Before I arrived at Baylor in 2004, I had the good fortune of working alongside my coach and mentor Grant Teaff at the American Football Coaches Association. Working so closely with coach, occasionally, I would hear an inspirational story that reminded me of the bond developed and shared on the championship teams of which I was a member at Baylor. I have discovered that most championship teams have one thing in common: No matter how tough it became throughout their season, they did one thing —they held on to the rope!

What does it mean to hold on the rope? Imagine that you are hanging from the edge of a cliff with a drop of twenty thousand feet. The only thing between you and a fall to your death is a rope, with the person of your choice on the other end. Who would you choose to hold the rope and pull you to safety? Who values your life so much that they would be willing to withstand possible severe rope burns to their hands and not let go?  Would you have complete confidence in their ability and commitment to do the job? When you can look at every member on your team and know that every one of them would hold the rope, you are destined to succeed. You see, in my experience, the team that holds on to the rope, especially when the going gets tough, will be the winners. Winners hold the rope.

As we consider our roles as letterwinner/alumni at Baylor, we have been given a serious challenge. Are we willing to hold the rope for our alma mater and our current fellow student letterwinners when the going gets tough? I have decided to hold the rope. Let’s hold the rope together.   

On another topic, as the fall season quickly approaches, please remember to send in your “B” Association dues for 2018 to avoid a last minute rush to secure your credentials to access the letterwinners lounge on football game days. We anticipate another year of large crowds in the lounge, so don’t delay.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Sic ‘em!

Walter Abercrombie
Executive Director, Baylor “B” Association

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