Editor’s note: This is an opinion column.
By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
This is one of those columns you never want to write.
Leeds High School’s Johnathan Douglas. (Photo by Bobby Mathews)
Johnathan Douglas — or Dougie, as he was known by his Leeds High School baseball teammates — apparently drowned in Logan Martin Lake on Saturday, June 11. He was only 18 and freshly graduated.
Dougie was the only senior on the Green Wave this past season, and as I had the opportunity to be in the dugout on multiple occasions, I can tell you that he was well-loved by his coaches, teammates and fans.
On senior night, he started in right field. I still remember the huge grin on his face as he trotted out to take his position. It was an afternoon game. If it had been night, they wouldn’t have had to use the stadium lights. That’s how big Dougie’s smile was.
I’m searching for the words to say. I work around and with a lot of young people in our community, and the only way that I can do this job is by caring about the people I cover. I want every one of them to succeed and grow into amazing adults. It’s heartbreaking that Dougie won’t ever get that chance.
When you’re young, you take risks. You don’t always understand that there are potentially heavy consequences to every decision you make. When you’re 18 and in the summer between high school and college or high school and the real world, you can sometimes feel invincible.
I can remember being with friends at a hotel at Panama City Beach when I was a teenager, and us jumping from the third floor balcony into the pool below. We were young and dumb and looking to have a great time on Spring Break (and also to impress a couple of girls we met) … when I look back on moments like that, I can’t believe my friends and I made it through to adulthood.
There is, often, a feeling of ‘It can’t happen to me,’ or ‘It won’t happen here.’ But it can and does.
Leeds is a special place. The high school is, too. I can’t tell you how the community there has opened itself to me in a hundred different acts of kindness. Now the Green Wave has lost one of its own, and that will affect every one of Dougie’s classmates, teammates and family members going forward.
They’re going to hurt. They’re going to grieve. I wish I had a good way to wrap this up in a nice bow and say something meaningful about a well-loved young man’s passing. But I don’t.
There’s a space now where a vibrant young man used to be, and it’s a loss for his community and for all of the things he might have accomplished.
Go give somebody a hug and tell ’em you love ’em. You may not get the chance tomorrow.
Bobby Mathews is sports editor at The Tribune and author of the novel, Living the Gimmick. Reach him at bobby.mathews@trussvilletribune.com or on Twitter: @bobbymathews.
