Published: September 15, 2009 11:40 pm      

Moorefield spends an evening with its Coach

We’ve discussed it before. Whenever you find yourself gathered with old friends and teammates, the conversation invariably turns to the coach. Doesn’t matter which coach. There’s just going to be a long discussion about the coach — the funny stories, the not-so-funny stories, the real stories and sometimes the not-so-real aspects of the stories that have grown into truth with each telling through the years and years.

There isn’t a community worth its salt that doesn’t have The Coach, and by The Coach we mean the man or the woman who comes immediately to mind when the reference point is “Coach.”

Remember when Coach did this? Remember when Coach said that? How’s Coach been? Saw Coach the other day, and so on and so forth, the reason being Coach has conducted his life in such a devoted so-on and so-forth manner in helping, teaching, coaching and guiding so many for so long that he has become the community fixture known as Coach. The same can be said of the community’s Doc, as we were reminded with Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham in the movie “Field of Dreams.”

As for Coach, all of our communities here have been blessed to have The Coach for seemingly each new generation. For instance, some of the more powerful moments to take place last Friday during the Allegany High School Reunion of Champions involved coaches and players seeing each other for the first time after so many years of being apart.

Sure, on the surface it could have appeared nobody looked anything at all the way they did 20, 30, 40 years ago, yet there was no need for re-introductions, because in those moments, time stood still. All the coach had to do was look into the eyes of his former players, and see the look of respect and gratitude to know who they were, to recall what they went through together, and to understand what they still mean to each other to this day.

Even through some extra padding acquired through the years, the eyes never lie and are a window to the pride of a camaraderie forever shared.

That’s what’s going to take place Saturday, from 4 to 8 p.m., at the Moorefield Town Park where Moorefield will enjoy “An Evening With Coach Hott.”

George Hott was one of the greatest athletes in the history of Moorefield, a two-time all-state halfback for the Yellow Jackets as well as an all-star in basketball and baseball. He played football for the West Virginia University Mountaineers for two seasons before leaving Morgantown to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

George Hott served our country for 17 months during the Korean Conflict (looked like a war to me), and when he returned home from the Army he went to Shepherd College, from where he graduated in 1956 after an athletic career that would land him in the Shepherd CollegContact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.

Write to him at mburke@times-news.com.