Year-end message to students with a twist

Thoughts this week turn to an annual theme, with a twist, if you will, centering around commitment to athletics and smart decisions by young people on the highways.

This has been traditionally the time of the year when I mount a soapbox and preach to kids about the dangers of alcohol consumption and driving an automobile.

Inspired by a recent television showing of “The Natural,” the famous Robert Redford movie directed by Barry Levinson, and a chance piece of correspondence from longtime Piscataquis County sports booster Joe Riitano, I set about today to address matters of import in this yearly forum on the aforementioned issues.

Watching the famous baseball movie triggered a lot of memories for this old coach.

It reminded me of a time when a former player and I discussed our favorite sports movies together.

Longtime John Bapst Memorial High School standout athlete Pat Culumovic loved – and I’m guessing he still does – sports movies.

Baseball was Pat’s best sport. He was so good at it in fact – Pat was quite a hitter – that he parlayed that talent into a college baseball career at the University of Vermont.

Today, Pat is a successful doctor in South Carolina, and all of us who had the privilege of schooling Pat in the finer points of high school curriculum in the classroom and on the playing field are indeed proud of his accomplishments.

“The Natural” speaks to such issues of boyhood dreams, and Pat certainly has realized his.

In all my years of coaching, few athletes have set and attained goals the way young Mr. – er, Dr. – Culumovic did.

But it was Mr. Riitano’s letter that put this column in motion, for I came away from its reading trying to figure out why some athletes are committed to success while others aren’t.

As a coach, I’ve spent a lifetime working, searching for that magic formula.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

We are all – including the athletes – products of the environment in which we were raised. Coupled with that educational axiom is attitude formation toward figures of authority.

If I had to summarize my years in teaching and coaching, I would address any elements of change as the increased influence parents have on the proceedings.

Mr. Riitano’s letter also spoke to the parental issue, and after viewing “The Natural” and thinking about Redford’s character, Roy Hobbs, and the positive influence his father had on him, I’d have to applaud parents who address the element of commitment at an early age with their own offspring. Joe Riitano raised a family of good athletes who were also good people.

And like Joe, Pat Culumovic’s parents were supportive of both the coaches and the kids who played with their offspring – not an easy task to perform sometimes.

All of this, of course, brings me to the final point of today’s column: the partying issue.

Not a night goes by this time of the year when I fail to harken back to the horrific nature of telephone calls telling me of a highway fatality involving kids.

Too many times, alcohol consumption is the culprit, and I can’t climb up on this soapbox enough to reiterate the necessity for prudence by kids who want to share the false sense of security which accompanies this end of the school year with their classmates over a round or two of drinks.

Being diligent in that message by family and friends to young people can never transpire enough.

Athletes who make a serious commitment to a team are wonders to behold, win, lose, or draw.

Steering athletes and students to make a commitment to smart decisions, however, is the teaching of a life skill that will serve them well forever.

Be prudent, my young friends, and be diligent on and off the field.

BDN columnist Ron Brown, a retired high school basketball coach, can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net