I had the pleasure of listening to Tim Corbin speak and pass on his words of wisdom at a civic luncheon today.  He was given a standing ovation at the end, which rarely occurs at these luncheons.  If Coach Corbin ever decides to give up coaching baseball at Vandy (which I hope he never does), he could definitely make a living as a motivational speaker.  You could really tell by the way he spoke not only what a genuine person he is, but also what a great mentor he must be for Vandy's baseball players.  In particular, he told several interesting stories about our most famous baseball alum, David Price.  It's apparent that David learned well from the Coach's humble leadership.  We have quite a treasure in Coach Corbin!

I have seen him speak and I totally concur. Did he mention the young man that whom he keeps a picture of in his wallet? That will bring a tear to your eye.

cjdore wrote: I have seen him speak and I totally concur. Did he mention the young man that whom he keeps a picture of in his wallet? That will bring a tear to your eye.

I haven't heard that story.  Can you enlighten us?  I tried calling Corbs to find out but he was busy lobbying the bowls on behalf of our football team.

The story revolves arround Tim's first coaching job. He was at a small school and actually recruited a very high ranked kid to come there. The kid brought more than a baseball game to college and after the first season (if I remember correctly) Corbs kicked him off of the team. It shocked the kid who worked hard the next year to reamke the team and get back in Corbs good graces. Being a small school, Tim had to do everything including mowing the grass. This one afternoon, this kid had asked for a meeting with Corbs to ask tto rejoin the team. Corbs had already seen this kids effort to improve off the field and had planned to let him rejoin but on this day it was more important to get the grass mowed. Tim finished and returned to his office and saw the AD standing at his door in a rather somber looking mood. The AD informed him that this kid was killed earlier that day in an auto accident and Tim never got the opportunity to tell him he was proud of him and was going to let him back on the team.

Tim keeps a photo of this kid in his wallet to remind him to take time for those imporatnt in his life.

(That is what I remember)

I'm not ashamed to admit that brought a tear to my eye.

That is tragic – I hadn’t heard that story before. I love listening to motivational speakers and people who made something of their lives in spite of all odds. There are a few good ones here that have been great motivators for me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmSXeHwiqbU.

I suspect Corbs will talk about Steven Gant at this year's Banquet, as Steven would have been a member of this year's freshman class. So sad.