DADvocate

I've mentioned Maysville hometown product Chris Lofton many times before. Chris lead Mason County High School to a state championship in Kentucky and led the Tennessee Volunteers to the NCAA Sweet 16. Just when you think you've seen Chris do it all this story comes out.

But Lofton's greatest conquest came off the court.

He beat cancer.

The three-time All-American, in an exclusive interview with ESPN.com, revealed for the first time publicly that he played his senior season at Tennessee after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his testicles in March 2007.

I cried more this past year than I have my whole life combined. I cried a river this past year. --Chris Lofton

He was diagnosed with cancer only a few days after Tennessee ended its 2006-07 season with a Sweet 16 loss to Ohio State in San Antonio.

As one of the hardest working, most humble athletes in the country, Chris earned third team All-America honors while recovering from cancer!

Chris has inspired hundreds of kids in his hometown and doubtless elsewhere. This display of courage and dedication has inspired the rest of us.

God bless you, Chris.

Just watched hometown prodigy, Chris Lofton, drain two free throws to nail down a victory over top-ranked Memphis. For the first time in history, the Tennessee men's basketball team should be ranked number ONE!

Having watched Chris Lofton from his sophomore year in high school at Mason County High School in Kentucky and being a Tennessee alumni, I'm doubly happy. Chris is as good a person as you can hope to find. He's humble, hard working, super nice to kids and knows how to find a way to win.

Lofton didn't have a high scoring night. J.P. Prince may have had the game of his life. Wayne Chism played great as did Tyler Smith and the rest of the Vol's team. Phenomenal rebounding by the Vols helped also.

In only his third season, coach Bruce Pearl has brought Tennessee men's basketball to a place where they've never been before. No matter how the season ends, this is a great accomplishment. I'm happy a kid snubbed by Tubby Smith at the University of Kentucky, Chris Lofton, is part of it.

Chris was Kentucky's high school Mr. Basketball his senior year plus a first string all-state wide receiver on the Mason County football team. Chris' work ethic is still held up as an example for athletes at his old high school. Since many know him, they know the stories are true. How Tubby Smith could have overlooked an athlete and person like Chris, I don't know.

This is what I'm excited about today. For me this is a double whammy. Tennessee's long suffering men's basketball gets a big win and Chris Lofton showed his stuff in the process.

For over 15 years I've lived in the Maysville, Kentucky area. Tennessee is my "home" and UT my school. A couple of years ago, I watched Chris Lofton lead Mason County High School to a Kentucky state basketball championship and a runner-up championship. In Kentucky, basketball there is only one state basketball champion each year. All schools play for the championship, size does not matter.

Mason County High School consists of less than 1,000 students. The championship team had no player over 6' 3" tall and a coach needing a kidney transplant. During the championship tournament, Chris set records for three pointers attempted and three pointers made, for a single game and the entire tournament. With Chris' leadership, the team set the same records for a team.

Although Chris was Kentucky's Mr. Basketball his senior year (also first team all-state wide receiver), Kentucky and Louisville both failed to recruit Chris and Tennessee ended up with a diamond. As a freshman at Tennessee, Chris earned a starting position. His performance:

Third team selection on the 2004-05 Rivals.com Freshman All-America Team ... Named to the SEC All-Freshman team that is selected by the league's coaches

To top is off, Chris is not only a good basketball player but a good person, quiet, friendly and unassuming. You could find him at the YMCA or at a goal in the street somewhere, shooting baskets and playing with the little kids. His high school GPA was 3.5, maybe better. A good role model for the younger kids.

And the Mason County coach, his wife donated one of her kidney's and he's now head basketball coach at Hawaii Pacific University. For my money, this story, so far, is as deserving of a movie as Hoosiers.

Recently I bought a new digital camera which has the capability of taking videos also. It is a Canon 560 which only cost me $120 on sale at K-Mart. I was testing it out at my daughter's basketball game yesterday when I was lucky enough to catch her making her first three pointer in a regulation game.

As she plays post or strong forward, she rarely gets an opportunity for an outside shot. She's no Chris Lofton. Yet. :-)

You also get to hear my southern, hillbilly voice as a bonus.

Wandering through blog land the other day, I stumbled across this article in Scientific American on raising smart kids. Someone had linked to the article in the comments of a blog that I failed to note and now can't find. Sorry, guys. Believe it or not, I can't really tell you how excited I was to find this article. It describes a part of parenting I consider essential.

Nearly twenty years ago, when my oldest son wan an infant, we received magazines on parenting in the mail. I can't remember which one(s) but what I can remember is the essence of an article I read in one of them - hard work is more important than being smart or talented. That is message in the SA article also as the subheading states: "More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life." More:

• Many people assume that superior intelligence or ability is a key to success. But more than three decades of research shows that an overemphasis on intellect or talent—and the implication that such traits are innate and fixed—leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unmotivated to learn.
  
• Teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, produces high achievers in school and in life.
  
• Parents and teachers can engender a growth mind-set in children by praising them for their effort or persistence (rather than for their intelligence), by telling success stories that emphasize hard work and love of learning, and by teaching them about the brain as a learning machine.

This made complete and perfect to me and I've tried to incorporate it in my parenting. One piece of advice I don't follow is "not telling my kids they're smart." I tell them they are smart but I also tell them that without hard work being smart means nothing. An example I use is this: Your IQ may be in the top 1-2% of the population. This means that in a county of 20,000 people like the one we live in, there are 200-400 people as smart or smarter than you. If you really want to reach your potential, to achieve and become what you want to be, you have to work hard.

I try to use handy examples when possible. Fortunately, good examples are easy to find. Some of our family members have achieved pretty well, all did it by hard work as well as intelligence. My ex's father became a millionaire farmer by working smart and very hard. Most wouldn't want to follow his footsteps but he showed it could be done.

The same principle applies to achievement in sports. My children enjoy sports. I remind them that they have more natural talent than most but that's not enough. If you really want to be good, you must work hard. A fond local example is University of Tennessee basketball player and All-American candidate, Chris Lofton. Although listed taller, Chris is truly only about 6'1" tall. But he can shoot you eyes out on the basketball court. Everyone around here knows Chris spent hours practicing his shooting. Eventually, he became the best high school player in Kentucky.

My children perform at what I consider to be a very high level academically and athletically. As performance is an ongoing process, I focus on continuing development and improvement with a focus on the future. But, I also celebrate their accomplishments. We sometimes go out to eat as a small celebration. I never berate them for a sub-par performance. We all have bad days. You simply get up and try again (harder). Find joy in the struggle.

Enjoying the struggle is one of the best parts of the puzzle. My 14 year old son played well enough on his freshman football team to be promoted to varsity when the freshman season ended. One of the results was him lining up against two seniors lineman whom the head coach described as the best pair to play side by side that he's ever had. Instead of dreading the match up, my son said he considers it an honor to be pancaked by these two guys. Spoken like a true football player.

Enough of that.

The current fad is to focus on the ephemeral quality of self esteem. That and $1 will get you a double cheeseburger. Hard work will bring real accomplishment and an excellent meal at any restaurant in town.

BTW - look at the self esteem link (same as above) and tell me why women need so much reinforcement to build self esteem. Can you find a similar site in the Internet for the self esteem of boys or men? It must be hell being a fragile female who needs her self esteem constantly built up lest you fall apart.

My youngest son started high school this year. He's a big kid (14 years old, 6' 1", 215 lbs) and the strongest kid on the freshman football team. Today he got to scrimmage some with the varsity against another high school.

The big story isn't my son, except for me, or some of the other freshmen who show promise of being good enough to play college ball. The big story is the place kickers for the varsity, pictured below. They are twin sisters. One kicks extra points and the other kick-offs. It's bcome fairly common for a high school football team to have a girl or two on the team but how many have twins?


They both also play soccer, quite well it is told. During one of the kick-offs the female kicker got in on the tackle of the ball runner.

Because I couldn't resist, I've included a picture of my son standing close to one of the girls. He's not only large but incredibly handsome and intelligent. :-)










One of the things that amazes me about Maysville/Mason County is the number of high achievers it produces. Supreme Court Justice Stanley Reed, Rosemary Clooney, Miss America 2000 - Heather Renee French, and All-American basketball player Chris Lofton.

Last year Army free safety Jordan Murray, former Mason County player, intercepted Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn to break Quinn's streak of over 200 passes without an interception. At least one other West Point Cadet is from Maysville as well as another Maysvillian entered the Naval Academy this year.

Daniel Boone lived here once. His cousin, Jacob, is buried in an old cemetery in downtown. Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnson was born in what is now the "Old Washington" section of Maysville. Much of Harriet Beecher Stowe's inspiration for writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" came from a visit to Old Washington. Being a friend of the son of the last people to live in the house in which Beecher stayed, my oldest son spent several nights in the house himself.
There are more in the making. Mason County High School has a senior basketball player currently considered the 32nd best high school player in the country. And I left out the All-American swimmer who just graduated from St. Patrick's High School in Maysville.

Not bad for a city/county totaling about 20,000 people. There are more to come, I'm sure.

My theory as to why the high number of successes is the positive side of small towns. Almost everyone does know everyone else. About the only people who don't are "newcomers" like me. I've only lived in the area for 17 years. People see the success of other members of their community as a reflection on themselves and their community.

When a young person shows promise they receive tremendous support from almost everyone. It's not like "Friday Night Lights". It's much more upbeat with lots of rah-rah "way to go" stuff and there is always someone there willing to help the kids as long as they're willing to be helped.

A couple of weeks ago, my youngest son told me he wanted his kids to grow up just like he did, in a small town with lots of friends and people cheering each other on. I often hear about kids hating living in a small town, etc. Well, that small town ain't Maysville, KY.

Just a few minutes ago, my son's high school, the Mason County Royals, won the Kentucky state basketball championship over a very tough Holmes High School, 57-48. This is the second time in 6 years Mason County has won the championship. That team included University of Tennessee standout, Chris Lofton.

In Kentucky the basketball championship is between all schools. The schools are not divided by class as in football. There is only one champion. Not bad for a medium size, rural school.

University of Kentucky signee, Darius Miller led the way for the Royals scoring 24 points. This is a great group of hard working kids and coaches. Their achievement is well deserved. Congratulations, guys!!

My son made his contribution by playing baritone horn in the pep band. His next goal is to bring a state championship to Mason County in football.

Go Royals!!

I've been debating whether or not to write this particular post but I couldn't resist. I hate to brag about my kids and rarely do in conversation. But I'm about to bust. If you don't want to read, please visit on of the blogs on the left hand side of the page.

While I'm always proud of my kids just because they're my kids, sometimes they show me just how lucky I am that they are my kids. I don't consider myself to be a stellar parent. Maybe I'm better than most but that's not necessarily saying much. Mostly I just try to give them enough guidance to keep them steered in the right direction and enable them to develop their talents and abilities.

So far, this school year has been great. My oldest son brought home the best report card he'd had in a year or more. The two youngest made straight A's. For my daughter, this was not a surprise but still wonderful. For my son in the 8th grade it marked a greater success as he was put into the Gifted and Intellectual program this year. Despite that the curriculum is more difficult, his grades went up.

In sports, my 13 year old son also had a landmark year. He began playing football in the fourth grade. During the first half of the season he played a variety of positions: offensive tackle (both sides), defensive tackle (also both sides), center, and eventually linebacker. He had always wanted to play linebacker and this was his first opportunity ever and he made the most of it. As middle linebacker, he made it virtually impossible for opponents to run up the middle. The coaches believe he has what it takes to play in college. Being 6 feet and 200 pounds at age 13, he certainly should have the size.

He was also Student of the Month for September and has been invited to participate in the Tri-State Honor band (Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana). Guess he's a renaissance boy.

My other son is in his last year of high school. He began basketball practice last week. Although he is only 6'1" he can dunk with two hands. (Incredible vertical leap) He should be a blast to watch. I'm hoping for a great year for him.

My 10 year old daughter's school has an intramural girls basketball league from which the best players advance to the school sponsored 5th grade AAU team. Last Saturday, my daughter played in the last intramural game. She plays well at both ends of the court but is a exceptional at shot blocking and rebounding. After the game, the parents of local hero and University of Tennessee All-American Chris Lofton sought out my daughter, shook her hand, told her she was a good player and to keep it up. Naturally, my daughter beamed with delight.

One of the advantages of a small town with only one school at each level is that everyone in the town supports you. You don't just represent your school. You represent the entire community. This may seem like a lot of pressure but it's just the opposite. People give you so much support that it's a pleasure.

My daughter tied for the highest score on the qualifying test for the academic team. She also is an academic team captain. The girl with whom she tied for the high score is her cousin. They are good friends. Their gimmick is that they are "best buds" and cousins, so they are "bousins."

Being a parent isn't always this wonderful. Of course there are many trying times. But times like this more than compensate for the trying times.

I simply hope and pray that the dream continues.

While checking UTSports for basketball information concerning Chris Lofton, our hometown hero, I came across the piece linked above about football coach Phil Fulmer becoming involved in the fight against youth suicide.

"Clark Flatt started a youth suicide awareness organization in 1997 after his 16-year-old son Jason shot and killed himself." The organization is called the Jason Foundation. Flatt approached Fulmer about being a spokesman after the urging of some of his teenage advisors. Fulmer jumped at the chance.

After the teenagers wrote Fulmer a letter, he invited Flatt for a visit.

"He let me get into about two minutes of my prepared speech about why he should do this, and he stopped me," Flatt said. "He said, 'Clark, I didn't invite you up here to sell me on this. I invited you up here to say if you think I can help save one young person's life, tell me how I can do it and I want to work with you.'"

Fulmer has been the national spokesman since 1998.

Fulmer has also recruited others.

He has convinced the other 11 coaches in the Southeastern Conference and 25 others around the country, including Notre Dame's Charlie Weis and Southern California's Pete Carroll, to be foundation ambassadors in their states. The Titan's Jeff Fisher and Dolphins' Nick Saban also are ambassadors.

It's great to significant people becoming involved in this fight.

Here are some statistics on youth suicide.

suicides account for 1.3% of all deaths in the U.S. annually, they comprise 12.3% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds.

In the past 60 years, the suicide rate has quadrupled for males 15 to 24 years old, and has doubled for females of the same age (CDC, 2002).

Males between the ages of 20 and 24 were 6.6 times more likely than females to complete suicide 2001. Males between 15 and 19 were 4.8 times more likely than females to complete suicide (2001 data).

DrHelen has a on Coach Fulmer's efforts also. I had seen the article at UTSports today while at work. Since I never post to my blog at work I didn't have a chance to write until now. In the mean time, DrHelen wrote her post and talks of a segment she helped with on Volunteer TV. Scooped again, but great minds think alike. This is a subject that can bear all the coverage it can get.

Tennessee's Gentleman Vols just beat previously undefeated, number 2 ranked Florida 80-76. Love it.

This victory extra special, true Orange-blooded Volunteers despise Florida for stealing football coach Doug Dickey years ago and making us put up with the obnoxious Steve Spurrier. Sure both were in football but the rivalry bleeds over to all sports. Additionally, the Vols' Chris Lofton scored 29 points in the victory. Chris hails from Mason County High School. The same schools that my two youngest children attend. Way to go, Chris!

BTW - Seth Davis at SI.com called this one almost perfectly.

On a dark April night in 1951, I was born only 15 minutes after my mother arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital in Memphis, TN. making me the first person in my immediate family born in Tennessee. The reason I was born so quickly after arriving at the hospital was that my father was doing his internship in clinical psychology in Memphis but at the time was back in Knoxville, 400 miles away, visiting his professors with another student when I decided to come into this world.

1951 is also the year the the University of Tennessee won its first national championship in football.

The other sutdent's wife drove my mother to the hospital but the problem was neither knew the route to the hospital. Cruising the streets of Memphis in a Model A Ford, the two finally found the hospital after consulting with a couple of drunks on a street corner. A few months later we moved back to Knoxville and I never saw the hospital I was born in until I was 33 years old.

I first became aware of Volunteer football at the age of 5 when Johnny Majors was playing. My father would listen to the games on the radio and frequently comment, "Wow, that Johnny Majors is something." My father had played high school football in Hamilton, Ohio. His team was runner-up to the state champions his junior year and won the state championship his senior year. Unfortunately, he had quit the team half way through the year because practices were too rough.

Because I was tall and skinny, until after high school, I always played basketball. But football is my favorite spectator sport. I virtually get shivers up my spine when I think of cheering on the Volunteer squad in with 108,000 other fans in Neyland Stadium.

When I was born my father was a student at the University of Tennessee where he earned his M.A. and Phd. in psychology. Upon graduation the university hired my father as an associate professor. He spent his entire career as a professor at the University of Tennessee. When my youngest sister entered grade school my mother entered the Univesity of Tennessee while in her mid-forties. She eventually earned a B.A. and M.A. My older sister earned a B.A. and J.D. from U.T. I earned a B.S. and M.S. from U.T. One of my brothers earned a B.S. from U.T. My youngest sister earned her Phd. at U.T. after getting her B.A. and M.S.W. from other schools not worth mentioning.

That's a lot of history at one school. In 1990, I moved to Maysville, Ky and currently live just across the Ohio River from Maysville. People often asked me if I was going to root for the University of Kentucky Wildcats and all I could say is, "Go Vols!" For many years I endured harassment and hardship living in this strange land. Last year redemption came.

Chris Lofton, a native Maysvillian, first string all-state basketball and first string all-state football player signed a basketball scholarship with the University of Tennessee after not even being recruited by U.K. Now, in Maysville, KY I can go into the Wal-Mart, a couple of sporting goods stores and several other stores and buy Big Orange hats, shirt, sweats, and other paraphenalia.

Chris, a truly good kid, earned Freshman All-American honors at Tennessee. Tubby Smith apologized to Chris and his parents for not recruiting him. I'm sure Tubby is truly sorry because Chris is one of the top three point shooters in the country. Tubby is going to have to watch Chris sink 40 footers against him for 3 more years.

Go Vols!