Brother Bowl - An Honor and Privilege

I am not a big Super Bowl fan. Two-thousand dollar tickets are too rich for my blood. But there is one storyline this year of personal interest to this ole strong-side guard for the Xenia High Buccaneers! The Brother Bowl. Harbaugh against Harbaugh.

You see, the Harbaugh boys' Dad, Jack Harbaugh, was our head football coach my sophomore year. A coach on the rise, he came in and took an already powerhouse to a higher level. I remember one afternoon during "two-a-days," the outdoor thermometer on the bank across from our practice field read 94 degrees. Coach had us out there sweating away in Tee shirts that said on the front, "Ya Gotta Love It!" Love it nothing, we were just praying for that thermometer to hit 95, because that meant practice would be cancelled. It never did and practice never was. We practiced in that heat with that big thermometer reminding us how hot it was.

The other thing I remember is two little Harbaugh boys running around our practices. They were going on four and five years old, and always under foot. And the edge you see in Jim Harbaugh now, well it was apparent even 40 years ago in a couple of ornery and cocky toddlers.

A lot of us never liked Coach Harbaugh back then. Yes, he was tough, but the real reason is the school board brought him in over a long time well-liked assistant coach everyone thought should have gotten the job. That assistant went on to take a coaching position with our rival, scouted us every game, and when it came time to play them we got our jockstraps handed to us. The school board wasn't all wrong though. We went 8-1-1 that year, and with the foundation Coach Harbaugh laid, only lost a couple of games the following two years.

Jack Harbaugh left after one season. We were just a whistle stop on his road through Moorhead, Bowling Green, Iowa, Stanford, Western Michigan, and oh yes, that damn "School Up North" (never forgot him for that one), as he went on to do big things in the football coaching world.

We had so many good athletes at Xenia, sophomores seldom played, let alone short stocky slow ones! So I wasn't high on Coach Harbaugh's list. But in the prism of time and wisdom of age, I look back and realize he treated us all fair, even the "scrubs," and how lucky I was to have played for someone who became so successful, even though it wasn't easy. It would take more words than I have room for here to describe what that was like. Fortunately, I won't have to. Jerry Brewer has done a wonderful job in the Seattle times. Read his interesting piece on the life of Jack Harbaugh and you will understand:

Jack Harbaugh: Tracing Super Bowl siblings back to their source

Now it won't be hard for me to root for Brother John on Sunday. I mean what Buckeye fan could ever forget a cocky Jimmy Harbaugh leading the Wolverines into Ohio Stadium, and beating us by drawing penalties as he feigned he couldn't give snap counts due to the crowd noise (fortunately they have eliminated that stupid rule). So it is John all the way. But whichever team wins, this game will be a little different. Even though long ago, and far away, there will be that personal connection. And with more miles now in the rear view mirror than the road ahead, well, I'll read every piece I can about Jack Harbaugh this week. It will be an honor and a privilege, as I think back fondly to some of the Times of My Life.