Commentary: Graham is true leader within hedges

By Casey Michel     3/26/09 7:00pm

Patrick McAnaney has just changed over to Student Association president, Chris Del Conte is in his third year as Rice's Athletic Director and David Leebron has guided our university for nearly a half of a decade. But none of these men have ever held court like Wayne Graham.

Graham is a man for whom no introduction is needed, and to whom the utmost respect should be given. In nearly 20 years at Rice, Graham has done things no sane fan could have envisioned. Thirteen straight conference championships. Seven College World Series appearances. The nation's top-ranked baseball program of the last decade.

Oh, and a national championship banner flying astride Reckling's Hill.

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If you are not on your knees bowed in awe, then I can guarantee that you will have more than a stern look coming your way.

This man has done for Rice's renown what the "Who Knew?" campaign could only dream of. No longer synonymous with bookish engineers, Graham has culled students to Rice from every rank and file whose binding interest is the love of America's pastime. He has brought fans from across the country, welcoming them with a smile carved between the lines of wisdom that fashion his face.

Without Graham, there is no Reckling Park. There is no Autry Court renovation, no nation-wide brand awareness, no desire for a mass exodus to dusty Omaha every June.

Without Graham, there is little that would be recognizable about today's Rice.

Every year, our general has taken the field, looking out at the splash of green as another spring season dawned. Unfailingly, he has taken a Rice program once stuck in the dungeon of the Southwestern Conference and transformed it into a behemoth that could be mentioned in the same breath as John Wooden's Bruins. Unflinchingly, he pores over the team's monstrous schedule, never hitching his breath at the ranked opponents standing in our path. Unfathomably, he continues to wrangle a group of rowdy 20-somethings, reining them in and guiding them down a path toward a shot at a ring.

He does all of this, and he does it better than anyone could expect.

Last weekend, Graham's team put up some crooked numbers against the University of Southern Mississippi, winning its Saturday game 16-4. Junior superstar Ryan Berry picked up the win, freshman powerhouse Anthony Rendon continued his surge with a pair of jacks and the Owls cut down any questions about conference dominance.

But Graham put up an even better stat last week. With Rice's 4-3 victory on Friday, our leader collected his 800th win of his coaching career.

Let that settle, just for a moment. Eight hundred wins. If that number is too big to mean much - and I'm sure I'm not the only one having that problem - know that before Graham's arrival, Rice had just over 800 in the 85 years before he showed up. If Graham continues for another season, he will have done more for Rice's record than what all the coaches from Wilson to Whitewater had accomplished.

Now, I would make a crude joke about equating the wins to Graham's age, but I fear the call for my head would drown out any laughter. Thus, I'll share a story, one pertaining both to Graham's career and why the recent milestone is so important.

Earlier this semester, I had the honor of finally meeting the coach. I'm sure he could hear my knees knocking as I approached, looking at him the way a Catholic would see the Pope. This was the vicar of the Church of Rice Baseball, and I, a lowly follower, would be graced by his presence.

He could have spat an anti-media diatribe at me, and I would have walked away with a skip in my step and a grin on my face. Heck, he could have just spit on me, and I would have been honored. But the man was engaging and professional, catering to my questions and allowing a glimpse into the workings of someone whose success has molded many a young mind.

As our conversation rounded out, Graham, lucid and sage, let me in on future plans. At 73, the coach is already in the midst of the rumored Golden Years, but a few extra calendar pages were not going to keep the coach from what he's been doing since the days of disco.

"I'll go as long as I'm not hurting the cause," Graham said, smiling wryly. "It's not the wrinkles on your face - it's the fire in your belly. And I wouldn't [coach] if it wasn't there."

So here's to hoping that fire will keep the birthday candles lit for a couple more years. While he may no longer hunker down in the third base box, deceiving opponents with his sly hand signals, we all know that the gas in the tank will keep the flame bright. Graham is too driven, to passionate to leave Rice at this juncture. He has too many goals to douse the flame just yet.

Plus, he still has to train Leebron on how to manage a bullpen. Good luck with that, coach.

Casey Michel is a Brown College junior and Thresher Editor in Chief.

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