World's Greatest Dad

I just finished reading Jens Pulver’s autobiography Little Evil. Jens was the first ever UFC Lightweight Champion. In the first chapter Jens tells the story of being 7 years old and having his drunk, abusive, father line him and his two younger brothers up in the living room, while they stood there he went into the other room and rummaged through a closet until he found a shotgun. When he returned he put the barrel of the gun in Jens’ 7 year-old mouth and said that he was going to kill them all. I have always known that I have probably the greatest dad on this planet, but reading those words and thinking back to when I was 7 and my dad was the world to me, I stopped for a moment and just soaked in how lucky I am.

My dad is and always will be my hero. There has never been a moment in my life when I needed him and he wasn’t there. My childhood memories are filled with images of my dad coaching my baseball teams, my soccer teams, my basketball teams, teaching me to work on cars, do home repairs, and to play golf. My dad would work 10-12 hour days and still make sure he was home in time to pick me up and take me to practice, sometimes there wasn’t time enough for him to change out of his work clothes. Not only was he taking me to practice but also he was there to coach. He wasn’t getting paid to coach, most of the time he was never even asked to coach, he was just always there and the next thing you knew he was on the field helping out and then he was one of the coaches. I never had one of those moments when I looked for him in the stands and he wasn't there because he was right there in the dugout or on the sideline.

I have always been close with my dad and in recent years have probably become closer to him than I have ever been. I have lived my life by the motto, “If I am just half the man he is I am doing pretty good”. Everything I am as a man is based on what I learned from him, whether directly or just by watching him and what he does. He truly is something special and I hope I have made him proud.