More than just a Coach!!!



Coach Gibson(Gibby) and me before I ran the State CC Meet my senior year 99-00


    Well, everyone this blog unfortunately I really did not want to write just yet but I feel as if I need to just to let you all know this someone who remains a big influence not only on my running but in life in general has left this earth earlier than when we wanted him too. Paul Gibson, my high school cross country at Tuscarawas Valley High School has passed away this past weekend. Here above is picture of him and myself before I ran the State Cross Country Meet my senior year.

    I didn't know of the news till I heard about it Saturday Night after I got back from the Columbus Crew game from a friend's Facebook Status back at home in Tuscarawas Valley area. I couldn't believe it at first.
The next morning I saw it on other High School friends' status' as well. My sister even texted me about the news as well. That Sunday morning I just had to go out for a run. Not a long one in particular but a decent 8 miles just to get the emotions and tears that were building up inside of me out. I knew over the last year that Gibby wasn't always in the best of health but the last time I saw him this past June at the State High School Track Meet he seemed to be in his usual lively mood. As we sat there with the Whitis family whom we all know very well just talking up the meet, looking at the program and making predictions and laughing it up about whatever B.S we were discussing. Watching the state track meet with Gibby was a great way of catching up after my high school days were done. It strange as I felt of the way my family and him first met him back when we moved back to Ohio around the time I was going into the 8th grade.
   
   You know the old saying don't judge a book by its cover well we knew it very well slowly yet strangely after our first meeting of Gibby. He was the Junior High/High School Guidance Consellor at the time my parents were enrolling my sister and I into Tuscarawas Valley when we were going to move back to Ohio. We remembered how loud, strange, and very unorganized his character gave off when we met him. My parents joking said afterwards of what are we getting are children into after our first meeting with him thinking the people at Tuscarawas Valley were going to be also. Though, it was how he acted and how outgoing he was that he set himself apart from the other facility there.

  Anyway, I left the middle school after some harassment from 8th graders and went to Tuscarawas Central Catholic for awhile. Many of the facility at Tusky Valley were saddened of how I left and I think Gibby was too. It kind of showed you how much he cared for students being a guidance counsellor and maybe too since I was a little different with ADD and asperger's symdrome(before I got diagnosed) that he saw a little bit of himself in me as well. But, I'll get to that subject soon.

  As it turned out of course I was able to find my grove in running and become very competive while at TCC. Gibby, of course, was the cross country coach back at Tusky Valley and gave me a lot of encouragement as the season went on. Even at times during my sophomore year at track when we bumped into each other. It wasn't until I started to experience major problems at TCC that everyone at Tusky Valley took notice. The Cross Country team and especially Gibby wanted me to come back to Tusky Valley and run for them before my Junior year. Looking back I wish did it would have been one more year I could have ran for Gibby and those guys.

  I ended up coming back to Tusky Valley after the fall season of Cross yet Gibby and my new teammates made me feel right at home at TVHS slowly but surely. My senior year was actually my first and only year with Gibby as my coach. However, I looked at it to be a very memorable one. I became the # 1 guy all year round and our team was very good getting top five finishes in big invitationals all season long with us winning the District meet. Sadly our team had some things go wrong in the Regional Meet and we didn't advance to state as a team placing 5th as they took the top 4 teams with 3 of the teams we beat at districts beating us. I believe our was the best boys cross country team to never make to the state meet in Gibby's coaching reign.

  However, I ended up 3rd overall in the race and going as an individual. I remember Gibby and I driving down to Columbus that Friday before just talking it up and laughing along the way including jogging the course at Scioto Downs and eating dinner and the pre race breakfast before the race. I just remember before hand I had a few pancakes and Gibby had this breakfast burger over at The Waffle House. LOL. I ended up not doing well as I wanted 40th place but I will never forget the great time I had competiting and neither will my parents and we had Gibby to thank for getting me there physically but mentally.

  One great thing about Gibby being the Guidance Counsellor was the fact that his door was always open to anybody. Didn't matter who you were he could talk to almost every student about not only about how they were doing in class but other stuff that was going on. Anybody in the school could hear his laughter even if you were way down the halls on the other side of the building it seemed. His Laugh was another great thing about it. It showed he had a great sense of humor but it could also seem to make you feel much better no matter what mood you were in.

His office usually looked like a big mess and unorganized at times but I think it reflected a lot about his character. Despite the unorganization he was still able to go out of his way being the Guidance Counsellor in helping the students on their future with going the college or orgazining their classes in the beginning of the year in high school. He was very essential in helping me get my running info out to small colleges thinking I could still compete and get an education since I didn't know if I wanted to run or not until I was convinced before I decided to go to Muskingum University (then it was College).

   Another that I mentioned in my last paragraph of how Gibby's door was always open was how he was able to communicate with the students despite his odd behavior and somewhat hyper-tension. In fact many students that come home to visit from college that stop at the school or go to one of the sporting events most of the time always want to talk to Gibby about how life is going or whatever else is going on and without missing a beat it seemed Gibby had that long term memory about almost everyone of them of what they were doing. Yet, it seemed that no matter what was going on with his life Gibby tended to put others first before himself. I remember being down my sophomore year of college, going through what I call a sophomore slump in running after a pretty good freshman year Gibby called my parents house when I was home for a break and wanting to talk to me knowing I was home and hearing about the down times I've been through that season. It was a great relief to talk to him and he wanted to let me know about more things in life then running all the time and to stay focused on my grades. It really made everything much better for me to know Gibby cared about me as a person. It was one of the reasons I kept going to the state track meet almost every year just to see him and talk about the meet and whatever with others whom he befriended.

  Speaking of that, here a funny moment that had happened at one of the state meets we went to. Back in 06 when I was an assistant voluntary coach at TVHS for the track team and we had a few individuals compete there and I was there with the coaches and Gibby sitting up top near the press box at the Jesse Owens Stadium before the Division II or III races were going off. Well we always like to make predictions of almost every race and the Boys 100 Meter Dash was coming up. Gibby predicted that the kid in Lane 8 would win. The rest of the Tusky Valley Track Coaches and I thougtht he was crazy so we thought ok. Usually the fastest kid is in Lane 4 or 5 in the Finals. Well, low and behold the kid in lane 8 turned out to win the race. Gibby was excited and jumped for joy. He knew that kid had one the fastest times coming into state but didn't get a good start in the Semifinals the day before and we didn't watch the semis the day before.

Now, you would think I would be surprised but that yet in the back of my mind I wasn't since this one of the many things Gibby loved to do was keep a track of athlete's stats, times and what not. He was like that when it came to other things such as dates, quotes and other type of information. Like, I mention. Their are those that tend to think I'm similar to Gibby in some ways like my love of sports and I can know a whole lot of useless knowledge. But, I don't tend to look at that as a negative but rather than a positive. I think something like that is something that makes you unique in a great way and Gibby really let that shine.I think Gibby is the ORIGINAL HUMAN ENCYCLOPEDIA!!

I noticed at the times at the state meet when sitting around with other coaches, athletes, and parents from different high schools he would talk to them about stuff or people from where they were from like it was nothing. That's another great thing about Gibby is that he wasn't afraid to communicate with others and could talk for long periods of time with certain people as if he knew them very well. With going to certain sporting events whenever it may be High school, college or something like a minor league baseball game was a great way Gibby maintained friendships throughout his life. Going to sporting events was one of his most favorite things to do.

Sports, were a big deal to Gibby as well. It was that determination that led him to be a great and runner, believe it or not. In fact he still holds the New Philadelphia High School Track Record for the 1600 meter run in 4:23. One of my old H.S. Teammates said in his FB Status that he hopes that record will never be broken. I really think it's going to take a really special talented kid to break that record. After his running days were over Gibby came back to the Tuscarawas Valley area to become a guidance counsellor and Cross Country and Track Coach. He had a couple teams and many individuals make it to the State Meet while he was there. He best team was in 93-94 when they finished 4th in the State Meet. Here's a pic of them.

1993 Tusky Valley CC Team that place 4th at State.

The 2 best runners are on the bottom row at the right. One of them was Tusky Valley's only State Individual Champion in Cross Country. The other was one of 2 kids I think that placed runner up individually at the State Meet. That's very good. Gibby had a long of really good talent. Plus he had the coaching knowledge to make good kids better than what they run beginning of the cross country season. It has earned him coach of the year honors in the conference and district too.

I really don't think or how much more I could say about a person like Gibby. The one thing that no one can judge him deeply on was how big his heart was. He just had that gift of helping out people whenever it be within his job as a Guidance Counsellor, Coach, or even a person he really had that gift of doing good for others. He along with many other close people in my life, especially my parents, are what I strive to be like in my life. I believe that world would be a much better place if there were more people like Gibby in it. I have noticed that reading all of the Facebook status of old high school friends or reading the guestbook of his online obiturary of those who in one way or another Gibby was able to touch their lives in a positive way as well. Gibby may not had a whole lot of family but I believe that he had a lot of friends that loved him back and treated him as if he were a part of their family.

Even, this blog may not be enough but I feel it's the least I can do to show not only what Gibby meant to me, but what he meant to those around him and the good he spread to their lives.

To close I just wanted to say Thank You Gibby for being a positive role model in my life. I was happy that he read my pre-boston blog back in June where I briefly mentioned him and how he liked it. It means so much that at least he knew how much influenced me. I don't think the State High School Track Meet will never be the same without you. But, I know you're up in heaven sitting up in the bleachers if they have any, talking to Jesus and making predictions and watching every minute of it and you'll still be there every step of the way.