Thursday August 19, 2010

The Humble Legend

The Humble Legend
I have mentioned several times in blogs and in conversations that I could never give as much to Clemson as it has given to me. I know a lot of you feel the same way.

Sure some will complain about IPTAY dues or parking assignments or ticket prices, but really is there any way to repay Clemson for what it has given us?

Earlier this week I witnessed one of the coolest things I have ever seen and it reminded me of what Clemson can give.

I had an afternoon I will never forget Tuesday.

Bill Wilhelm might be the last living legend in Clemson and the former head baseball coach at Clemson is in Oconee Memorial Hospital with a couple of health issues.

One of his former players, Bob Mahony of IPTAY, told me earlier in the week that Coach Wilhelm was struggling a little as doctors try to get a proper diagnosis of his issues. Bob said that Coach Wilhelm was a little discouraged by the amount of time it has taken to get him back to health. He said that Coach Wilhelm needed some encouraging visitors to help brighten his day so another close friend invited me to visit Coach in the following day.

I had no idea going into the visit but I had an opportunity to see how Clemson could work in a way that I had not seen lately. I saw a friend, who is a Clemson graduate and resident, take about 45-50 minutes to visit another Clemson resident in the hospital and it appeared to lift Coach Wilhelm’s spirits.

When we first arrived Coach Wilhelm had just met with one of his doctors and he appeared to be tired of the process. I can understand that a man who is later in his life can be frustrated by the lack of answers from people who you think know everything.

I had talked to a couple of people who visited with Coach Wilhelm and they said they noticed the same thing. It was as if he was tired of this process of visiting doctors.

But then I saw something truly beautiful Tuesday.

My friend asked a couple of questions of Coach Wilhelm about his Clemson career and the coach perked right up.

Coach Wilhelm has always had a twinkle in his eye and that suddenly came back when he began reminiscing about some of his former Clemson players, former coaches and former Tiger teams.

Wilhelm coached the Tigers from 1958-1993. In his 36 years Wilhelm led the Tigers to a 1,161-536-10. Clemson was 381-158-1 in ACC play under Wilhelm. His teams won 17 ACC championships and seven ACC tournament titles. Coach Wilhelm led the Tigers to 18 NCAA tournament appearances including six trips to the College World Series.

There are two things I have always noticed about Coach Wilhelm and they still hold true today. First, he is one of the most humble men I have ever met. No one deflects compliments the way he does. He does not seem embarrassed by compliments but he does also seem to prefer to talk about others instead. “It was the players that won games,” he says.

The other thing I have always noticed about him was the way he spoke. Coach Wilhelm is an extremely bright man who speaks gracefully. He has a huge vocabulary and words just seem to roll when he speaks.

It looked like the reminiscing had sparked some energy. He went on and on about former players from his first team at Clemson. He was so proud of what they had accomplished after baseball.

Coach Wilhelm’s mind is still sharp as a tack. He would say things like, “On May 1, 1954 I interviewed to be the assistant coach at North Carolina,” or “I met my wife in February of 1959 and it only took about a month for me to be smitten.”

A visitor popped in to bring a message of encouragement from two of his former players, Bill and Michael Spiers. I asked Coach if their father Bud Spiers played for him as well and coach responded, “Bud was a senior my first year at Clemson in 1958.” He went on to say how he just saw Bill a couple of weeks earlier at a little league baseball game.

Coach talked about how Clemson had not really cared about baseball before he arrived. They offered him the job making $5,500 a year to coach baseball and run the intramural programs and he vividly remembered every detail of the interview process even though it was over 50 years ago.

I cant remember what I had for lunch yesterday and this brilliant man was recalling details from 1958.

“They did not have nice shoes at the time and I wanted to the players to take some pride in themselves. We got them new shoes to start the season and I had them shine those shoes before every game. They took a lot of pride in themselves.”

He remembered the team’s record the year before he arrived in Clemson and even the teams they beat that year. Coach Wilhelm told the story of how the university bucked a little when he increased the baseball schedule from 18 games to 22 games. “They said I was surely going to get all of players to flunk out.”

Today one of the most fulfilling aspects of his life is keeping up with his former players. He often goes to see them when they are honored at an awards dinner or a Hall of Fame induction. But is just as gracious when they stop by his seats right behind home plate to see him at Clemson home games because he still thinks it was only about the players.

We all could learn so many lessons from this legend but humility is what I take from him still today. Here is man that is not in the Clemson Hall of Fame nor do the Tigers play on a field named after him because he never wants anything that would draw attention to him.

The man gave 36 years of his life to Clemson and now he needs Clemson to give something back to him. He needs our prayers. He loves for his former players and coaches to come by, call or write. He loves for his golfing buddies to stop by or call because more than anything he needs hope and few things can provide hope like close friends. Few can give like Clemson.

If you wanted to send a letter or card the address to Oconee Memorial is:

298 Memorial Drive
Seneca, SC 29672

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers, Nick Corontzes.