Friday afternoon started typically, except this time the clan from The Northern Star was getting set for softball instead of the weekly football game.

We had nine people at the field behind Gabel Hall, enough to have batting and fielding practice, but not enough to put together two teams for a game.

The NIU soccer team started kicking a ball around a short distance away. Head coach Willy Roy was milling about talking with a reporter, so we invited him over to take a few swings.

After the former Chicago Sting coach poked a few shots over our outfielders’ heads, he challenged us to a game. We were surprised but watched as he called his players and started assigning positions. This is not normal operating procedure for collegiate coaches, as you can imagine. After all, his players had been practicing their sport for less than a half hour and now he was instructing them in a totally different game.

Overall, Roy played a steady third base and was his team’s most consistent hitter, with well-placed drives down the lines and in the gaps. But his best performance was using the game as a learning experience for his players and the way he kept everyone loose with his personality.

The Star was leading 8-7 after an hour or so and Roy said we would play one more inning. Well, after neither team scored, he talked us into playing an additonal inning just so he could bat one more time. Like every coach, there is a little bit of con-man in him, as evidenced by him arguing every call. He also tried to cheat by pushing our runners off base and tackling some as they headed for the plate.

Lest you think this is written only because he played softball with us, let me go back in time.

The first time I saw Roy was at the Huskie Club Luncheons last fall. He became an instant crowd favorite as he cracked jokes and awarded “victory apples” to Jerry Pettibone whenever the football team won.

At one luncheon Pettibone said of Roy, “I came to these luncheons my first two years and there wasn’t much excitement. Now, thanks to this man, it’s exciting to come to the Huskie Club Luncheon.”

Roy is also cooperative with the campus media as compared to some of NIU’s coaches who make sarcastic remarks when dealing with student reporters. Roy went out for a few beers with a Star reporter last fall and even offered to buy our team a case after Friday’s game. Is that ethical in coach/reporter relationships? Probably not, but it shows he’s willing to be friendly. It also shows that he’s here to have fun and not to take himself too seriously.

And that’s where the best part comes in because he’s on the verge of bringing a winner to NIU. His name will automatically attract good players here, and if he can’t recruit them, he’ll breed them. He brought one son with him last year and he’s bringing two more all-staters from home for next season.

Will Roy have the desire to stay here after his sons are through playing for the Cardinal and Black? Regardless, he’s a pleasure to have here now.

I’m not saying every coach should cancel practices on a whim to play a pickup game with students. And I’m not saying every coach should invite reporters out for a drink.

But a smile and a laugh go a long way.