University of Memphis Coach Calipari Ordeal...Explanation To an Eight Year Old

Imagine an eight year old who plays or watches sports every waking minute, who knows the player's names and numbers from his favorite teams and who adopts a local basketball team coached by John Calipari and becomes a huge fan. You have just imagined my son.

Now imagine this eight year old watched as Coach Calipari talks about how great the upcoming year is going to be and that Memphis is his home and he is not leaving. The prospect of the year to come helped him overcome the disappointment he felt when Memphis lost and did not advance. He had hope. Coach Calipari had heart.

Less than three days later, rumors spread that Coach Calipari may be leaving this little boy's team, and is taking many players with him. Another favorite player is joining the NBA as a freshmen. The team and fans that just a few days ago enjoyed the best upcoming recruiting class was to be no more...drastic changes...only a few days later. Imagine what this little boy must be thinking?

Days go by while Memphis waits. He wonders...why is Coach Calipari leaving? Why did he lie to me? Why is he not telling us anything? This eight year old wonders...how could this happen, I had such hope?

What do you say? Of course, I understand that this is Coach Calipari's dream to coach at Kentucky. I understand that it is being considered a business decision. I understand heartbreak and disappointment...but my eight year old was just not experienced with that yet...until Coach Calipari came along.

Local adults are struggling to understand the situation so it is definitely difficult to find the words to help my eight year old. I decided not to "sugar coat" it and to try to bring out the "life lessons" that come from the way Coach Calipari handled the situation.

No one is perfect. While we should not fault Coach Calipari for wanting to follow his dream, but we can learn from the way he handled it. A humble apology, a graceful exit, a heartfelt explanation, this would have made all the difference. There were so many people whose lives were affected, players, students, fans. I will explain to my son to always keep Christ in his heart and be kind to others. Kindness makes the world a better place.

Loyalty. My son adopted this local University and its basketball team at a very early age. The remaining players and program deserve respect and loyalty. I will tell him not be a "fair weathered fan". One of his favorite players, Roburt Sallie, is also leaving but he can certainly follow his career and be a loyal fan.

Life can disappoint. We may be disappointed by unfulfilled promises but that is no reason for us to disappoint others. Also, we will face disappointments in our lives but we must learn and grow.

We will make mistakes. How we handle them is key. You know what? None of us are perfect. Coach Calipari is definitely not perfect. We may make promises with the full intention of keeping them and conditions may cause us to waiver. First, we must try to never promise what we cannot deliver. But if this occurs, we should pray about it and then handle the situation in a manner that we can hold our head up.

A humble apology and prayerful explanation in a timely manner would have gone a long way for one of my son's heroes, Coach Calipari. My eight year old son will come home from school today and we will talk about this, share a hug and then I will encourage him to move on and learn from this. Maybe we adults can also learn from this "explanation to an eight year old".