Treat others as you want to be treated

Some weekends are full of surprises. This past weekend was one of them.

Friday night football had a surprise or two. We'll get to that in a moment.

On Saturday afternoon, we were driving east on Harry Sauner Road. As we approached the motel, a horse-drawn carriage passed us in the westbound lane.

I immediately recognized the folks seated in front: Galen and Lynn Neal, a rather dapper-looking pair, I might add.

Other passengers in my car quickly noticed the couple seated in back: Dr. Anthony and Shannon (Heaton) Wetherington.

The newlyweds – who were married in Savannah, Ga. – were having a wedding reception at a local restaurant.

Good for them.

Without a doubt, they arrived in grand style as they turned a number of heads along North High Street and Sauner Road.

Congratulations to the new couple and thanks for surprising local motorists on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

* * *

One of my favorite college football coaches – past or present – is Lou Holtz.

John Barney and Smoke Blankenship probably aren't surprised. They know how much I love the Irish. (3-0, Baby!)

Coach Holtz has been retired for several years now. But his words of inspiration will never go out of style.

Here are a few examples from the Coach.

• "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

• "Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated."

• "Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it."

• "No one has ever drowned in sweat."

• "I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary."

My all-time favorite quote attributed to Coach Holtz is the WIN principle. WIN is an acronym for What's Important Now. I've tried to encourage my own children to adopt the WIN principle as they travel through life's ups and downs. (It applies to more situations than football, I assure you.)

This past Friday brought to mind Coach Holtz and his personal victories and setbacks. I was surprised to hear a local football fan – one of those sideline experts – criticize the Hillsboro Indians varsity football team, with a special message directed toward the coaching staff.

For starters, let me say this. The coaches don't hear you. And even if they did (they don't), they are far too busy trying to coach a football game to respond to your expert advice.

You might do all of us a simple favor by toning down the rhetoric. Of course you probably won't do that. You're too self-centered to appreciate the efforts of the 45 or so young men who endured the sweat of two-a-days in the August heat and the first four weeks of the regular season.

I'll concede that the efforts are not what the players and coaches would have wanted – an 0-4 start doesn't make them any happier than it makes the fans.

But you know what? Those 45 young men are out there every Friday night. More often than not, they are overmatched and outsized. But they never quit.

Two weeks ago, against a solid Wilmington Hurricane team, Hillsboro's Kordell Ford dropped back in punt formation. The Wilmington punt returner (Malik Rollins) broke several tackles, crossed midfield, and headed down the north sideline at Richards Memorial Field.

The only Hillsboro player left to stop Rollins was the punter. Ford lowered his shoulder pads and dropped Rollins at the 20-yard line. Ford then helped the Wilmington runner to his feet. The players exchanged a look of respect and admiration for one another.

For those of you who haven't played the game, that's football.

From watching every minute of three of the Indians' first four games this season, here are a few honest observations.

• Hillsboro is a small team. (No kidding.)

• Hillsboro is a gutsy team. (If you're small, you'd better have some intestinal fortitude.)

• Hillsboro has some talented players. Kordell Ford is one of them. So is Logan Lesley. And Matthew Arnold. Avery Ventura and Zach Young will make some hits. Personally, I'm a fan of Craig Jackson. Like many of the Indians, what he lacks in size, he makes up for in heart and determination. I've watched him break tackles from players twice his size. He's an athlete.

• The South Central Ohio League is a tough league this year. Clinton Massie is head and shoulders above the field. But teams like Madison-Plains are much improved, too.

High school football runs in cycles. I was fortunate enough to cover Jim Horne's 10-0 Indians and watch three Hillsboro teams reach the high school football playoffs.

Highland County Press sports editor Stephen Forsha has yet to cover a high school football postseason game involving a local team. That's just how it goes.

What all fans have to realize is this: The sun doesn't shine on the same dog's rear end every day.

I'm not sure if Lou Holtz ever said that, but I'm sure he probably wanted to.

Let's keep supporting our local teams and their coaches.

After all, these young men are out there on the field each week. They take the hits – and they deliver a few as well.

They don't need any potshots from the peanut gallery.

Rory Ryan is a former sportswriter and factory football player who was hit in the head once too often.