The Golden Rule

It really is not that hard but we sure have managed to screw it up. At a time when both sides of the political spectrum attempt to use the bible to justify repression and hate directed at whatever group they feel is a threat to their slice of “America,” we ignore a simple verse of biblical wisdom: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In a world full of Takers, Givers are like finding a Coupe deVille hiding in the bottom of a Cracker Jack box – rare.

 Steve and Kay McConnell

Mrs. Kay McConnell’s late husband, Steve, had a longtime love affinity for the McCook, Nebraska High School football team, the Bison. The retired Red Willow County Sheriff’s deputy, his wife said, “seldom missed a Bison football game.”  Both of their grandsons are MHS football alum, but their allegiance to the red jersey clad team, says Mrs. McConnell, runs deeper than blood. “We know the boys’ parents; we know their grandparents and in some cases even their great-grandparents. Steve was so proud of not only the players on the team, but the whole town. Here, we do what’s right and we might squabble some amongst ourselves, but (if) one of us is in trouble, watch how fast we are there to help.”

In this picturesque High Plains hamlet of 8,000, as Red Willow County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Wood once told me, “Up here, we still got the bad guys outnumbered.”

So, it was totally unexpected when one October Tuesday morning, three years ago, her husband said, “We (Bison) play at Scottsbluff Friday night - that is a long way – I hate that drive. Let’s go down to Canadian (Texas) and watch them play.”

 America's 50 Yard Line

In 2011, I spent the fall up and down US Highway 83 observing three towns with outstanding long time high school football teams; Linton, ND, McCook, NE and Canadian, TX. I wrote about my experience in the book Prairie Blitz: “A season of high school football on America’s 50 yard line.”          (www.davealmany.com) The McConnell’s, like most in McCook, had bought a copy of the book. “Steve loved that book and I guess he just wanted to see one of the other towns,” his widow said.

The directions for a road trip from McCook, NE to Canadian, TX are not complex: go up to Pizza Hut and hang a right on to highway 83. You will travel south through a series of small towns, all resemble the last; a clutter of small stores that have somehow found a 21^st century Walmart proof niche of survival. You will be slowed by a diabolical stop-light system that funnels traffic in intermittent jerks, but, in reality is a blessing. (If you are in a hurry, get back on the interstate and bypass all of the Highway 83 Main Streets. You will get there faster, non-burdened having seen nothing). Wildcat stadium will be the 31^st football field you pass on your right, about 300 miles- five and one half-hours if you can draft off an empty semi not afraid to push the pace.

 Highway 83, Canadian, TX

With a sister in nearby Dumas, TX, the trip to the Texas Panhandle, although unexpected, was not a hard-sell to Kay. “Thursday morning we headed south and it was a beautiful drive,” Mrs. McConnell recalled. “We got there (Canadian) Thursday afternoon. We spent that evening and Friday morning, you know, just looking around with nothing to rush us. It was very enjoyable. We had lunch downtown (Friday).  Beautiful town, it was just like we pictured it would be from the book.”

Early Friday afternoon the McConnell’s went to the stadium. “We were walking around the empty parking lot (the stadium is located six blocks from the high school). A man came out of the (field house) building and asked if we needed any help.”

After Mr. McConnell informed the helpful stranger of the purpose of their trip, he introduced himself as Chris Koetting, head football coach of the Canadian Wildcats.

Koetting was headed back to the high school for the last period game day Pep Rally and insisted the McConnell’s accompany him as his guests. “The pep rally was just really fun,” said Mrs. McConnell, “the spirit was everywhere.”

The couple from a Nebraska town that most in Canadian would recognize as “one of the other towns in the book” were treated like foreign royalty. “We know how busy the coach must have been, but he even took time after the pep rally to have us into his office to talk about football and our town. He was just so gracious, when he had no reason to be, it just made us feel so good. My husband even got him to sign our copy of the book.”

 Highway 83, McCook, NB

With her sister and brother-in-law in tow and seated in “Bison” stadium chairs, the word spread quickly through the festive pre-game stadium that this was the couple from “that town from Nebraska in the book.” Many locals stopped by to introduce themselves, to offer a big Texas style welcome to the pair.

A diagnosis of cancer last May was followed by Mr. McConnell’s rapid decline and quick passing only three months later. It was a punch in the collective gut of the close knit McCook community. “He wanted so bad to make it to the first home (football) game this year,” his wife remembers. “He knew we were going to have a good team, but he just wasn’t up to it. He passed away a couple of days later.”

“Up until the day he died, Steve loved to talk about his visit to Canadian. I am so glad we made that trip. It is a very good memory we shared,” Mrs. McConnell says.

 Chris Koetting and
the Canadian Wildcats

Tomorrow, Chris Koetting, with a ghoulish like head coaching record at Canadian of 115 wins and 11 loses, will lead the Wildcats on to the million dollar turf of Jerry Jones’ gluttonous AT&T Cowboy Stadium. Twice the number of residents from the dusty Panhandle town will be there to support a coach and his team in pursuit of a third Texas State Championship in the last five years.

But, the final score is already in. You see, Canadian, TX is another of those special places full of Givers, where “we still got the bad guys outnumbered.”