So often after a major tragedy, it's the little things that break down our defenses. We go through a funeral with squared shoulders and then see someone's old raincoat or a book left on a desk and the tears come. So as we read one after another of the brief biographies of those young men from Manhasset who were lost to us forever after the World Trade Center terrorist attack, we noticed a common theme. So many of these successful, hard-working people were also athletes and so many of them coached their children's teams. Every year here in Manhasset we are struck anew by the dedication of these coaches, mostly fathers, who give up a golf game or a sail to coach a sport--and it's not a single day but every weekend that they show up. There will be gaps in their ranks this year. There will be teams without coaches. We are sure that their friends and neighbors will rise to the occasion to replace them in this role, but it's just one more reason why Manhasset will not forget them and will sense their spirit still present on the playing fields of our town.

E.F.B.