The Words of a Daughter that Grew Up Missing A Father, One of the Ten to Always Remember
STILLWATER – Saturday was the annual Remember the Ten Game. It was the first one that I’ve missed. I did not venture out on the highways and streets. My own neighborhood in Edmond was likely the most icy, snowny, and slippery. I watched the game and I thought long and hard about the people I knew well on that plan that next Tuesday it will be 25-years ago since they passed. I thought again about Coach Sutton, Andre Williams, others on that team, and my friend Steve Buzzard, who as head of media relations had to be such a professional and was, despite losing a close friend and a fellow athletic department employee that I know he thought of as a younger brother.
I thought about one of the men that I most admire in all of college athletics, Bill Hancock. Bill is the father of Will Hancock. I thought of Karen Hancock, who I saw last week before Bedlam wrestling. Karen was Will’s wife and at the time Oklahoma State soccer head coach. She is now a senior associate athletic director and the chief administrator for women’s athletics. All of these friends suffered great loss and holes in their heart that could never be filled. Will had a daughter that he had barely got to hold in Andrea.
Andrea, like Hancock tradition, has grown into a talented young person. A graduate of Northwestern, smart, enterprising, and on a path to make a difference like her mother, her father, and her grandparents. I’m proud to know and have known all. I wanted to share this opportunity to read Andrea’s words from Saturday.