Partnership Educators,
On the gravestone in the Bronx is a name of a sports writer that you never knew. Bill Barclay grew up on farms in the east and Midwest. His family moved to Wichita, Kansas when he was seventeen. A year later he got a job with the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad but it was only after he married and after he settled in Denver that he took a passionate interest in athletics.
He had always been a vigorous fellow and precision of any kind fascinated him. Sports provided a creative outlet for his vigor and his preciseness. He participated in all sports but found it enjoyable to observe fine athletes. Ringside he would carefully study the boxers of his day. He would memorize their styles, strengths, and their weaknesses. He soon became a critical expert and unchallengeable authority in the art of boxing. How he loved to talk sports with his friends.
After seventeen years in Denver, Bill and his wife pulled up stakes and headed east and made Manhattan their home. There in New York City, Bill took the job he would keep for the rest of his life. He became a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph. While many of his colleagues were stifled by their own clinical knowledge, Bill had an easy rapport with his readers. His column became something people looked forward to in the same way one looks forward to talking with a good friend. As his readership expanded, his admirers included President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was so impressed that he appointed Bill to a government post. The year was 1905. That only lasted a few months because it took him away from his beloved writing. More than anything, Bill wanted to be remembered as a sports writer. For nineteen years that career prospered. He became sports editor, and eventually secretary of the newspaper company.
Many a great sports writer has come and gone since Bill’s death in 1921. Bill wanted you to remember him as one of them. Many of those later writers surely sat by his side and watched and read about the big games and small ones through the eyes of William Barclay Masterson. You might know him as Bat Masterson. We tend to remember him for the several years not mentioned within this piece. The years of his youth as a frontier lawman, a county sheriff, and a deputy U.S. Marshall. As a resident of Dodge City and Tombstone.
Passion and purpose are often associated with each other and in my case it is. I have always been someone who worked hard at whatever I did. Work habits weren't an issue for my success. Starting in the restaurant business as a busboy and working up to the manager was purely hard work and caring ethics toward my employer. But it is when I found my passion for helping kids and learning the skills to make that happen at higher and higher levels that my purpose started to infiltrate my soul. Oprah Winfrey said, "Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you." Bat Masterson's passion came after a time in his life he wanted to forget and wanted others to forget. Thanks to those of you that passionately look for ways to ignite the passion in our kids to learn, be better people, and give service above themselves each day. Our goal is to build eager learners. I see that happening all over our district. Many of our students are like young Masterson who are still seeking their passion and are caught in their youthful adventures.
Have a great weekend,
Rob