Todd Jesdale: A Short Story

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“That was absolute horseshit” Todd Jesdale, the experienced soul of our coaching squad, is an adroit man in seemingly all aspects of life, especially of those pertaining to rowing. He crushed me. I hid behind a nod as Todd executed the finishing blow. He walked away disappointed. Months earlier. “Jackson. If a group of boys were beating up a friend of yours, maybe Jake or Zach, what would you do?” “Well, I would try to get them to stop, but if that didn’t work I would go help him.” Todd chuckled. “No, you rip those boys right off him. You can’t always defend yourself. You’ll have to be willing to fight for things you love.” Our boat sludged onward towards the team’s tent. The only sign of life came from our stroke seat who feverishly refreshed the results. “They’re in.” …show more content…

“Gonzaga. Brunswick. What? Whitman. What? Montclair. Ridley. Who’s Ridley? La Salle. STA. Episcopal. Prep. Us. 10th. We got 10th.” What’s 10th? It’s moving from start to finish in 4 minutes 37 seconds, while others took anywhere from 4 minutes 29 seconds to 6 minutes 2 second. It’s qualifying. But what is 10th to us? It’s having a boat you’ve beaten three times beat you by 6 seconds, while having another gain 6 seconds on you. It’s grounding. We stood, letting our expressions do the talking. Bows wondered, “how did a boat we beat three times come in third?” Eyes asked, “what happened to us, is this the best we are?” “Great Job! You guys looked fast!” Excuses poured out, but they couldn’t drown how we felt. It’s one thing to have let down yourself, another to let down your brothers. The following day we huddled before our semi-final. Dan Engler, the fiery heart of our coaching squad with a peculiar gift of gab, led us in our pre-race ritual. “I have lived every day of my life asking myself ‘is what I’m doing reflective of who I am? Or who I want to be?’ If not...” Dan shrugged. “You gotta ask yourself ‘why am I doing it?’” Our hands went in. Afterward Todd pulled me

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