Sunday afternoon at the Capital Gymnasium came a test of his teachings. Not far away, U.S.A Coach Hugh McCutcheon's in-laws had been attacked a day earlier by a lone assailant at the historic Drum Tower. His father-in-law was killed, his mother-in-law critically injured. His wife witnessed the attack. So the U.S. men's volleyball team opened play without the coach who taught them how to fight through such ordeals.
Perhaps as a testament to his teachings, his players walked onto the floor of the Capital Gymnasium devoid of emotion. They did not partake in a melodramatic pantomime of despair. They did not point to the sky or write his name on their shoes. Rather they gathered in a small circle for the briefest of moments, then set to the task of battling through a surprisingly difficult five-set preliminary round victory over Venezuela.
See the rest of this Les Carpenter story at Washington Post.com, he really did a good job.