Don Robinson. So many things can be said about this man. I first met Don while in the Navy attached to ComCruDesPac Communications. We both worked in the message center. Since we both had a fond love of basketball, we hit it off right away. We lost track of each other after we were transferred and I can't remember where we met up again, but it has been great. Do you know how some people just radiate with class and quietly demand respect? Well that is Don Robinson. I gave Curt White a lot of credit for my basketball coaching successes. He must share those with Don. We coached together. We coached against each other. Let me tell you what this man did in the championship game between our two 8th grade teams. He shows up to the game practically dressed in tuxedo and tie (I said practically now) and brings a boquet of flowers for the team mother. Who does something like that? But that is don. A very good coach in his own right, he went as high as assistant coach at Division I USIU. He also referees football, baseball, and basketball. When I became Director of Education at Pacific Coast College, he was the first guy I hired as one of my instructors. He was simply someone you could always count on. I guess one of my proudest moments came when one year just before Thanksgiving, I was talking to my kids about who we might invite over for Thanksgiving dinner. As soon as Don's name came up, it was unanimous. I can honestly say that was one of my fondest memories of my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Now let me tell you something he and another coach did to me in Vegas. Well they didn't actually DO anything to me, but they didn't support me. In fact, they must have laughed at me for hours on end. The three of us had each brought up an eighth grade all-star basketball team to Las Vegas during the Easter break. Since there was nothing scheduled for the first day, we decided to go see a show. We picked the Redd Foxx show. As we entered the theater, I slipped the usher some cash and we ended up with a seat at a table in the front row, right beneath the stage. Redd Foxx is giving his performance, when all of a sudden, right by our table, he stops, looks down at me and says, "My God are you fat." Of course I am embarassed, the entire crowd is laughing, but my two buddies are laughing so hard, one of them actually fell off his chair. And they continued to laugh for what seemed like ages. What a night. Going back to the hotel rooms, they kept pointing at me and would break out laughing again. I'll never know how they survived that night. But I knew they were laughing with me and not at me. Just one of those ha-ha memories. So many great times we had coaching, drinking, laughing, partying, and just being good friends. Once again I can only say, "Don, thank you so much for the memories."