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... it's not a secret - pfloyd is a big fan of the Warren Warriors - have been for 15 years or so ... Coach Maddox and I both taught at Logan High School in the same department before Coach Maddox took his coaching/teaching talents to Warren Local - Logan's loss for sure ... we have been friends forever it seems ... I have always had great respect for Coach Maddox as a person, a teacher and a friend for 30 years - tonight , after the Warren , Athens game Coach Maddox & his staff only solidified that respect ...

... I always try to at least say hello to Coach Maddox whenever I'm at the Warrior Dome - it's what friends do ... I did so tonight as well - we talked hoops - I gave him the scoop on Fairfield Union & the transfer PG , Blane yelled at me for NOT letting him know I was in the gym for the Parkersburg game Tuesday night ... i returned to my cheap seat location ... as the game progressed through the first half ... Blane's wife Sally who was sitting in front of me , returned to her seat and told me that Coach Maddox wanted to see me following the game - win or lose ... okay ... the game got into the 4th quarter ... it got a little chippy when a couple of Athens players took down a Warren player - 2 Warren technicals were called one on a player who simply said what EVERYONE in the gym said when he saw how hard the tackle was of his teammate = technical #1 ... Coach Maddox had a few words with an official = technical #2 ... the game continued , Warren pushed out to nearly a 20 point lead ... with 30 seconds or so left in the game I'm writing down Napkin Stats and I hear Coach Maddox yelling my name from the bench !!! for a second I thought " Coach ! I don't have any eligibility left !" ... I told the folks around me " he wants to yell at me and blame the technical on me - I didn't say anything Coach Maddox !!!" ... he yells for me to go to the Warren locker room after the game ... ??????

I walked into the locker room the Warriors , Coach Maddox & coaching staff celebrating the "W" over Athens ... I then heard Coach Maddox introduce me to the team, he introduced me as his long time friend, that the players know me by my internet/seops name but he knows me as Mike ... he informed the players that I was battling cancer again ... asked them if they would join hands with him, me and the coaching staff to pray for me, pfloyd ... he asked me if that would be alright ... right there in the locker room , where but seconds before the Warriors were celebrating ... Coach Maddox explained to his young men that he KNEW that with his, his players prayers I could beat cancer ... I had tears in my eyes the whole time as Coach Jack Colgrove - with the entire Warrior family holding hands in a circle with pfloyd - led the team in praying for pfloyd ...

... players who had just worked their butts off on the floor for 32 minutes were now learning a life lesson from Coach Maddox ... that basketball as important to them at that time is what it is - a game ... that there are things bigger and more important than basketball ... Coach mentioned that the kids themselves knew of family/friends who were affected by cancer ... not too many dry eyes in that locker room ... it was my pleasure to shake those kids hands after the "Amen" in unison ... I thanked them all ...

... I just want to thank Coach Maddox, Coach Mitchem, Coach Coffman, Coach Colgrove and every single one of those Warren players for giving this old man, pfloyd , a memory that I will take with me forever ... I WILL beat this terrible disease ... cancer has no chance - I have the Big Bad Blue fighting for me ! ... Life IS worth Living ... #livinglifeonMYterms

pfloyd ...

Awesome story pfloyd. And much respect to the Warriors program on the respect they've showed you

Thank you for sharing the background and your amazing story, pfloyd. Always respected the job that Coach Maddox has done at Warren and enjoyed the tournament games over the last 10 years between Logan Elm and Warren. I have that much more respect for Coach Maddox, his program and their integrity after hearing your story.

... Coach Maddox & his staff are as classy as they come ... I have so much respect for those young men as well - Cameron Bartmess, Trace Congleton, Thomas Williams, Noah Nichols, Josh Huffman, Bishop Ford, Chase Weihl, Jared Hall, Kyler Dennis, Bryce Gandee, Garrett Miller ... they were honestly taken in by the words of Coach Maddox & the prayer from Coach Colgrove ...

... I won't forget the moment, these kids & what Coach Maddox did for me ... when you battle an opponent that is seemingly unbeatable - cancer - you search for things that your mind can wrap around that will give you hope ... just that small glimmer of hope allows the mind to takeover, hope gives the mind the ability to push the body to limits not thought possible ... hope ... I have NEVER been one who gives up ... being with the Warren coaching staff, those young kids after the game ... hope ...

That's outstanding. Great gesture Coach Maddox

That's good stuff right there. Warren is a very tight knit community that not only rallies around their own, but helps out in joining the fight for others. Basketball is just that, a game. It gives us a "break" from some of the obstacles that we endure in this thing called life. Kudos to Warren and it's staff and best of luck to the battle that lies ahead for you Pfloyd. You have many people ready to go to battle with you.

Floyd left out parts of the story. Maddox walked back to his office, grabbed three bags of twizzlers, handed them to floyd and whispered in his ear - 'you're bumping us to no. 1 now, right?' Lol

On a serious note - thats good stuff Floyd, thanks for sharing.

With Minford playing Warren the past couple of years in the regular season and once at the Convo, I have enjoyed watching and listening to Coach Maddox work with his team. I have told others that coach Maddox is a class act, and one of the best coaches I have seen. Great story pfloyd!

minford17 wrote:With Minford playing Warren the past couple of years in the regular season and once at the Convo, I have enjoyed watching and listening to Coach Maddox work with his team. I have told others that coach Maddox is a class act, and one of the best coaches I have seen. Great story pfloyd!

minford17 - you're right on the money about Coach Maddox - class act in how he runs his program, how he coaches/teaches up his kids, and how he treats people in general ... when my boys were in "biddy basketball" here in Logan - I helped coach ( we're talking many years ago as my oldest will be 33 in May) ... Coach Maddox at that time was the freshman coach here in Logan ... we would have our biddy practices immediately following the freshman practices - I would take my boyz out early so we could watch , listen, learn from what Coach Maddox was teaching/coaching his team - I learned so much about the game, coaching up kids, getting a point across just by watching Coach Maddox's practices ... he's one of the best ... great coach and even better person/friend ...

pfloyd wrote:

minford17 wrote:With Minford playing Warren the past couple of years in the regular season and once at the Convo, I have enjoyed watching and listening to Coach Maddox work with his team. I have told others that coach Maddox is a class act, and one of the best coaches I have seen. Great story pfloyd!

minford17 - you're right on the money about Coach Maddox - class act in how he runs his program, how he coaches/teaches up his kids, and how he treats people in general ... when my boys were in "biddy basketball" here in Logan - I helped coach ( we're talking many years ago as my oldest will be 33 in May) ... Coach Maddox at that time was the freshman coach here in Logan ... we would have our biddy practices immediately following the freshman practices - I would take my boyz out early so we could watch , listen, learn from what Coach Maddox was teaching/coaching his team - I learned so much about the game, coaching up kids, getting a point across just by watching Coach Maddox's practices ... he's one of the best ... great coach and even better person/friend ...

Too bad there isn't a like button like on Facebook, but I am definitely pushing it for this post. Looking forward to Valentines Day when my Falcons make the trip to Warren. Will hope to meet Coach Maddox to let him know I definitely appreciate this story and what he did.

Great share pfloyd! My parents were really good friends with Coach and Sally when they lived in Logan, and I think still are friends. They really are two great people!

Having spent 16 years with Blane and Sally, and over a decade with Coach Colgrove and Coffman this does not surprise me at all. Anyone who knows anything about basketball in Southeast Ohio knows that Warren is the standard by which others are compared. Coach Maddox and his wife Sally created this by surrounding themselves with great people and having tremendous work ethics and high standards for themselves and others. Coach Mitchem, Coach Padgitt, Hall of Fame score keeper John Mitchem, the list goes on and on. Having common sense, integrity, being an independent thinker, and always doing what is right are traits that are not common, Coach has always done it the right way.

The public gets to see the basketball product, but they don't get to see Blane and Sally in the classroom. They have hundreds of victories on the hardwood and track, but many, many more in the classroom. Both are planning to retire as teachers in the spring, and this will be a tremendous loss in the class rooms at Warren.

Yes, the scoreboard is important when you play and coach, but the larger picture is the scoreboard of life. Anyone who has ever been lucky enough to be associated with the Warren basketball family has a greater appreciation for the "Scoreboard of Life".

AMEN COACH and many more years !

Coach Duckworth

marklduckworth wrote:Having spent 16 years with Blane and Sally, and over a decade with Coach Colgrove and Coffman this does not surprise me at all. Anyone who knows anything about basketball in Southeast Ohio knows that Warren is the standard by which others are compared. Coach Maddox and his wife Sally created this by surrounding themselves with great people and having tremendous work ethics and high standards for themselves and others. Coach Mitchem, Coach Padgitt, Hall of Fame score keeper John Mitchem, the list goes on and on. Having common sense, integrity, being an independent thinker, and always doing what is right are traits that are not common, Coach has always done it the right way.

The public gets to see the basketball product, but they don't get to see Blane and Sally in the classroom. They have hundreds of victories on the hardwood and track, but many, many more in the classroom. Both are planning to retire as teachers in the spring, and this will be a tremendous loss in the class rooms at Warren.

Yes, the scoreboard is important when you play and coach, but the larger picture is the scoreboard of life. Anyone who has ever been lucky enough to be associated with the Warren basketball family has a greater appreciation for the "Scoreboard of Life".

AMEN COACH and many more years !

Coach Duckworth

Coach Maddox and staff has always been a lot of fun to officiate, especially while Coach Duckworth was still there. I have enjoyed many good battles at the Warrior Dome! The fact that they have the big hearts they do is not surprising.