Dave Burchett's Blog, page 37

The Big Stage

An excerpt from my new book “Between the White Lines”. It is almost impossible to comprehend what it is like for a sixteen-year-old boy to run onto the Dallas Cowboys’ home field to play for a state championship. Kids who have played in front of a few dozen or a few hundred look at a vast sea of faces. They struggle to balance fear and exhilaration. Some teams thrive on this big stage, and others wilt. The Newton Eagles always looked to one source of strength in these moments: their coach. “There is nothing like being in the battle with these young men,” W.T. says. “One of the things I love the most about coaching is the team huddle. It is a sacred place that only I get to share with my players. No one else gets to invade that sacred space between the white lines. I always ask them to take a knee, and I get down to their

Does It Have To Be This Way?

One of my favorite songs from Carly Simontouched an emotional chord recently. That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be features raw and emotional lyrics detailing the dashed dreams of too many marriages. These couples have everything they were sure would make them happy. A beautiful house, manicured lawns, and an Instagram picture perfect family. Yet the truth of their lives is starkly different. Carly Simon’s lyrics are haunting. Their children hate them for the things they’re not They hate themselves for what they are And yet they drink, they laugh Close the wound, hide the scar My heart hurts that I personally know a lot of people caught in that cycle. They wear a mask and smile bravely through the pain. My heart cries out that there is a better way. There is a different path that ends in a room of grace. But you have to be tired enough and sad enough to quit trying to fix

Grace is NOT an Impossible Dream

For reasons I still don’t understand I was cast as the lead in our high school senior musical many, many years ago. I had never acted and I was not a trained singer. That stellar resume got me the lead role of Don Quixote. Go figure. The play was called Man of La Mancha and I realize almost fifty years later how daring that choice was for small town Chillicothe, Ohio. Man of La Mancha was pretty edgy for that era. You may know that the play is based on Miguel de Cervantes’s seventeenth-century novel Don Quixote. The musical unfolds as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. Cervantes takes on the character of “mad knight” Don Quixote and he assigns roles for the other prisoners. The musical is best known for it’s signature song “The Impossible Dream”. As I look back I can see a spiritual lesson in the

Redeemed

  A song by Big Daddy Weave is one of my go to songs to remind me of fundamental theological truths. The song resonates with me every time I hear it.  Maybe you are better at this following Jesus thing than I am but I tend to be forgetful and slow to learn. The song  “Redeemed sums up my struggle and encourages me to know (again) that I am not alone in this battle. Seems like all I can see was the struggle Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past Bound up in shackles of all my failures Wondering how long is this gonna last Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son stop fighting a fight that’s already been won” I am redeemed, You set me free So I’ll shake off theses heavy chains Wipe away every stain now I’m not who I used to be I am redeemed I am redeemed. Paul spent a little over two

Seeing My Father in Me

I am just catching my breath from an intense and humbling finish to my television baseball career. I never imagined I would receive the volume of kind words and love from my television colleagues. Finishing a season of life and getting older caused me to be reflective. A country oldie from Paul Overstreet nailed my feelings. I’m seein’ my father in me I guess that’s how it’s meant to be And I find I’m more and more like him each day I realized that many of the kind things said about me could have been said about my father during his long career in management at Mead Paper mill in Chillicothe, Ohio. I remember how kind he was to his employees and how he always made it about them and not himself. I remember resenting when he would skip evening family time to pay his respects at the funeral home to an employee who lost a loved one. I get

My Favorite Globe Life Park Memory is Very Personal

This weekend I wrap up my baseball directing journey and I have to say it feels right to finish on the last day of Globe Life Park. How old do you have to be to have directed both the opening and closing game of a major league ballpark? Old enough to have done games in 49 different stadiums. Old enough to have brought over one million pitches into your living room over the course of nearly 4,000 games. Old enough to have worked with fifteen different play by play announcers. Old enough to have covered twelve different full time and interim managers beginning with Doug Rader in 1983. By the way, he still scares me. When you have been around that long there are bound to be some highlights. Outside of Globe Life Park that would include Nolan Ryan’s Sixth No Hitter in Oakland and his 300th win in Milwaukee. Perhaps the most famous shot of my career was the

The Need to be a Good Closer

Because many of you have somehow forgotten to buy my books (Shameless plug) I have made my primary living by directing sporting events. I am the faceless guy (actually I have a face, it just isn’t on camera) that selects the camera shots that you see during a televised game. For thirty-seven years I have directed Texas Rangers baseball. And all of those seasons have taught me a valuable spiritual lesson from the National Pastime. I have learned how important it is to be a good closer. In baseball parlance the closer is the pitcher who comes into the game in the last inning to protect the lead and finish off the win. It all comes down to the closer. If he does well the collective efforts of eight position players and the pitchers that proceeded will end in triumph and celebration. If the closer fails all of that effort is wasted. There is nothing more demoralizing than playing a great

Between the White Lines Available Now!

By late December of 2018 over five million people had watched an emotional sideline television interview with Newton, Texas High School football coach W.T. Johnston.  Just moments after the Texas State Championship game he shared one of the most powerful post-game messages I have ever witnessed. Now the story of this remarkable man and his heroic example of faith and courage is told in my brand-new book “Between the White Lines”.   W.T.Johnston Interview   I have been around sports figures and coaches for over forty years and I can say with complete honesty that W.T. Johnston is one of the most exceptional leaders I have ever encountered. W.T. allowed me total access to his past, his struggles, and his amazing insight to life honed by the fires of adversity. You will take away so many life lessons that may, as they have in my own life, change your daily journey. His story is a heartfelt lesson of how you

Can We Ever Come Together?

An anthem from my youth came on the radio today. The Youngbloods recorded “Get Together” in 1967 and it became one of the quintessential peace songs of the era. I remember listening to a staticky AM transistor radio while singing along with The Youngbloods. I was sure that my generation could make a difference. We would fix the mess that my parents and grandparents had made. We believed peace was possible. We just had to get together. This would be easy enough. Just love one another. Everybody sing now… C’mon people now, Smile on your brother Ev’rybody get together Try and love one another right now Nice words. The problem was contained in the last line of lyric above. Try and love one another right now. How is that working out for our peace loving generation? Not so well. It is far easier to sing about loving one another than it is to actually love another. No matter how much I

A Sacred Space

(Excerpted from Between the White Lines) It is almost impossible to comprehend what it is like for a sixteen-year-old boy to run onto the Dallas Cowboys home field to play for a state championship. Kids who have played in front of a few dozen or a few hundred look at a vast sea of faces. They struggle to balance fear and exhilaration. Some teams thrive on this big stage and others wilt. The Newton Eagles always looked to one source of strength in these moments: their coach W.T. Johnston. “There is nothing like being in the battle with these young men,” W.T. says. “One of the things I love the most about coaching is the team huddle. It is a sacred place that only I get to share with my players. No one else gets to invade that sacred space between the white lines. I always ask them to take a knee and I get down to their level. I