neil h. devlin
A winner's biggest battle
By Neil H. Devlin
Denver Post High School Sports Editor
Article Last Updated:12/14/2006 12:01:47 AM MST


The Denver Broncos 2006 high school football coach of the year, Tim Gribben, second from left, walks with The Denver Post players of the year: Devin Aguilar, Mullen, 1 (Class 5A); Dylan Orms, Wheat Ridge, 5 (4A); Ty Tschacher, Platte Valley, 2(2A); Matt Carrigan, Granada, 66 (8-man); Lucas Devlin, Idalia, 9 (6-man); Clay Garcia, Alamosa, 13 (3A); and Brian Hendricks, Burlington, 42 (1A). The annual Best of the Best for fall will be Dec. 21. (Post / Brian Brainerd)Tim Gribben said he "kind of got some guff" beginning in August, when he mentioned his Class A 6-man Idalia football team, possibly his last one, could be the best he has had in six years as head coach.

That he was probably correct didn't matter to alumni of the high school and never mind there is the grand total of 20 boys among its student body.

"A lot of the kids had brothers who played," Gribben said. "I said it might be the best team I've had, then they remind me how good they were."

As it turns out, everyone associated with Idalia is good, including Gribben, even if he has coached his final game. The Denver Broncos 2006 high school coach of the year isn't giving in to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, which is incurable and terminal by weakening and eventually destroying motor neurons.

"I'm doing all right," Gribben said. "I've got weakness in my arms and hands, my legs are weaker, my balance is different and I get pretty fatigued, but as long as I'm still getting up in the morning, I'll still do the things I do until I can't do them."

Gribben, 46, does quite a bit. Tough guys can be soft-spoken. He's a husband, father, friend, school superintendent, principal, athletic director and coach, and those are merely some of his highlights.

A man holding out for a cure to a disease that averages a three-to-five-year survival rate after diagnosis enjoyed a few more highlights with friends and family in the 2006 schoolboy season.

Idalia won its second consecutive 6-man title, its fourth with Gribben and sixth since 1998. Those are the only championships for Idalia.

Under Gribben, who also was a 16-year assistant at Burlington, where he had a hand in other titles, the Wolves currently own Colorado's top winning streak at 23 games.

Gribben's career record is an astounding 64-3, 15-2 in the postseason and 4-1 in

championship games. From 2001 to 2006, Gribben and Idalia were 49-1 in the regular season - the loss was to rival Kit Carson in Week 6 in 2004. The Wolves have won their past 17 regular-season games in succession and past six in the playoffs.
Hi-Plains, which beat the Wolves in the 2004 semifinals, and Peetz, which downed Idalia in the 2002 championship game, are the only other teams to defeat Gribben-led Idalia.

In 2006, the top-ranked Wolves (11-0) opened with a 32-18 home victory against No. 2 Kit Carson. Of the rest, only Hi-Plains, which fell to the Wolves in Week 5, managed to get within 32 points. Idalia also recorded outrageous scoring totals of 92, 78 and 76 points in the regular season.

As for the playoffs, the Wolves waxed Pawnee 72-12 in the quarterfinals and managed to get past Kit Carson 24-23 in the semifinals. It could have been the third time the two teams met over 12 games. Their opener came as a result of other teams not having enough players; their regularly scheduled matchup in the final week of the regular season was cancelled upon mutual agreement - they were convinced seeing each other in the semifinals was likely.

"It was one of the greatest games I've been involved with," Gribben said. "In the end, it came down to defense and an extra point."

And in the finale, Eads scored a touchdown on the opening drive only to get run over 69-6.

"It was pretty memorable. A lot of neat things happened that just played out this season," Gribben said. "It was real neat."

While the effects of ALS have made their presence known, Gribben said he'd just as soon "put on a helmet and play with the kids."

Realistically, he can't do it, although remaining positive has proved uplifting. It's the stress that can wear him him down, the taxing responsibilities of who he is and what he's living with.

"It's something I think about every day," he said. "There's no cure, and they've pretty much told me it's terminal. But I'm going to fight it, and they might find a cure, so it might as well be me."

If it was to be Gribben's final game, which produced another championship and included families such as the Cures, Devlins, Lengels and Terrells, all of whom sent multiple boys to the Wolves program over the years, so be it.

But don't count him out.

"I don't know," Gribben said. "It could be my last game, but we'll wait and see where I'm at at the end of the (school) year, and by the end of summer. We'll see.

"They've been good to me in the community and on the school board. I don't want it to be a distraction. I'll play it by ear."

And that's hardly any guff.