JiM SPALDiNG “The words that come to my mind when i speak of my Dad are honesty, devotion, loyalty, incredible integrity but most of all love,” Jay Spalding said. “Dad wasn’t just a coach of sports; he was a coach of life and how to live it by example.” For someone as active as he was, Parkinson’s was a particular blow. But he handled it with grace. He didn’t complain. And he was rewarded with a final chapter that was beyond his wild- est dreams. He got to see the program he in many ways started and nurtured, through so many Bingo nights and long road trips, win an NCAA Division ii National championship. When the Knights won the regional to advance to the elite eight, they took the trophy first to their student section, then over to Spalding. After the national championship, Spalding went to the postgame celebration at a local bar and grill with his family, wheelchair and all. Later, there was a knock at his hotel room door. Some coaches and players walked into the room with the national championship trophy. They handed it to him, let him touch it, see it up close. Not everyone gets to see the seeds they’ve sown blossom so wonderfully. Spalding did. The next time Bellarmine played, the following fall in Cameron indoor Stadium at Duke, coaches were getting antsy that the players were late getting back to the locker room from their pregame shoot- In 1982, Spalding accepted the Msgr. Alfred F. Horrigan ing. Then word came back. They had stopped to talk to Jim Spalding. Distinguished Service Award from Dr. Eugene Petrik; in 2002, below, he received the Horrigan Medal. “He was a great gentleman, and everything he did, he did for Bellarmine,” Knights’ basketball coach Scotty Davenport said. “our players had such great respect for him and what he did. Why do we as coaches here sweep the floors and polish the backboards and vacuum the locker room? it’s the Jim Spalding way. you do what you have to do for them. The happiness and satisfaction he took from that championship was one of its greatest rewards.” They will lay Jim Spalding to rest today, and i suspect the head- lines of sports will roll right along. But i’m always partial to people like this, people who, if you stop and listen long enough, leave legacies that shout as loud as any packed arena. Spalding’s legacy certainly will rumble through this city and be- yond for years to come. The great coach John Wooden often quoted a verse that he both aspired to and applied to great coaches and teachers. it certainly fits here. No written word, no spoken plea, Can teach our youth what they should be, Nor all the books on all the shelves. It’s what the teachers are themselves. 38 bellarmine magazine
Bellarmine Magazine_Fall2012
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