Bleed Your True Colors

Anyone close to my dad knew that he was passionate about his sports' teams. Especially, his Pittsburgh sports' teams. Oh, and who could forget about his son and daughter's teams that included Clarion Area High School and Clarion University. My dad also had a great love for the Boston Celtics and Red Sox. Tony raised us in a family surrounded by sports. From the age of 5 I was playing in tee ball and YMCA soccer leagues, and I can vividly remember dad standing there proud in our team photos as one of our coaches with his unforgettable arms folded, wide stance, aviators on, with a straight face. No matter what level of play he was coaching, it meant more than just winning and losing. It was more about learning about who you were as a person and who you wanted to be as an individual. You can be the kid kicking and screaming begging to leave or you can be the kid who wants to learn from the coaches and practice over and over again.

For Lindsay and I, sports went way beyond the field of play. As we grew up, we were practicing not only with the team, but with our father, and having great one on one talks about how to better represent ourselves and how to be a better teammate. There were many instances when I can think back through were I made really poor choices, but I learned from them. For example, I was fed up with a kid who was sneaking cheep shots toward my best friend Sean Wolf and myself during a basketball game played in the Clarion University team basketball camp so I wound up and punched him square in the face. Sure enough Sean had my back and literally jumped on the kid's back and put him in a head lock. Obviously, we could have handled that situation differently but it was a situation I learned from. Dad made it clear that my choice to punch the kid was poor but he did not ground me. He actually only grounded me once in my life. It was not because I was a goody two shoes throughout my childhood, because I was anything but. However, it was because he knew that he could give me perspective on the situation that would make me feel small and I would want to change for the better. His lesson for me in the punching scene I put on was focused on how I was percieved by all the people in the gym that day that had no idea who I was. "It only takes one stupid mistake that will always be on your record" he would say. There were many people at that game that I had the deepest respect for; therefore I knew I had some mending to do. I personally apologized to the referees of that game, the court monitors, and even head coach, Ron Righter. Those apologies went a long way. Years later I became very good friends with the coaching staffs at the University and eventually became a graduate assistant for the women's golf and basketball programs.

Over the years of my sports' careers, I became much more of a leader than a knucklehead. What I really believe contributed to who I am today is the understanding that I am always representing myself wherever I go. When you think of Andrew Banner I want you to think of me and my brand in a positive manner. I take this lesson with me every second of every day.

P.S. Thanks dad for always coaching me to be a leader instead of a knucklehead.

Rise Above

If there was one thing I remember all the way back to my childhood about my father was his ability to say only great things about people. We grew up as a family in the small quaint town of Clarion, PA where everyone knew everybody's business. Small town gossip is a constant there but my dad would rise above the pettiness of talking about other people's business. Of course as a teen I thought small talk was fun and something everyone did. Not Tony Banner. There were times when dad would sit me aside and tell me right from wrong and then there were the lessons that I learned from him simply leading by example. There are many instances I can think back through and remember when there would be a situation when a person would bring up conflict with me or someone in my family. Dad's reaction was never sudden; he always wanted to know more and dig a little deeper. He knew that there is always another side to the story and he would seek it out before pointing his finger at the person causing conflict.

Choosing to rise above and take on the challenge of confronting the people face to face instead of avoiding the situation built my character and only made those relationship stronger. Finding the good in people has led to many new friends that are still some of my best buds to this day. It has also completely changed my relationships with former bosses that I once struggled to understand. Generally, what I have learned from my experiences is that if you invest a little time with people, they will open up and turn out to be people full of depth. Those people that you go the extra mile for will end up being there when you need them most.

The challenge will be to see if you will take the easy way out in your next conflict with a person or will you be the one to shake their hand and get to know them. I promise you will not regret going the extra mile.

Introduction

September 2nd, 2011 at 7:30am central time I called my father just like any ordinary day on my way to work. Every day I called my early in the morning, around lunch, dinner, and an additional time if something came up out of the ordinary. To say the least, we were very close. Our call that morning consisted of the usual sports talk, how everything was going, and how graduate school was coming along. At the end of our talk we always ended the call with "I love you." It turns out, those would be my last words to my father. I had a busy morning that day at work, so I did not get my normal lunch call in because I was taking a weekend trip to Austin to visit my best friend Alex Peckham. Carly Truitt, and I hit the road around 1pm. Carly is my co-worker and roommate. As we were about 2 hours down the road, my life was about to change. My sister, Lindsay, called and she sounded a wreck. All she says is "Andrew there is no easy way to say this... dad is in cardiac arrest and I do not think his is going to make it." Simultaneously, I slam on my breaks and skid into the car in front of me. My arms went numb and I was speechless. After Carly helps me get the lady all the insurance information she needed for the fender bender, we headed to the airport. Once I was on the airplane, many emotions were running through my head. I felt sad, mad, in disbelief, but I did not ask why. The majority of the flight I spent tracing back through all of the memories I had with my father from my youth until my last "I love you." Each entry moving forward will be a memory turned into a life lesson. These are life lessons my dad, Anthony Wayne Banner, taught myself and many others and will hopefully resonate with you.