I wish I could say I took it bravely. I was en route to the Fiesta Bowl, got the news on the plane, wept worse than any baby on board and took the first flight home. I couldn't write a grocery list, much less a column. They found one in the vault from three years ago and ran it. I never even looked.
Some guys are tougher.
Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, for instance. Two Sundays before, his mom had died, but Johnson didn't crumble. He didn't book the first jet home to Texas. Instead, he prepared for and then coached a Monday night win over Denver. He worked Tuesday, too.