Monday, February 9, 2015

Bob's Memorial

The Bob Callahan memorial service Saturday afternoon came at a bad time for TigerBlog.

He had a longstanding commitment in Connecticut, and that's why he was unable to be at the chapel Saturday afternoon at 1:30.

That's not what he meant by how the service came at a bad time. By a bad time, TigerBlog means it came a few decades too soon.

Bob Callahan, who passed away Jan. 27 after a three-year battle with brain cancer, was Princeton's men's squash coach for more than 30 years. He was just 59 years old when he died.

Just 59. It pains TigerBlog to write that.

In a perfect world, Bob Callahan would have lived well into his 80s or 90s. There's no way to explain why he didn't, to comprehend why he would be stricken with such a vicious disease at its worst.

Bob Callahan was a one-in-a-million man. TigerBlog saw him mad only once, and that was so out of character for him that TB still can't believe it really happened.

If TigerBlog had to describe in one word, it would be this: "happy." That's what Bob Callahan was. He was a happy guy.

He never needed the spotlight. He never took credit for his success, always giving it to his players, even when he was the one who recruited them and, more importantly, set the culture for his program that enabled them to thrive.

Want to know the culture for Princeton squash during Bob's tenure?

One, it was competitive. Princeton squash was competing for national championships. Bob Callahan may have been a happy guy, but he was also a very, very competitive guy.

Two, and equally as important, there was no tolerance at all for anyone who didn't carry himself with the highest level of something that used to be called sportsmanship. Bob Callahan may have been a happy guy, but he was also a very, very classy guy.

And that was the culture.

Everyone in the squash world knew this about Bob. He was a true gentleman. And he combined that with teams that for more than three decades competed at the highest level of his sport.

Those two things are what defined Bob the coach.

Bob the person was one of the greatest family men TigerBlog has ever known. He and his wife Kristen raised five sons, all of whom graduated from Princeton.

Together they fought the disease, all of them with incredible dignity and courage. It left TigerBlog, and everyone else, awed by the Callahan family.

As for the service itself, TigerBlog heard the chapel was nearly packed. That's no surprise. TigerBlog isn't the only one who felt this way about Bob.

TigerBlog heard that former players and coaches spoke about Bob. It's not hard to imagine whatthey had to say about him.

Death, especially when it comes so early, is not easy to take. When someone has suffered as much as Bob did, the end does offer a bit of relief that the suffering has ended.

TigerBlog saw Kristen and the Callahan sons at the squash match against Penn the day after Bob died. They, as to be expected, carried themselves remarkably.

A memorial service is usually a similar type of atmosphere. It's a time to remember the person who has passed away and it's usually done with humor and fondness, as opposed to just sadness.

The sadness? That's there when you least expect it.

For TigerBlog, that came yesterday, when he was doing, of all things, the laundry.

There it was. The white "P Squash" shirt that Bob's successor, Sean Wilkinson - whose actual title is "the Robert W. Callahan ’77 Head Coach of Men's Squash - gave TigerBlog and many in the department.

On the back was a single word, "Callahan," with a ribbon.

When TB saw the shirt, it reminded him that Bob is gone. Bob, a friend for 20 years, a colleague, a role model, a shining light of everything that is good about college athletics, is gone.

There's nothing fair about that.

1 comment:

Roger Gordon '73 said...

Our basketball guys would always find a way to stuff themselves into that "C" level cave to yell for Tiger squash - Coach Callahan always had a good word for us!
Miss you, Coach!