I Can Still Remember It Like It was Yesterday

I Can Still Remember It Like It Was Yesterday by Christian D. Orr

Salina Journal Date: January 17, 2003 Section: News

I was standing on the football field at Ottawa High School at the conclusion of a first-round playoff game between Ottawa and Clay Center High School when this old, gruff looking man came ambling out of the stands and down to the field.

I was standing in front of a living legend - Blackie Lane.

I had heard so many stories about Blackie Lane through the years it was almost unimaginable I was finally meeting the man. The man my father had talked so highly for so many years.

"He was a man that taught me a lot," my father said recently. "He was a man that I truly respected."

Blackie Lane died last Friday. He was 79.

But legends, in athletics anyway, never die and Blackie Lane is undoubtedly a coaching legend.

Lane coached in more than 100 seasons of athletics during a 40-year career which started at Wakefield High School, included a stop at Beloit where he was an assistant for present Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady, before culminating with a 30-year stint at Clay Center High School.

While he was best known for his love of the sport of track he was also an assistant coach in football and basketball, picking up head coaching duties in both sports for brief stints throughout his career.

"I can't ever remember a time during those 40 years that he was not coaching something," said son Paul Lane, who is now the head football coach at Clay Center.

But it isn't longevity that makes Blackie Lane a legend. It is the stories that he told. The stories told about him. And, most importantly, the lives which he touched.

"He was a very special person for me," said Keady, who was just 22 years old when he took over the Beloit High School coaching reigns. "He taught me how to work with people. He had a lot of charisma. He was good about being patient with people."

Patient with players ... officials, now that is a whole different story.

"We used to always joke that whenever we played a basketball game we were automatically down two points right from the start," said Emporia State University football coach David Wiemers, who played for Lane at Clay Center. "We always knew that Blackie would get a technical in a game so we just started off knowing we were down two points."

It wasn't that Blackie was not a sportsman, he was every bit a sportsman. But he fought for his kids and he competed until the very end.

"I don't think he ever won a state championship, I'm not sure, but I don't think he ever did," Paul Lane said. "But that never bothered him because he wasn't in it to win championships. He was in it for the kids. He was in it for the camaraderie."

He was in it for the thrill of competition.

"He was a guy that made friends with the other athletes and coaches," said Abilene track and cross country Ken Russell, who has competed against Lane and coached against him as well. "He was a true sportsman.

"He was always the first one to come and congratulate you if you beat him and he always played by the rules. He didn't always do things according to the book and some people may have seen him only as a gruff-old codger, but he always had the kids interest at heart.

"He was a wonderful coach."

He was and always will be a coaching legend.

"Coach, you got my attention," my father said after learning of Blackie's passing. "And I still remember after all of these years."

This article ran a week after my grandfather passed away. It's hard to believe that was nearly 10 years ago. I knew something was wrong that day when my dad wasn't in his room during 4th hour because he was there during 1st hour. I knew something was really wrong when, just before I took the mat in my first ever varsity wrestling match, my mom told me that we needed to get to Topeka as quickly as we could after the dual was over (I took this too literally I guess, losing in 20 seconds). Speaking only from this one experience and nothing more, I hope the day I day is just like the day my grandfather passed away. 

We got to the hospital very late, only to find that my grandfather had been moved to a new floor. This was because my family was celebrating his life, and we celebrate by singing. My aunts and uncles had become too much of a distraction on the ICU floor and thus they moved Blackie to a floor to accommodate us. This was the first night that I ever heard the CCCHS school song sung with words, who knew? We all shared stories about my grandfather, even my little cousins. I shared about how much I loved him coming over every saturday morning to talk football, driving over even though he was too blind to drive. Early in the morning I got to say my goodbyes before leaving the room and leaving my aunts and uncles to say goodbye. 

I went to school the next day to take a test, because I knew that sitting at home wouldn't do anything but hurt. I walked into school and saw Mr. Block, my Anatomy and Phisology teacher standing outside of his room. Mr. Block lived next door to my grandparents for most of my childhood and was always over during family time. I had held it together up until that point but I broke down crying when we embraced for a hug. He understood just what I was going through, and the feeling was mutual. 

Two days later I went to my first varsity wrestling tournament in Rossville, KS. I got second place, knowing that Blackie was watching. The team lead a prayer and wanted to win for my family. My grandfather, even 30 years after retiring as a coach, was held in high regard by my friends and classmates. We won the tournament with only one person not placing in the top 3. 

I am going to be a teacher, influence by decades of teachers from my family. I realized that day just what kind of influence a teacher and a coach can have on students, parents and a community and I knew I wanted to be a teacher like my grandfather and father and mother. I hope the day I pass away is a celebration, because that is what death is. It is a celebration of a life that has ended, but hopefully just begun.