A short story about this picture: These boys are from Saibi High School in Matsuyama, Japan. They had played away, and one of them had left a bento box on the ground. Their coach, Joko, was not happy. "We were their guests. We must leave these places cleaner than we found them."
He asked them to turn toward home—not home plate, but their actual homes. That's why they're facing different directions. "I want you to think of where you come from," he said. "I want you to think of your mothers and fathers, of the people whose love brought you here."
"I want you to think of what you mean to them, how precious your gifts are. I want you to think of them and decide what it is you want to do today. Will you do your best? Will you make them proud?" Our translator is whispering in my ear and I can already feel my legs going funny.
And the boys stood like that for a long time—minutes. Hats on chests, heads bowed. Some of them started to cry. Me, too. It was one of the most moving demonstrations of honour I've seen. What you do matters, because of the love that's been poured into you. Will never forget it.
