Blog: Brown Beginnings, Issue 5
As the release of the non-fiction book The Boys in Brown approaches, author Jon J. Kerr takes readers inside the process. On Tuesdays, the series Brown Beginnings gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the conception and reporting of the story. Thursdays, he blogs about the writing and publishing steps before launch.
This past weekend, I finished reading The Wright Brothers, David McCullough’s terrific biography of the founders of modern flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright.
The story of the Wrights is remarkable–at the turn of the 20th century, two seemingly ordinary bicycle shop salesman from Dayton, Ohio designed, built and flew the first “flying machine.” Much of the engineering first crafted by the Wrights 100 years ago is still used in modern aircraft today.
What struck me most about the Wrights was their personalities, bizzarely eccentric and unflaggingly industrious. Both were peculiar men, never marrying, living with their sister and father for much of their lives. They were intellectually curious; starting an alternative weekly magazine in Dayton and while in Europe selling their “flying machine,” spent days wandering the streets of Paris, studying the city’s grand architecture. Their journey from inception to recognition was long and arduous, yet McCollough writes the two “never complained, were always kind and polite to the public and to each other.”
So its safe to say Wilbur and Orville were nice guys who did extraordinary things. Their quirkiness is what made them great.
By week 2 of the 2010 football season, I knew the same of the Carmel Corsairs.
This was the Libertyville game. Carmel had destroyed St. Charles East in week 1, 55-7. It was obvious in that game the team had skill position talent. The Corsairs had a speedy tailback in Michael Panico and a tough, bulldozer of a fullback in Jordan Kos. They also had a cerebral decision maker at quarterback, Brian Serio. Head coach Andy Bitto told me he preferred quarterbacks “be vocal. It’s hard to play that position without being a vocal leader.” But being forceful with his mouth was counterintuitive for Serio. He was a bookishly analytical young man (who graduated this spring from Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering), preferring to let his execution do the talking. Kos possessed a sarcastic wit to go with a bombastic running style. Panico was a flaky, goofy kid who ran with cheetah-like acceleration and wore his hair long enough (by private school standards) to earn being compared to a pop culture star of that year:
Panico is as indifferent to Carmel’s rule on hair length (cut above the ears) as he is to oncoming tacklers. This is why Coach Bitto has begun referring to his star running back as Justin Bieber, the teen idol with the mop-top.
It’s catching on.
“Hey, Justin!” yell a few of the players in unison.
Before he begins calisthenics, Panico quickly pulls his head back, giving his just-above-the-ears shag a slight flip in mock affirmation. A few teammates laugh. A slight grin crosses his lips. He wants everyone to know he’s in on the joke.
The defense had its share of rational misfits as well. Safety Mike Fitzgibbons, the son of defensive line coach and long time head coach Michael Fitzgibbons, preferred to wear pink socks to Thursday practices. To his father, who due to working three jobs that fall had packed on a few extra pounds, he would say, “when is the baby due?” Defensive end Michael Cohen often ignored practice instruction and went right for the quarterback. Linebacker Luke Venegoni was much like Serio–studious, almost meditative, in persona.
Here’s what they had in common–they were all unshakably nice young men. And when they played football together, these collection of personalities produced exceptional results.
There was a moment in the Libertyville game when it was apparent to everyone the 2010 Corsairs were special:
With 6:12 remaining in the third quarter, Carmel takes over on its 20-yard line. All game, the Corsairs have moved the ball on the ground with their triple-headed attack of Serio, fullback Jordan Kos, and running back Michael Panico, who had a 74-yard touchdown run earlier in the quarter. On this drive’s first snap from center, Serio moves one step to his right, then jams the ball into the belly of Kos. But he pulls it back, cradling it with both hands and sprinting into an open alley on the right side. Twenty-eight yards later he’s finally dragged down. Four plays later they score a touchdown to make it 34-27.
On the ensuing possession, Libertyville takes over on its 16-yard line. On the first play, Schurr is hit hard behind the line of scrimmage by defensive end Jake Larson. The ball is jarred loose and rolls into the end zone, and linebacker LaRon Biere falls on it for another Carmel touchdown. That’s two scores in 11 seconds, and what had been a close game is now a 41-27 Carmel lead.
Just as Coach Bitto stressed pre-game, the Corsairs are playing with emotion. But they are the more composed team, repurposing the crowd’s heightened energy into robust on-field execution.
On the road, against a local rival, Carmel took control of a game that at one point, appeared to swing in favor of the Wildcats. This was a team of differing personalities; some eccentric, some normal, some rebellious. But what was certain about the 2010 Corsairs late that Friday night of September 3, 2010, was that this collection of nice guys was a damn good football team.
