My March Madness Cinderella Story

A March Madness Story of Winning Games and then Losing My Coach

Trivial traces of blue and gold Flashes

restitution for a life of “Not good enough.”

The MACC lights are halogen orange, buzzing, humming burning bright;

it’s destiny.

I want my jersey hanging,

for guts and glory,

number 24,

there next to you.

The sadness dripped from underneath soft white lights, and the air sucked from the old cinderblocks of the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MACC) conference room into an invisible vortex right above Coach Waters’ forehead.

What did he just say?

“So wait, Coach, you’re leaving for Rutgers, like, for good?” I asked, completely blindsided.

Coach Waters stood up. He was alone with us, standing at the head of the semi-circle, his round black almond-shaped eyes blinking furiously. Today he seemed on edge, and coach Waters was never on edge.

“Yes,” he said. “I will be stepping down as the Kent State head men’s basketball coach.”

Gary Waters is a religious man. He has ethics. And he wanted to let us down easy by…