I have now seen two coaches reach 500 wins in their career and the two could never be more different.
Putnam's Tony Falzarano, who has 533 wins to his credit, has always welcomed the spotlight, always been comfortable around microphones and reporters, and has never been shy about placing himself in the middle of a situation..on the court..off the court..in the community.
Griswold's Gary Kinel has been just the opposite of Falzarano.
Kinel is a very intense man on the court, a great strategist, always trying to out think you but he has always tried to avoid the attention. Low key is the best description I have of Gary Kinel. When he told me last week at the Montville game that if he didn't reach 500 wins this season and decided to retire after this season is over with 499 victories, he wouldn't have a problem with that- I believed him.
As he put it to me recently, "I have lived a good life, a simple life."
And, if I may add, what appears to be a very satisfying one.
If there is one burning desire this man has, it is to win a state championship for Griswold. He has done so in baseball and has come close in basketball. He made it to the state semifinals twice and the state championship game once, unfortunately, all three of those adventures ended in losses.
That is Gary Kinel's true quest, will he accomplish it remains to be seen.
Right now, Kinel is more concerned about getting his team into the state tournament, they need to win two of their last three games to do it.
At least for Kinel, those last three games will be played without the distraction of the number 500.
Just as an aside, although there were no ceremonies last night at Bacon Academy, Griswold does plan a small ceremony to honor their head coach and his accomplishments this Tuesday night.