When I first started this blog, I wanted to bring to light some of the uniqueness of what I call home, which is East Texas. Over the past year I observed one of the most remarkable true-life stories I've ever known.
You might remember hearing last year about the coach who was shot by the disgruntled parent of one of his players. The coach was Canton head football coach Gary Joe Kinne, Jr. At the time of the incident, it was feared that the coach might die from internal bleeding or eventually due to damage to his vital organs.
To the amazement to thoses in Van Zandt County and most of the country, the coach made a remarkable recovery, returning to the Canton Eagle's first football practice of the 2005 season. But the story didn't end there. Coach Kinne's Eagles, led by his son, Gary Joe III, dedicated the new season to their head coach and went on to become the most successful football team in Canton high school history. They lost in the state quarterfinal round to the eventual state champ, Tatum.
But that's still not the end of the story. His son was named the player of the year in the state 3A division and as a high school junior, promises to be one of the state's most prized college recruits in 2007. Coach Kinne received national coach of the year honors by Adams USA after the end of the 2005 football season. And finally, on a more bitter-sweet note, Coach Kinne was offered a job with his alma mater, Baylor University, this week. Baylor is said to be one of the universities already in contact with the younger Kinne. Disney couldn't have written a better script - except that the Eagles were able to win the state championship.
Though I don't know the coach, I'm very happy for him and East Texas. He, his family and the Canton community are all a great example of turning the worst of circumstances into the greatest of opportunities.
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