It is crazy to think the end of the year is upon us here.
It seems like the school just started and now we are halfway through the school year.
Cody Thorn
There have been a few things in recent weeks I figured I’d share a little bit about from where my travels have taken me lately.
I guess the one closest to home is the fact my daughter moved back to live with her mom. We made it a year and we didn’t kill each other so I’m using that as the positive to the situation.
I spent almost her whole life being a part-time parent with shared custody. It worked out OK given the circumstances between her mother and I.
Flash forward to last year she moved in with me after few years of her mom dealing with the roller coasters that come with having a teenager. It provided quite an eye opening experience for me and for Riley as well.
It definitely had its moments of fun, some frustration and some, ‘oh my god’ and ‘what the blank are you thinking’ scenarios unfold. The transition from being the ‘cool’ parent to being a dad with actual rules and expectations was hard for both of us.
I tried to use examples I learned from my parents because a lot of it was different for me. I maybe got onto her a few times since she was a teenager but never to the point where I had to take measures like a grounding or even an argument.
I often hear girls are easier when they are younger and a pain in the rear as teenagers. On the same token, I often heard the opposite is true for boys. Luckily, with Carter being three and getting into everything in the world I often find myself thinking, your sister was never like this. Insert *head exploding emoji*
I learned how much teenagers eat and I learned how important a phone is for their lives and how they rather die than be grounded from it. So maybe the experience I gained for this short time will help me with Carter in about a decade.
It is funny to see how much different they are at the age of three and I will often use my daughter as a measuring stick for years to come. I guess that is unfair part of being the oldest. I was in those shoes too many eons ago. I feel like the guinea pig for my parents and by the time my second youngest brother came along, he would almost get away with murder and my parents were like *shrug emoji* and I was like 10 minutes late for curfew I would get a tongue lashing and maybe a slap across the side of the head if I decided my input might have been worthy.
I haven’t told my son yet that his sister is moving to Colorado and honestly not sure how to do it and him being as young as he is, I’m not sure what he will think. Maybe he will notice. Maybe not. I mean, she was a teenager and was hardly ever home.
It will definitely be a change for me. When I moved from Joplin to St. Joseph for a new job the distance between her and I felt a lot longer than the three hour car ride. Now, with her being hours and hours away it will be a little harder to drop in for a visit over the weekend like I did before. But, she is a junior and will be in college before I know it so perhaps a visit from her old man might not be the best idea. I hope she can take some positives from going to Platte County for a year and hopefully I can return to the role of the ‘cool’ parent again soon.
SIMONE AWARDS
I attended the Simone Awards for the first time on Dec. 12 and I can say I’m honestly blown away by how cool the whole thing was. The event was televised and I was fortunate to have played a part in picking some of the nominees for the various awards that were handed out.
What I was most impressed with was the speech by Anthony Simone Jr., a former award winner and the brother of Thomas A. Simone, who the awards ceremony is named after.
This year’s event was the 37th edition of the high school football awards, which were renamed in memory of Thomas, who was killed when he was hit by a car in 1983.
Anthony Simone Jr. provided a very impressive speech, which came only minutes after a video was played about his late brother — one he never met.
“He left an undeniable legacy and it carries us 37 years to this point today,” he said.
He used the four words that as on the Simone Award, which went to Olathe North’s Arland Bruce IV, that defined his brother: love, friendship, courage and champion.
“He loved every day with a full heart, he loved life, he loved God, he loved his family and most importantly he loved when it was hard to love, he loved people that were hard to love,” Anthony Jr. said.
He went on to talk about what a loyal friend his brother was and how he was a friend to anyone that needed a friend. He would use his large stature to make sure no one was bullied and speak up when people spoke down to classmates that weren’t as fortunate as others.
“He had the courage to choose the right thing when it was easy to do the wrong thing,” he said. “He chose to be a friend to those that needed a friend.
“Tommy died before I was born and I didn’t have the opportunity to meet him, but Tommy impacted my life in amazing way. I wouldn’t be the man or the father I am today if it wasn’t for him and the legacy he left.”
He wanted everyone in the crowd to pay attention to their daily routine and when they see the No. 73, think of Tommy, who wore that number playing for the Necco Raiders youth football team. He then challenged the thousands in the crowd to ask themselves “Am I being a champion today?”
PARK HILL PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
The day before the Simone Award, I was invited to Park Hill South for a ceremony honoring the students that took part in the professional studies program.
The paper this year took part in the program and provided a chance for a high school student a chance to get a view into how businesses work. Early in the school year I got to meet Will Wright, a senior at PHS, who was going to work with us this semester.
It was great having him and I hope he enjoyed he experience as well. Many who read the paper or check out the website saw a number of photos that he took throughout the season. He was very reliable when it came to helping out. It was great to have another body out there to help get to games we might not have been able to otherwise. I essentially cut him loose and let him go out and take photos. I worked with him on tips on taking the camera but I didn’t want him stuck in the office to learn the boring side of this job. He definitely has a talented eye for getting action photos and he responded to the challenges. When I was his age, I’d been scared to drive all over a city like this to new stadiums or venues to take photos. We only really ran into trouble once getting in and as soon as I told Winnetonka to have the AD to call me, they let him, so I guess that’s something.
Will made a slideshow and was set up with 100s of other students from Park Hill and Park Hill South to showcase what they learned during the semester. It is a really cool program to see. Kind of a little jealous of the experiences they gained. When I was in high school four score and seven years ago we had a career day where I spent a day with a local TV sportscasters and realized I didn’t want to get into TV. I got a second chance and got to shadow a sports writer for a day. So my experience that led to me into this career consisted for an 8-hour day. I feel that I gave Will a lot more experience and hopefully he can take this and continue to grow when he finds a college to attend.
SIMONE WINNER REMEMBERED
The trip to Olathe North also brought back a memory that hadn’t crossed my mind much lately but it was something that instantly struck a chord. On the wall of the school there are now seven winners of the Simone Award. One of the names I saw up there was James Franklin III, who I met when he played at Northwest Missouri State. His mom was at the ceremony and stood up and held a photo of her late son, waving to the crowd. Her son was a talented running back at not only NWMSU but also at Nebraska-Omaha, but when they cut the football program he had to find a new place to play. He just missed being part of a national championship in Maryville. I remember he left the football program to follow his dream of being a musician but I remember the night I was in the office in at the News-Press and we got word that he died by suicide. I had to write the story for the paper that day. In a sad way, it took the name to jog the memory since its been four years.
I also got to see Chase Coffman and Josh Freeman together in the same room during the ceremony. Freeman played at Kansas State and later multiple teams in the NFL, while Coffman was a standout tight end at Missouri and later bounced around the NFL as well. Both looked like they could still play and sometime it is amazing to remember type of talent that comes from smaller schools that have made it to their respective sports highest stage.
The same could be said for Drew Lock, who I got to watch play in Arrowhead on Dec. 15. The game obviously wasn’t a pleasant homecoming for the Lee’s Summit native but it was still crazy to think that five years ago he was slinging the ball around in Suburban Conference games and now he is a starter in the NFL. I watched him a few times at Mizzou and was always impressed how much he developed from his freshman year when he was thrown into the fire. He is a great quarterback and I’m glad he’s getting a chance to shine but out of the entire 32 teams in the NFL, I’d had picked any team other than the Broncos or Raiders. Anyone else I’d been happy with, but I guess I should get used to seeing him playing for the Donkeys. In a weird twist, I stopped at Arby’s in Colby, Kan., on Saturday and ran into Drew’s dad, mother and sister, who were on the way to Denver to watch the Broncos play the Lions.