Now you’re just somebody that I used to know….

It gave me pause when I heard this line in a song on the radio last week and got me to thinking about all the faces and names that I have seen passing me by in this job as a sports reporter over the years.

One of those faces I saw Saturday in Plains was that of a former hoops coach in that town, a guy I got to know quite well when he was in the sporting world in Sanders County.

I not only got to know Richard Griffin through his coaching – either as an assistant or as later on, the head coach for the Plains Trotters – but also from our days working together for the U.S. Forest Service.

Having seen a lot of coaches come and go over the years, it kind of hit me hard when Griff, as everyone around for any length of time tends to call him, felt like he had to step down as the coach of the Trotters a few years back.

Although his sideline demeanor tended to hit people the wrong way sometimes, the gruff exterior he showed in no way reflected on the way he actually was, at least in my mind. He was always in the game for his kids, and always more than willing to work as hard as they did to win.

I challenge anyone to find anybody more dedicated to his team than Griff was in Plains, and now is again in Darby.

If he was yelling from the sidelines and, admittedly he often was, it was done in a positive fashion as far as I could see, and was only meant to try to bring out the best in his players, which he often did, by the way, in leading the Trotters to some of their better seasons in recent memory.

As such, I was personally pretty bummed when he decided to step down, so it was sure good to see him back in Plains Saturday as the new head coach for Darby, and it was good to see him doing what he loves to be doing so much again.

That old saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” was on full display after the boy-girl doubleheader was played as a bunch of Griff’s former players and players’ parents gathered around him to talk and see how he was doing. Griff was obviously moved by the show of support.

“They called me ‘coach,’ they still love me,” he joked. “I’m okay with Plains, I never really had a serious beef with anyone and that connection with my players is still there, and that was kind of cool to see.”

***

Another one of those somebodies that I used to know was also in Plains Saturday night and caught up to me on the sidelines after the game.

The coach of the Plains Horsemen for many years not that long ago, John Revier has had heart problems his whole life and told me that he had open heart surgery, which he is still recovering from, back in October.

“I was having trouble breathing,” he said, “and it finally reached the point that I felt like I needed to go get looked at.”

Revier was surprised when he found that he needed surgery right away after that doctor visit but, after a few months of recovery is doing much better now. The only downside he saw was the fact that his doctor’s orders prohibit him from doing anything too strenuous for the time being at least.

A heavy equipment operator for most of his adult life (including the time he spent coaching his beloved Horsemen) said he was suffering from “operator addiction” and was eager to get back in the saddle on one of his machines. His doctor’s orders included not lifting anything very heavy or extending your arms too far from your body, things you need to do to hoist yourself into the cab of a big rig.

“It’s a real thing, operator addiction,” he half-joked. “And I think I have thought of a way to get into the cab using a step ladder. My wife and doctor probably wouldn’t want to hear this, but I would really like to get my fix.”

***

“Be humble or be humbled.”

New Plains Trotter coach Eddie Fultz said his team has adopted that mantra after their hot start this season, hoping to keep things in perspective as games fly by from here on out.

And it’s easy to see why Fultz is urging caution – the first few weeks of a season is way too early of a time to be thinking you are the best; you have the whole season ahead to prove that anyway.