Today is the 17th anniversary of the tragic loss of Colgate student athlete Kyndle Mongeon, who was killed during a fight in New York. I have heard various stories on the incidents that led to this horrible tragedy, so I will not make any statements on that. However I do want to take a moment and discuss what I believe Kyndle represented in the few years that I knew him.
Late last evening I read a facebook post where a former classmate of mine was paying respect to Kyndle, and after reading it I thought about what I remember most about him. I played baseball (Babe Ruth level) and varsity football with Kyndle. Although he was only one year ahead of me, he was someone as an underclassmen you looked up to (being 6 ft 4 or taller made it the only way you could see him). I remember as a junior in high school, my first football game was a close game vs. Montpelier and we were down around 20 points at the start of the 4th quarter. I wasn't a full time starter yet, but I was in the game every play on defense at this point. What stands out to me was that after every play coming to the huddle he had an intensity that rubbed off on ALL of us. We had a pretty wild group at this point to begin with, yet Kyndle had a fire in his eyes, and his words in the huddle totally sank in with me. He was not only our leader, but our best player. That season he won the defensive player of the year for Vermont. The remainder of the season, it didn't matter if you were a starter, a star player, or a bench guy, Kyndle would joke, encourage, and help anyone he could. The one word that comes to mind when I think of him, is TEAMMATE. I would guess many of us that played or did anything with him would think the same thing. He was the ultimate TEAMMATE. And in sports, or your job, or in many ventures of life, TEAMWORK is important to success. Kyndle epitomized this. This is witnessed at his memorial golf tournament every year, as several of his former teammates at BFA, and Colgate show up to pay respects to his foundation. But what really brings his legacy to light, is that many people that show up never stepped foot on a diamond, or the gridiron with him. This shows to me the impact he had on a lot of people.
17 years ago today, we all lost a great TEAMMATE, and in my reflections this has given me some inspiration to be a better TEAMMATE, whether its at work, at home, or on the ice or course somewhere. Thank you Kyndle, I'll be tipping a cold one for you tonight! RIP #50.
