And I am so very proud to be related to him!
 
Growing up, I was a classic tomgirl, couldn't help it, being the
second daughter after five boys.  The eldest girl was dressed in
lace and frills.  Me, I wore old sweatshirts and hand-me-down
jeans.  And tagged along with Sean, four years my elder, to a vast
number of sporting competitions,most initiated by him.  He wasn't
just a hockey fan.  He was known since youth for his love of ALL
sports, and most lovingly referred to as our "Howard Kosell".
 
Sean was so focused on sports he kept stats on all the pro-baseball
games his favorite teams played from the age of ten on in record
books.  He'd do the same for football and basketball, the only other
televised or radio-aired games featured during the sixties.  He
lived, breathed, and ate sports, barely leaving time to gulp down a
quick meal between events.  And of course, he was faithful to the
stats that were created during each event.  It was believed he'd make
a career of statistics as an adult.  There is a point to this, by the
way.
 
In addition to watching/listening to the professional games, Shawn
would get the neighborhood together to play some game or another.
From Shawn, I learned a buttonhook, a layup, and became an awesome
infielder thanks to his countless hours spent throwing grounders to
me.
 
Shawn was driven, and drove others too.  In addition,
there was a "fair play" instinct in Shawn that was so way above his
years.  He'd DEMAND of his teammates integrity on the field, fair
play and good sportsmanship and would refuse to play with any with
"Attitudes".  He would not tolerate name-calling, boundary moving, or
any such nonsense which would give us an advantage, for that would
SKEW the statistics he so innately understood.  His love of sports
goes way beyond a contest of "us versus them" into a whole different
dimesion, of the purest form of sportsmanship, more mathematical,
more statistical, that most of us commonfolk could never grasp.
While most of us concentrated on winning or losing, Shawn would
consider and calculate percentages, averages, and factor in
variables, taking it to a Science.  Therre, in black and white,
Shawn Walsh, from his youth, was a classic and true sportsman of the
highest calibre and I should know.   I am his sister.
 
His sense of fair play and good sportsmanship was often so great as
to be at the expense of those who he could have used his clout to
promote in one way or another.  He always seemed tougher on me
and his other siblings than on non-relatives, and I know he would
tolerate so little from his team that he would ignore in other
competitors:  LOOK AT THE WAY THE MAINE TEAM STANDS SO ERECT
DURING THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.  I have seen only a
few contests in recent times, but that has always impressed me about
Shawn's team... Other team's starting lines will stand there, moving
about, flexing, warming up in subtle movements, but Shawn's team
stands there motionless.  Shawn never would have accepted the trophy
of a National Championship title had he believed in his heart that it
wasn't won fairly.
 
If Shawn has a sports-related flaw, in terms of adherance to the
rules, it is that he is so very sure of himself, so knowledable of
each letter of the law, as it were, that he will draw an
interpretation which most would not dare to.  He would test the
limits, push the envelope.  But then, isn't that the way of growth in
this world?  Think of those who believed the world flat...  Had the
NCAA been around back then, and Columbus been leading a rowing team,
rather than the Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria, I am very certain he, too
would have fallen under close scrutiny and an NCAA Investigation...
 
OK, so, Maine Hockey list people.  I just want to remind you of the
things you KNOW about Shawn.  He is devoted to the stats, numbers,
and percentages.  He instills in his team self-respect, fair play,
and things which make us fans PROUD to know them and him, and he
rankles a lot of people because he is so different from the rest of
the pack!
 
I'm not gonna waste my breath on the other lists, and negative
posters.  Let's just keep it positive, and let them continue with
their petty jealousies, trying to bring down something we know can't
be reduced to their level.    If this were a sporting matchup, my big
brother wouldn't have any of it!  So,
 
Let's get on with the game!!!
 
Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, and I hope to see some of you
in Providence?
 
-Maura WALSH Satchell
 
 
Whitehall Consultants Ltd.
Mineral, VA  USA
Tel:  (540) 894-8786   Fax:  (540) 894-0625
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