This year I’ll be rooting for a new football team, the Weber State Wildcats.
I’ll be pulling for the Wildcats because Ted Stanley is an assistant coach there, and he deserves a break. Ted is juggling his new job as a coach with an even newer job as a single father, of daughter Emmerson, while at the same time dealing with the recent loss of his wife Jocelyn. Her death is still intensely painful for those of us who were fortunate to be her friends and colleagues. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for Ted — but, knowing Ted, I am sure that he is approaching the challenges with a positive attitude, because that’s just the way he is. The Salt Lake Tribune recently carried an article about Ted, Emmerson, and Jocelyn that tells their story.
Many of us sports fans intuitively believe that the lucky bounce of the ball, the sudden gust of wind or the other random occurrences that can affect the outcome of games are the work of whimsical, capricious sports gods lurking somewhere above. If that is the case, I’m hoping those gods know Ted and Emmerson’s story and let the ball bounce Weber State’s way this year.
Weber State, which plays in the Big Sky conference, starts its season tonight at 10 p.m. against Fresno State. Go Wildcats!
