Grafton Bearcats

All too often in this world of sports we all get caught up in wins and losses....who's number one.....who's making the playoffs.......which team will win the state championship.....on and on it goes.  Now, don't get me wrong, I understand everyone wants to win.  There is a reason why they keep score and certainly everyone wants to end their career with at least one championship.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a winner!

However, sometimes we need to take a step back and understand while most wins are good and most losses are bad, there are times when some losses are horrendous, and I'm not talking about losing a game.

This week, two schools in West Virginia suffered horrendous losses.  The Grafton Bearcats lost something far greater than a football game.....the Bearcats lost perhaps their greatest fan.  Sam "The Waterboy" Bord was just 9 years old when he passed away Monday, October 12th at his home in Fairmont.  Since the age of five, Sam had battled a rare form of Leukemia for which there was no cure.  Over the last few years, Sam and his family had made 218 trips to Pittsburgh to battle the disease but in the end, like so often it does, this dreaded disease won.  And, while Sam may have lost this battle, it was only one of very few that this very special young man could not conquer.  Steve Smith, the athletic director of Grafton High School said "Sam was the sharpest young man he ever met".  He also noted that "Sam would cry after every Grafton loss, because according to "The Water Boy", his Bearcats were not suppose to lose".  And, make no mistake about it......they were HIS Bearcats.  Smith said he never saw anyone take their job so seriously as Sam did.  And, Sam knew he was just as important as any other team member though he never scored a touchdown or caught a pass.  That is why, members of the Grafton Bearcat football team, both past and present, will be pall bearers at Sam's funeral.  That is also why Sam's father has requested that everyone wear their Bearcat blue and gold to the funeral, for you see, Sam wasn't a "suit and tie" kind of guy.....he dearly loved his blue and gold.  And, not just the blue and gold of Grafton......Sam "The Waterboy" Bord was a tremendous Mountaineer fan.  He knew the number of every player on the team and even their hometown.  Sam was also a huge Cleveland Browns fan and just so you won't think he was only a sports fan, Sam "The Waterboy" Bord was also a 4th grade honor student at Anna Jarvis Elementary School in Grafton.  Sam is survived by his dad Rich, who is also an assistant football coach at Grafton High, by his mother Amy and twin brothers Benjamin and Daniel, both at home. 

Also this week, a very popular Wyoming County coach was killed in a head on collision near Pineville, WV.  Stacy Wayne McLamb, 31, of Mullens died in the accident.  Coach McLamb was an assistant coach for the Wyoming East seventh and eighth grade football team and prior to that was a fifth and sixth grade girls basketball coach.  Mullens Middle School principal Sidney Bradford said, "Coach McLamb was very well liked in Mullens and the kids were taking his death very hard". 

We all certainly understand death is a part of life....the tough part is trying to understand why, at times, it touches some so young.  However, I know in my heart God doesn't make mistakes and one day we will know why Sam and Stacy left this life so young, when it was obvious they were both touching the lives of so many.

From our High School GameNIght crew, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Sam "The Waterboy" Bord from Grafton High School and Coach Stacy Wayne McLamb of Wyoming East.