Letter to the Editor: Eric Wicktor

Pine City Pioneer, Eric Wicktor

Dragons make us proud

To the Editor:

I had the honor to coach young men in basketball  in Pine City for nearly a decade.  There was a team of mine that happened to go a long way in the playoffs a decade ago. Watching this year’s boy’s team brings back a lot of great memories for me. But this is a different group with a different coach.  

Coach Kyle Allen  is doing an excellent job of not only preparing these boys for their next opponent but also to be solid students and great people. As the years go by for people they look at the next generations with worry sometimes. No doubt kids today face many  challenges that you and I didn’t, and there are things that I wish they would do a better job of, but this team is a group of young men working together for a common goal.  

I’ve watched a documentary about the Miracle on Ice team many times and one thing that always struck me was something the great Herb Brooks said.  He said, “These men have a genuine love for one another.”  Call me sappy (believe me, the students do) but these boys do. It doesn’t matter if you are the star, the reserve, injured, etc., you are a big part of this team.  All season they have gone out with an intense enthusiasm and motivation to play their tails off on offense and defense every night, and to do it with style and class.  Little bit of swagger?  Dang right. That’s part of it too.  

I can’t tell you how happy I am for this team and their coaches. I’m proud to have these boys in class and know their coaches as my colleagues and friends.

Eric Wicktor

Pine City