Listen to the Coach

Paul, our 2nd son and 5th born, discovered wrestling while we served in Virginia and became All City Champion his first year – he never lost a match. We had thoughts that maybe he was supposed to be born a Sanderson but the storks got confused at birth and found the right ward but wrong house – anyway we were pretty proud of him and decided to ‘keep him’ instead of give him back to Steve and Debbie Sanderson the parents of the future wrestling legends, including Cael, the Gold Medal winner in Athens.

The second year was a repeat of his first year right up until the final minute of the final match of the All City Championships. He had never been defeated and was in the championship match with a young man he had soundly beaten each of the five times they had wrestled. Paul controlled the first two periods and as the final begins Paul is ahead in points 7-0 and has the option as to position for the final minute. His coach – a wise and conservative man – tells him to take ‘the top’ (a position of advantage for you non-wrestling folk) but instead of doing as instructed Paul quietly objects to the counsel and states he would like to take ‘the bottom’ (a position of disadvantage). He doesn’t have time to explain his ‘logic’ but inwardly he desires to add some more points. His wiry body and quick mind had patented a reversal move that not only was ‘guaranteed’ to add points but the girls in the stands were always quite impressed with the action. If you put those motivations together in a fourteen year old mind and knowing there are scores of ‘lovelies’ in the stands he is quite focused on his decision and against his better judgment the coach finally relinquishes his coaching authority to this determined ‘kid’ and told him to do what ever he wanted.

The ‘patented’ move only works to perfection if the other guy does what he is either supposed to do or usually does – well this time the other kid ‘forgot’ to do what he had done so well so many times in the past and instead of being a cute little reversal with the girls in the stands doing their oohs and aahs they instead see a young man with his arm caught in some inescapable hold – unless breaking off one of his arms is an option - and is now in a state of embarrassment instead of the more normal position of being the hero. But, no worry, all he had to do was to ‘bridge’ (another of those terms reserved for the Sanderson Boys and a few of us Heber Valley wrestling professionals) for the balance of the period, a time that was fast disappearing. He only had 38 seconds to ‘bridge’. He knew he would still win the match – and the championship - as the points for a ‘near pin’ (there I go again) would only be three so the match would end 7-3 for Paul Ritchie the two time All City Champion. He kept his shoulders up and could hear the crowd doing a count down for him , they chanted in unison ”10”, then “9 ,8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2” and just before the buzzer sounded he heard another sound that crushed his ego and his two time championship dreams – it was the sound of a referee slapping the mat right near his ear – a terrible sound and a sound he had never heard ‘in reverse’ - meaning when he wasn’t ‘on top’ (remember the advantage position?) . He couldn’t believe his ears but it was unmistakable –even with his ears in an unusual position he knew the sound - he had just been beaten and not only beaten, he had been pinned – an event that all the astrologers put together had never predicted nor could they have predicted it because it was against all the laws of sanity or protocol or any of those other big words that describe what must not ever be allowed to happen in a real heroes life.

Thankfully he graciously ‘lost’. He shook the Champion's hand and left the mat saying and expressing less than most of us would who couldn’t believe what had just happened. We, who were standing in the stands – stunned - couldn’t believe what we had just heard and saw. Some would have challenged the timing of the call, some whether he was really pinned, but Paul, to his credit, took his defeat and left the mat - but HE TOOK WITH HIM A FAR BETTER LESSON THAN HE EVER WOULD HAVE TAKEN IF HE HAD LEFT WITH TROPHY #2. He MEMORIZED the words of the lesson and had them deeply implanted into his soul, brain and eternal memory:

LISTEN TO THE COACH

Paul survived the loss, he has since grown up, served a powerful mission to Mexico, earned an MBA from BYU, married the stake president’s only daughter and is the father of four potential City Champions. He seldom shows off his Championship Trophy but he frequently shares the story of the lesson learned from his 2nd place medal.

“Listen to the Coach” is wise counsel. Had Paul listened he would have had another trophy, but of more serious and eternal consequences is the thought that if Satan had listened he wouldn’t be damned from his eternal progression. Sometimes the consequences of our failure to follow counsel is just some embarrassment (Paul) while other times it might mean our eternal life (Ol Scratch as John Kovach used to call him). History is full of ‘failure to listen to the coach’ stories:

The Lost 116 Pages of the Book of Mormon.
President and Sister Thomas Marsh and a few pints of cream.
“Don’t add another tax to the Tea going to the colonies.”
“Dad, I think we should have listened to Noah, this is a lot of rain.”
“Lot, don’t let her look back towards Sodom.”
“I knew we shouldn’t have gotten John Paul Jones mad...”
“When Abinadi says, ‘Touch Me Not’ he certainly makes a point...”
“Don’t bomb Pearl Harbor, remember, Toro, Toro, Toro...”

Those stories in history would have different endings if some of the above people would have listened more carefully to their coaches - or if their coaches would have been more determined and forceful in their coaching.

For a missionary this lesson has many applications. They have a lot of coaches and at the same time they must become great at coaching. One minute they listen to the Coach and the next minute they ‘are’ the Coach. The application of this lesson is going to make or break the success of all of us, especially our missionaries.

The Savior was the greatest Coach of all time. When we Follow Him we will win those ‘matches’ that matter most. He began his ministry by inviting a few special people to ‘Come, Follow Me’. The truly Wise ones did and it changed their life – forever. The invitation is still open and the Wise ones are still listening to this incredible ‘Coach’ and their lives are still experiencing the Mighty Change. The Invitation hasn’t changed, it still begins with:

“Come, Follow Me...”
“BE Ye Therefore Perfect...”
“Love Your Enemies...”
“Love your neighbor as yourself...”
“Keep My Commandments...”
“Endure to the End...”

And His coaching Manuel still includes some incredible promises:

“All that I have...”
“Eternal Life, which GIFT is the greatest...”
“Never Ending Happiness...”

I think I’m going to sign up with this Coach...His program looks really good...good pay, great retirement program. I remember when I played Little League, Jake Taylor, my coach, promised me that if I would keep my eye on the ball I could ‘get a hit’...this new Coach says the same thing, ‘keep my eye on the ball’ but then He gets real serious and looks me right in the eye and promises me that if I will do it – and DO IT HIS WAY - then I can hit the ball out of the park every time...He sounds a lot smarter than ‘ol Jake’ and I thought Jake was the best Coach that ever was...This new Coach? I think he’s even better. I’m going to sign up to play on his team...Hope it’s not too late...

PS I think my son Paul is a lot smarter today than he was back in ’87 and I’ll bet if he decides to wrestle for this Coach he will always take his Counsel and stay on top. That would make him as smart as those Sanderson boys and some say they are the best in the world - that’s pretty good. They must have a good Coach too.