A Letter to Coach Donahue from the Ithaca Times

Red Rocks

By Steve Lawrence
Ithaca Times

Dear Coach Donahue,

Thanks.

Thanks for building a program that has accomplished what many of us long-timers thought impossible. We remember trudging up to Barton Hall, having our pick of seats, and not realizing until the second half - due to the abysmal lighting - that the guy sitting next to us was our best friend. And we remember getting hammered early and often. (By the opposing team, not in Collegetown. That came after the game.) As my friend and 40-year fan Mark Goldberg (who grew up in Ithaca, attended Cornell and spent many years in the Sports Information Department) told me, "I never could have imagined that the mighty Penn and Princeton would be looking up at Cornell's program, trying to find ways to beat us."

Thanks for bringing in a group of guys who were embraced by the community, and embraced us right back. An hour after every home game, your players could still be seen signing autographs, posing for pictures and shaking hands with the friends, cousins and neighbors of Big Red fans. We read about some Division 1 players from area schools - slapping girlfriends, beating fellow students unconscious after drinking binges, stealing condoms at Wal Mart, then plowing over elderly women while fleeing the police - and we think, It's hard to imagine any of our guys acting like that.

Thanks creating a team atmosphere that made the Kaliq Gant story one of the most compelling on any level of sports. What a story line: Player (Gant) suffers potentially paralyzing neck injury at practice, spends weeks in a hospital in a touch-and-go condition, being endlessly buoyed by his teammates and friends, Intensive Care nurse (Wanda Foote) is deeply moved by the whole situation, tells her son (Jeff-who just happens to be 7-feet tall) that he should look into transferring to Cornell, he does so, works his butt off, becomes an always legitimate, sometimes dominant player, helps team become the first in Cornell history to win back-to-back Ivy titles. The great Hollywood moment: Kaliq Gant - he who came devastatingly close to never walking again - climbing the ladder to cut off a piece of the net. Wow.

Thanks for keeping the pipeline moving. To look down the bench and see a whole line of solid, improving players is reassuring. And to get guys like (U Mass transfer) Max Groebe and (U Kentucky) transfer Mark Coury to come to Cornell? To be honest, it's sort of an embarrassment of riches, but we don't mind blushing, because, hey, we look good in Red.

Thanks for arranging such powerful tributes to your departing seniors. Seeing Adam Gore, Jason Battle, Kaliq Gant, Brian Kreefer and Conor Mullen take the floor with their parents, and then being given those beautiful framed photos of them wearing the uniform, I'm sure they'll never forget that. And by the way, where were the Princeton players and coaches during that ceremony? What's up with that?

And thanks, Steve, for reading this and saying something on the order of, It's not just me, it's the players, coaches, support staff, families and fans. I know that, but you're the man in the middle. The architect. I know that, and I also know that this is, as George Harrison said, an "All Things Must Pass" world, and soon enough, all the players will move on, and someday, you will too. Of course, everyone in this town hopes you'll have a Mike Krzyzewski-type tenure, but we all want the best for you and for your family. If a big offer comes along, will you at least give us an opportunity to pass the hat?

In closing, thanks, Coach Donahue, for doing your part to give this community something exciting to do on those dark, cold winter nights. For giving us a way to connect with friends, and to feel like we're a part of something very special. Something we'll be talking about for many, many years. Something of which to be very proud. Go Big Red.