I write this blog from three time zones west of Coral Gables.
I grew up in Miami, worked at All Sports during my formative years, moved to Southern California in 1998 and now run the website and remail loyal to The U from across the country. God bless technology.
That said, my days of meeting the latest crop of Hurricanes—that ended over a decade ago. The last bunch of future NFL superstars in store back in my day were the likes of Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis, Yatil Green and ol’ Tremain Mack.
It’s the completely opposite of our in store staff. GM Harry Rothwell and other long-timers like Josh Peskin and Bob Stanley – they see these kids on a daily basis. They get to know them. They meet the folks and girlfriends when in town. These players are instantly part of the allCanes family.
When Harry and I spoke Tuesday evening after we learned of Bryan Pata’s death, we were both too stunned to talk about it. Today Harry compiled his thoughts in an email and asked me to post in the blog.
Those of you who know Harry, he’s a phone guy. Email isn’t his style. But in this case, he wanted to put some words on paper regarding this tragedy and we’re posting them here:
I first met Bryan at his freshman breakfast four years ago.
He sat at our table, we hit it off and from that point we became friends. Whenever he saw me, he called be by name and made a point to make time to chat with me.
He worked real hard to be the best he could be and he had played well since changing positions. He was thisclose to reaching his dream of going to the NFL and taking care of his family.
His girlfriend was in the store a few weeks back with Bryan’s sister, getting shirts made with his name and number #95 on them. We talked about how well he was doing. I told them what I liked best about Bryan was his infectious smile. That smile could light up a room and instantly put you in a good mood. That’s one memory I’ll always have of him.
God bless his soul, his friends and his family. Please give his coaches and teammates the strength to get through this awful and tragic loss.
This is the type of event that shows how meaningless 5-4 truly is, in the grand scheme of things.
I’ve personally seen a few big losses effect The U these past 15 years. Jerome. Shane. Marlin. Chris. Al.
No, disrespect to any of them, but those other tragedies didn’t make me feel as hurt as I do today. For some reason, this one is the toughest to deal with.
This is a time where team and family come together.
This is the time that every fan of this program must show there support to this team. They are hurting in ways you can’t even imagine. I see a lot of these kids on a daily basis. We talk to them when they’re in store. We hear how disappointed they are with a four-loss season. You can see it in their body language. These Canes are broken beyond repair right now.
It’s on their Miami family and this fan base to help heal that hurt.
Bryan, Al, Chris, Marlin, Shane and Jerome – look down on our kids this weekend and give them that fightin’ Cane spirit.
You fellas helped make this program and you’ll never be forgotten.
Sincerely,
