Hello all,
It's taken forever for me to get the courage to comment on the greatest loss of my life. It's still hard to even think about him. I have a picture of him in my office. Some may think that's weird, but I don't.
In any case, I'm going to post some short stories about him.
My first comes on the heels of LeBron James to Miami. Cleveland fans are weeping... and I understand that. Sports fans are passionate. But, it's just sports.
I'm a diehard, lifelong Miami Hurricanes fan. I've suffered through the sanctions post Erickson, watched the rise and departure of Butch Davis, been amazed by Ken Dorsey, royally pissed by the devolution under Coker, and now the hope to rise again under Randy Shannon. I pay attention to things like high school recruiting in Florida, jersey numbers, statistics... and I always pay humorous insults to Florida State.
One of Dr. McGehee's favorite quotes was: "Lawrence is the only Caucasian Miami Hurricane fan in America."
"Instead of rooting for the team from your own state, he instead chooses the team from his childhood. That's both psychotic and admirable."
Stuff like that. It was funny, sarcastic, and meant in the best of spirits. My classmates were highly entertained. He watched my face falter from week to week as Miami got worse. The jokes got funnier.
"I can't believe you're still wearing that fucking shirt. Damn, you're brave."
I went to see Kristen in California in Christmas 2005, easily the best three week span and best Christmas of my life. This was before she moved in with me on 4/1/06.
This was also the year Miami would fall out of the national elite. Miami got demolished by LSU in the Peach Bowl. It wasn't even close. But, it wasn't so bad. I was with the redhead. Kristen attests that the worse the Canes are, the quieter of a fan I am. Thankfully, my yelling has gotten louder since 2008.
I return to WV in January of 2006, just in time to jump into Dr. McGehee's Presidency class. His first statement when I walk through the door?
"Where have you been? I've been trying all break to get in touch with you. I thought you were on suicide watch or some damn thing because of Miami. How are you feeling?"
I laughed for three minutes. I then explained to him the situation of my winter. He smiled. When he met Kristen, he understood why.
Dr. McGehee was like that. He'd motivate you so completely to kick ass in the classroom, and then catch you off-guard with the most hilarious thing you've ever heard. I've got a bunch of stories, and I'm slowly going to tell them when the wind blows.
The world got a lot less interesting when it lost its best historian.
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