was not everything. Not by a
long shot.
The Football Hall of Fame function went as planned. The
coach was inspired. He was stirring in his remarks. Alan was first rate too.
Julie made sure all the little things were in order in the event space under
the tent-pavilion. It was football weather as on a mild Fall Saturday evening. Grace
crossed her fingers, hoping the contacts she made and her notes on the local
color of both Hall of Fame evenings would pay dividends in media placements in
print, broadcast, social media and blogs she was cultivating.
It was safe to say the Cleveland and Canton events
were productive for Ambrosia. Alan Edgewater, however was looking forward to some
quiet time on Sunday before the circus moved to Detroit on Monday.
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