Drama fills sports and makes for great headlines. Going for it on fourth and inches with a title on the line can make your heart stop. A last second three-pointer can make your lungs explode. Drama and sports just seem to go together.
Growing up in the 70s, I remember sports drama making it to our country color TV antenna where we picked up the three main channels, WABG Channel 6 for ABC, WJTV Channel 12 for CBS and WLBT channel 3 for NBC. Oh, yeah, I got Morgan Freeman and his work on public television’s Electric Company. As the youngest of four I didn’t control very much of what we watched as a family. But it was the real-life drama that came out of the sports world that I can remember.
Sports movies such as “Something for Joey” the story of Penn State’s John Cappelletti and his younger brother Joey who suffered from Leukemia. The elder brother dedicated his season, ran over and around everything that came his way and picked up the Heisman that he gave to his brother. A tear jerker. Real life. Real sports drama.
And of course the Brian Piccolo saga – Brian’s Song – was viewed with the Kleenex box nearby everyone. My sister made me read a book about a soccer player named Eric who had the disease. But these were things that even though real weren’t a part of my life.
This past week sports and drama came to a head in my own life. My friend Jeff Hill, a great football coach here at Royal Oak High School (Michigan), resigned from that position. The alum had just come back to his hometown to turn things around from three-plus seasons of winless football. He won his first game this past season to put the 28-game-losing-streak to bed. He lit a fire under the team and fans, put fundamentals back into play and was starting to build a potential winning program.
Then his second daughter was born just before Thanksgiving. Maleena added to the family along with sister Macy and wife Natalie and Jeff was preparing his team in the off-season to take another step up the ladder of football success. But some “fussiness” by Maleena put them in the doctor’s office and after plenty of tests leukemia was discovered.
“That stops your world,” Jeff explained.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a two-month-old baby, Hill knew what he had to do for his family and for his team. He resigned as head coach to focus on helping heal his baby. The family has taken on the blood cancer playbook and put down the one with “x’s and o’s”. Players, fans and school officials were stunned by the tragic news.
“We were all blown back at first,” senior quarterback Brandon Fredrikson said. “No one knew what he stepped down for.”
Hill met with the team Thursday. Players said they understand that family comes before team.
“We can tell that he’s a family man first because he stepped down from football — something that he loves — but he obviously loves his family more,” Fredrikson explained.
Another senior, Nolan Jones, understands the loss to everyone is huge.
“Losing him as a coach is a really big hurt to a lot of people,” Jones said. “And it’s a pretty big hurt to the program. He really brought back a lot of things and he really pointed Royal Oak in the right direction. It really hurts to see him go but its completely understandable. He and his family obviously have a much, much more pressing matter to attend to.”
So I’m asking you, my readers to stop and pray for Maleena and her family. If you want to do more than that, an account has been set up at Comerica Bank to help offset medical costs. It’s listed as the “Maleena Irene Hill Leukemia Fund” and you can keep up with her progress online at www.caringbridge.org. Look for the “visit” link and then type in Maleena Hill. The site will ask you to join but it won’t cost you anything. Locally, several folks are working to put together fundraisers as well
Would you take a moment to help?
Thanks.
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