Bobby D's Blog - 2010 Day 173
I was going to use the slogan “Mission Accomplished” when I completed the Quest this season but thoughts of President Bush standing on the battle ship with the banner behind him popped into my head. That mission was not accomplished – and neither is ours (more to come on that.) But we have spread awareness of SADS this season and with your assistance have raised in excess of $22,000.

When the final out was made the other night at Sun Life Stadium in Miami and my 30th and final MLB ballpark was complete, I was standing with Tom, Travis, Charlie and Angel and just soaked in the moment. The Cubs were on the field high fiving their victory over the Marlins and I jokingly said “they are high fiving the completion of the Quest.” Shortly after, the Marlins had fireworks which I joked were for us and then a Latin band performed a concert that I didn’t have a joke for – well one that I can publish.

The reality of what I had just completed didn’t hit me until yesterday when I realized I didn’t have anything I had to do this weekend. For the first weekend since Easter – I don’t have plans. I guess I could clean my apartment (Charlie is now shaking her head, YES and don’t forget the tub) but that will take all of 2 hours. I could wash my car – it sure does need it (again Charlie nodding). Then I looked to see who was home this weekend, both the Bengals and Browns are on the road as are the Reds. The Indians are home, but the Royals are in town so big whoop. Here I have a free weekend and I am looking to go to a ballgame (Charlie is now saying, you’re an “E” Bob – definitely an “E”). A little Meyers – Briggs reference for all you have had to take one of those mindless tests.

I was feeling really good about our Quest being complete and then Charlie told me about a high school football player, Reggie Garrett of Texas. Reggie has just thrown a TD pass in his game the other night, walked off the field, low fived a coach, slumped to the ground in an apparent seizure and passed away. From early indications this is a SADS death. Reggie was 17, had scholarship offers for football to major schools. Another young life lost.

Then on Wednesday I was driving to work with my boss Dave, he mentioned an 11 year old from his hometown of Hudson, NH who passed away in March from Long QT in his sleep. Zach Tompkins loved football and in his memory his family and friends are raising money to build a new Pop Warner Football field in his memory. I have attached Zach’s website to this blog. This one hit close to home for me – Shawn Marie and I lived in Fremont, NH which is about 25 miles from Hudson. Also my nephew Frankie plays Pop Warner football in Concord, NH and might have played against Zach in the past.

So last night as I was falling asleep it hit me, my Quest just like when President Bush stood on that battle ship proclaiming “Mission Accomplished” is truly not accomplished. Young people all across this country continually die from SADS conditions that are treatable. All that was required was awareness when these symptoms presented themselves.

And then I got pissed off – this summer I did something that was truly unique - a Quest that should have been picked up by more media not for what I was doing, but for why I was doing it and what it stood for. A few media members did get it – Amy Donaldson of the Deseret News and Denise Alex of the Ohio News Network both did great features on our Quest and the link to SADS. But none other and it wasn’t from us trying. We sent out press releases, contacted radio, TV and newspapers but to no avail.

I have been asked if I will keep this website going now that this year’s Quest is over and the answer to that is – YES. I have fallen behind in the write ups of about 8 ballparks from August and September so stay tuned for those. I also have many great memories that I will share during the off season now that I have had time to let them sink in. Plus I enjoy typing up these blogs.

The other question is will I do all 30 MLB ballparks next year? I do have the schedule made up already and is published just a few blogs below this one. It would be difficult to do from a time and finance aspect. I did pay for this entire Quest myself. The total cost was…well…a lot. My life is much different now than it was in April when this year’s Quest started. I have long term plans and goals again that I am soooo looking forward to - and they don’t exactly include traveling the country seeing ballgames, maybe Black Hawk and Bears games though ;)

There will be a handful of games next season that will be Quest games. We will set up a SADS awareness event in conjunction with the local MLB team. We will work on having SADS families join us at the game and have local media cover the event. That much we can promise. If a sponsor or 2 or 3 come to the table with enough funds to do all 30 next season …well we will talk if that happens. Pause here while Laura starts working the phones looking for sponsors.

I guess that’s about it for today. Please keep checking back as I will be posting a blog every Thursday or Friday – maybe two in a week if I find the time. Also if you were wondering what I came up with for this weekend, well I got tickets for THE Ohio State Buckeyes game against Eastern Michigan at the Shoe. Heck I live here in Columbus, OH might as well join in the madness that is Buckeye football.

One final thought - Laura and Charlie have been telling me that what we are doing is a process. The Susan G Koman Foundation didn’t happen overnight – it was a process that grew into this huge, amazing organization. So for us this is a grass roots campaign, one that will never be accomplished until every person knows what SADS is – we will still climb the mountain every summer, hold our Heartoberfests, run our 5K race, have our raffles and go to a ballgame or 30 every summer all in the memory of a loved one we lost to a condition that we never heard of, all in hopes of saving one life by the deeds that we are doing. All in the hopes that we never have to hear about a high school football player passing away after throwing a TD pass or raise funds for a football field in memory of an 11 year old.

Our Mission…is just beginning….

  http://www.zacharytompkins.org/
Posted by , 11:16 AM, Permalink  
Comments: Bob - you are an inspiration. Thank you for your devotion to this cause, your passion, your enthusiasm and dedication. You know, I AM on the phone looking for sponsors. If anyone wants to underwrite this amazing program - I'm ready to talk. 801-531-0937 or my ever-present blackberry laura@sads.org. Enjoy a peaceful weekend.
Posted by Laura Wall, 35 minutes(s) later

Bob, I think this is wonderful! And awe inspiring. And motivating. Whether your quest finds you at the ball park or a fundraiser, whether you are giving a media interview or blogging, the mission continues and gains momentum. Keep it up!
Posted by Meg, 1:24 hour(s) later