I was fortunate to spend this evening playing with my wife and daughter on a playground that holds both memories and the future. Adjacent to the playground and beneath the sweltering setting sun was a football field riddled with the cleat marks and exasperated sighs of a swarm of 5th grade boys learning the rules of the gridiron from their coaches – presumably for the first time. While my daughter and wife occupied themselves on the playground swings, I listened to the barking and drilling of the coaches as they tried to imprint their philosophies on the kids under the temporary governance of their whistles.

My experience as a young football player was some of my most cherished while growing up thanks to the awesome friends and coaches with whom I was lucky enough to share the field. I learned what it meant to lose and then I learned to win. As I overheard the same coaching with 20 additional years of experience between my ears, I started to understand the the parallels between football and life. These soundbytes resonated with more meaning than the first time I heard them as a kid:

• “The absolute worst thing you can do is stop. Never stop. Keep those legs moving.”
• “Always follow whoever is blocking for you.”
• “You fall down, you get back on your feet. You fall down again? You get right back on your feet again.”
• “No one’s gonna feel you coming at them half-assed – you’ll bounce right off.  You square up to your opponent and then hit them head-on.”
• “You don’t worry about your speed until you’ve perfected your form. Perfect your form, then work on your speed.”

I hope those 12 year olds understand that in 20 years that there’s simply no better advice than the sagacity afforded to them by their coaches tonight.  Rock on.  And many thanks to you, Coaches Ralston, Zinser, Eichberger, Earhardt, Bosler, et al. I remember it like yesterday. Because I’m still living it today.

Let’s call this a “guest post”… This weekend my sisters and I will be raising funds and awareness for lung cancer research before, during and after the University of Louisville’s football game against WVU at noon on Saturday. We’re hosting a birthday cookout for my mom, Nancy Huhn, at the Parrish House at which we’ll be offering free hot chocolate, coffee, donuts, hot dogs, and, well, some literature that helps people understand how poorly funded and misunderstood lung cancer is given the stigma associated with smoking cigarettes.

We’re on a mission to make a difference and hope you can help us simply by showing up and learning more about what you can do to help.  Even if you don’t want to partake in all the free goodies, please come by and help me with a C-A-R-D-S cheer!  I’ll let my mom take it from here…

My name is Nancy Huhn. I am a two year survivor of lung cancer. The lung cancer diagnosis was my 50th birthday present. It’s hard enough to hit one of those milestones, but learning you are now fighting for your life quickly eliminated any concerns about wrinkles and gray hair.

Because I have never smoked, doctor’s were baffled when my chest pain turned out to be cancer. (In fact, I had to request the chest X-ray!) When I asked the doctors what caused this, I was shocked to learn, just how
little they know about the causes. As we both know, lung cancer is not a lifestyle choice. I thought about several factors against me. I grew up in a home with chain smokers, neither of whom died from lung cancer. Our home had a coal furnace. I worked in smoking environments up until 15 years earlier. The doctors believe that none of that was a factor. We then had the radon levels tested in our home of 11 years, we were shocked to learn we had an average reading of 12.4. Being Stage IV, they said, my cancer was probably present for 5-6 years.

The oncologist I saw here in Louisville, recommended that I go to a National Cancer center and try to get involved in a clinical trial. I was in a clinical trial until this summer, when a tumor began to grow in my left eye. I am being treated by Dr. Alan Sandler at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Everything about Vanderbilt is impressive, and I wish we could offer similar care in every US city.

In honor of my 52nd birthday, my children are hosting a Lung Cancer Awareness fund raiser. The fund raiser will be held this Saturday at the University of Louisville vs West Virginia University game. This has become
a big rivalry in the Big East Conference and we’re expecting a big crowd. We’ve had many things donate from a variety of businesses and friends. 

We’ll be offering hot dogs, hot chocolate, cookies, donuts, coffee, etc to any interested passers-by.

The money we collect will be sent to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America. After searching around, we liked this organization the best when trying to match up our long term desires for funding more research to
prevent lung cancer.

Thank you in advance for your support, and we look forward to seeing many friends and fellow University of Louisville fans [and maybe a WVU fan as well] this weekend.  Happy birthday, Mom, and Go Cards! -NH