Patience pays off for Hudson

Patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.

There are plenty of biblical references to patience.

One example is in the first letter Paul wrote to the Christian community at Thessalonica, he urged them to be patient: "We urge you, brothers, ... be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good for each other and for all." (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15, NAB).

I've never been a very patient person myself. Everyone who knows me would probably agree with that self-assessment.

In fact, I pray daily for patience by saying, "Dear Lord: Help me to be more patient and hurry up."

Bloomfield's new interim athletic director Rick Hudson has exhibited plenty of patience over the last few weeks -- at times when it would have been much easier just to throw up his hands and say ... forget it.

The first time his name was up for a vote as athletic director, the board didn't get a chance to cast a vote on it when at the last minute the agenda item was pulled by the superintendent.

Last week, the board again failed to come up with a majority of votes to name Hudson its athletic director.

After the meeting, Rick told me he still wanted the job and would basically jump through as many hoops as the board and administrators ask him too.

Through it all, Rick publicly kept his sense of humor and answered the questions he was asked in several private interviews.

In the end, he received the recommendation of superintendent Dan Sichting.

The whole ordeal was probably a roller-coaster of emotion for Hudson and his very supportive family members.

Thursday night, the waiting game finally ended for Rick.

The school board, after three attempts, mustered a majority vote -- enough to name Hudson its interim athletic director to finish out the school year.

Actually, his contract runs through June 30.

The board plans to advertise for the fulltime position in March and expects to name an AD after doing interviews in late April or early May.

It was refreshing to learn that four members of the seven-person school board "did the right thing" and didn't continue to make spectacle of this particular hiring -- that turned out to be much more difficult than one could ever imagine -- by naming an administrator to carry out the AD duties on an interim basis.

I'd like to know the reasons for the pair of "nay" votes, but both board members quickly exited the meeting on Thursday night without comment.

In my opinion, the principal and the athletic director are both fulltime positions and need the attention of two separate individuals to do the jobs right to insure there is no short change of academics or the athletic department.

I really believe Rick's a good choice.

He's a local guy with successful business experience. He knows sports and bleeds Cardinal red.

He's also a guy who waited patiently -- and put his ego aside -- while a selection committee, the board members and administrators wrangled and jostled behind the scenes to come up with someone to recommend to fill the vacant position.

The so-called "carrot" had been dangled in front of him before and was unexpectedly yanked away at least once -- maybe twice.

Through it all, Rick persevered, was patient and most importantly said "yes" when the job was finally offered to him.

That says volumes about his character and desire to do the job for which he applied.

Bloomfield's the winner this time.