More math! 32 games in two days, 2 to 3 real upsets in that first round, so…we looking at about a 6 to 9% chance of people getting to laugh at fans of the traditional powerhouse teams.

Some final math! People talk about how exciting college basketball is…well think of it this way. there are 327 teams in D1 Ball, and 65 make the tourney, that is about a fifth. So we are only watching top fifth of the teams out there play 32 games in 2 days…there is bound to be some upsets, exciting games, etc. But there are also quite a few really crappy games.

I was fortunate to grow up in an era when community values were different. It was not quite the village raising the child notion, but it approached this ideal. I had a mother and a father in my home, and though I didn’t know it at the time, I enjoyed privilege based on how my parents provided for our family and their active involvement in our home.

Notwithstanding the advantages in my home, Coach Franklin looms large, very large, in my development as a man. Integrity was at the core of what he conveyed to us. A consistent and demanding work ethic was expected. He also cared deeply about our academic achievement.

At 48 I am still an athlete. This year I plan to participate in my second 1/2 Ironman triathlon race, and my second and third marathons. In 2011 I plan to do my first full Ironman. If these athletic goals are met, certainly Coach Franklin will deserve some of the credit for having molded my mind and honed my discipline.

A scripture from Proverbs comes to mind when I reminisce of this man’s contribution to my life, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17). Jeni, thanks for illuminating Varryl Franklin’s long and distinguished career for your readers. We should all be as committed in sharpening one another.

Frank Wilson IV
Millwood Class of 1980
Chicago, Illinois