AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > June > 03 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USDooleys thankful for each other, modern medicine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Vince Dooley had a speaking engagement last week. Trouble was, he couldn’t speak. Following surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his throat, the former Georgia football coach and athletics director was under doctor’s orders to keep silent for 10 days. But he’d committed to appearing at a fund-raiser for a library in Jefferson, so he went anyway and signed books.
His famously talkative wife gave the speech, much of it, as you’d expect, about her famously forbearing husband.
“I always said Barbara usually has the last word,” Dooley said. “That night she had all the words.”
With the moratorium finally lifted, Dooley spoke over the weekend in what his wife described, accurately, as “a gravelly whisper.” He said he feels fine — he has been going to the office he still occupies on campus even though he couldn’t talk to anyone there — and is confident that, after a round of radiation treatment, he’ll be rid of his cancer.
“It’s very, very treatable,” he said. “The doctors feel very good about it. I wish I’d had these odds in every game we played.”
Said Barbara: “I told him, ‘You do not have to worry about dying of cancer. Your problem will be me killing you.’ “
Ten speechless days had a trying and comic effect on the Dooleys’ marriage, which has lasted 47 epic years. Thinking ahead, Barbara bought her husband some dry-erase boards to use as communication devices.
“He ruined two by using an [indelible] Magic Marker,” she said. “We lost both erasers. I thought I was going to have to pin messages on him.”
Said Vince: “Barbara was a little difficult. She wouldn’t let me finish a [dry-erase] sentence. My daughter [Deanna] was a lot better. I tried to get her to come over and stay.”
Barbara and Vince Dooley are, in their diverse ways, great conversationalists. Barbara says pretty much anything that springs to mind; Vince can seem reticent until he happens on a subject that intrigues him, and then he’ll rattle on at encyclopedic length. (Get him going on his garden. Or the Civil War. On the sunset in Johannesburg.) They tease each other relentlessly — “I often say talking to Vince is like talking to the wall,” Barbara said — but in those 10 days of silence there came a poignant discovery.
“We’re apart a lot,” Barbara said, “but what I didn’t realize until this last week was how much we talk on the phone. I’ll call him and say, ‘Are you coming home for dinner? What time will you be here?’ We’ll talk for 15 minutes every night [when Vince is traveling]. And then I couldn’t do that.”
Vince Dooley, who’s 74, is scheduled to begin radiation therapy June 22. His biggest concern is that he’ll have to commute between Lake Burton, site of the annual Fourth of July clan-gathering with his four children and 11 grandchildren, to Athens for treatment.
Barbara Dooley was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2005 and underwent chemotherapy in 2006. Today she’s selling real estate. “I’m fine,” she said. “Every three months they tell me I’m fine, and that’s what they told me a month ago.”
Said Vince, speaking on the wonders of modern oncology: “I’m glad we all came along when we did.”
The radiation is expected to render Dooley hoarse, if not completely mute. Might that be an opportunity for the family to try, say, text-messaging?
Said Barbara, hooting: “He has not grown with modern-day communication. We can’t e-mail him, we can’t text-message him, and we sure can’t get him to write on a dry-erase board with the right pen.”
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Mark Bradley, UGA / SEC
Services »
Comments
By Chas22
June 3, 2007 7:09 PM | Link to this
God Bless you Vince. When I think of integrity you come to mind. You broke my heart in Sept ‘65 when your Dawgs upset Bama in Athens with a flea flicker play, 18-17. Speedy recovery Mr. Dooley, your a legend.
By Shirley
June 3, 2007 8:09 PM | Link to this
HI vince, My Name won’t mean a thing to you or Barbara. Years ago I had a growth in my upper trecha and a butcher Dr. removed part of it. I left the Hosp and went to the only other throat surgeon in same town in Va. Same Hosp same city. The 2nd Dr.got the rest of the previous growth and removed one the size of a golf in lower trecha. He also removed part of my vocal chords that had been damaged by the 1st Dr. I was told at first I had cancer and turned out not to be.The 2nd Dr told me I would never talk again.I continued to try as I had 4 small childred.Little by little I got my voice back. I got a wonderful job in Atlanta with an Airline(NO NOT DELTA) and left almost 30 years later. We never know what God has in store for ua and I bet you will come through this with flying colors.My Prayers will be with you and your Family.
By Big Daddy
June 3, 2007 8:42 PM | Link to this
I hate to hear about your cancer. However as you say, medecine today is very good and you will come through this with flying colors. Although I am not a UGA fan (UT Volunteers), I respect what you did at UGA and you are definetly a legend. Southeastern college football needs you and you will be here for many seasons to come. Take care of yourself and your family. Also, LET your family take care of you during this period & be thankful that youf family is around you to be able to help you. I wish I had my family around me. Best Wishes Coach!
By Tampaparrotthead
June 3, 2007 9:15 PM | Link to this
South Georgia greetings to the Dooley’s… the “Boss” and to Coach Dooley too!
Coach, think of the radiation as kind of being like “two a days”… not pleasant but you’ll be so much better after they’re completed. We’ve been praying for both of you since your health issues of the past couple of years and wish you both very long and happy lives.
Coach Dooley, we look forward to seeing you in Fitzgerald on Tuesday and wish you both a wonderful summer!
The TPH
By Cobby
June 3, 2007 9:33 PM | Link to this
I hope all goes well for you and your family. I agree with someone who said that you are a man of true character . I have fond memories of Athens in the 70’s as a student. Thansks for the memories!!
By BEARMAN
June 4, 2007 3:44 AM | Link to this
COACH DOOLEY, I’M A UT FAN AND LOVE THE BIG ORANGE. YOU MY FRIEND BLEED RED, I KNOW YOU LOVE THE DAWGS. I WISH YOU A SPEEDY RECOVERY AND WE ALL IN THE SEC LOVE YOU. LET ME HOLLOW OUT A CHEER FOR YOU TODAY. “GO DAWGS SIC EM”. “GO YOU HAIRY DAWGS”. YOU & LARRY BOTH ARE BULLDOG LEGENDS!!! THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.
By RobertA
June 4, 2007 8:24 AM | Link to this
Coach Dooley..for me, you will always be the head coach of the Bulldogs. You are a gem and we are very very proud of you and all that you have meant to UGA over the years. I often tell the story of the time I was a freshman at Georgia, not knowing anyone, walking around the big campus in a daze. On south campus I saw you walking toward me, you stopped, looked me in the eye and said hello, talked to me a little about the campus, school, directed me toward the right building. You made contact and an impression. You represented for me the spirit and kindness of the UGA family. My thoughts are with you Coach!
By BIGNCDAWG
June 4, 2007 8:47 AM | Link to this
Coach Dooley you tireless work to make GA. as great as it is today is greatly appreciated. I hope you have many more years in Athens. I will pray for your fast recovery. You are good friends with my brother inlaw.
By Lake Wales Dawg
June 4, 2007 9:12 AM | Link to this
Speedy recovery, coach. You are as big a credit to UGA, it’s tradition, and its history as anyone that has ever been associated with our beloved school!! Thank you sincerely for all you have done for us!
By BigDawgFan
June 4, 2007 9:54 AM | Link to this
Coach Dooley, we pray for your quick recovery. You have meant so much to so many - may you be with us for many more years !
By BigDawgFan
June 4, 2007 9:58 AM | Link to this
Coach, you mean so much to so many ! We pray for your speedy recovery, and just do what the “Boss” tells you to do.
By GaDawg47
June 4, 2007 10:13 AM | Link to this
Coach Dooley, you are in our prayers. I hope you experience a fast and complete recovery. We will need you on the sidlines this year, boosting the Dawgs to the SEC champ game and then the NC.
By Richie
June 4, 2007 10:14 AM | Link to this
Coach Dooley,
I enrolled at API in September 1952 and was in the NROTC program. I remember you from those days as well as the football team.
I wish you a sucessful recovery. I am a 15 year survivor of Prostate Cancer, including surgery and radiation after recurrence.
Even though I can’t pull for UGA except on special games you have been very special for the Dawgs and I believe your start as an API “WAR EAGLE” under Coach”Shug” gave you the best foundation any one could get.
May God be with you and your family.
Richie
By mexdawg
June 4, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this
coach your still the best in my book.you will allways be the BIG DAWG.now get well soon we need you there for the opening kickoff.
By Don Imus
June 4, 2007 1:59 PM | Link to this
Coach, you are a class man. I am a Bama fan but i have always had the utmost respect for you because of your character. They dont make em like you anymore. We are all behind you to kick the big C’s butt. Get well soon!
By Lou
June 4, 2007 11:09 PM | Link to this
Many years ago I saw a wonderful example of your integrity and your courage when you came to Albany just days after you and your wife had been in a car wreck. You were scheduled to make a speech to some high school seniors, but you had to have your mouth wired shut due to the accident and your wife was still in the hospital. Despite all this, you made a beautiful, inspirational talk to those senior and also to the Bulldog members who were there. You showed when you made a commitment you kept that commitment, and what a wonderful example for your players. That was in the 80s and is a lasting memory for me. My respect for you as a coach and as a man and, most importantly, as an example for those young men you coached has grown through the years. I live in South Florida now, in the middle of Gator country, but I have a 3’ x 5’ GEORGIA BULLDOG flag flying in front of my apartment. GO DAWGS and GO DOOLEY. My prayers are with you and your family.
By GottaLuvtheDawgs
June 4, 2007 11:28 PM | Link to this
Just wanted to send a “you can do it” message to my fav Coach and his Mrs. A dear loved one of mine is 5 years out in remission from a stage 4 bout with throat cancer. He’s stronger and healthier than beforehand! We both watched your magic from the Sanford Stadium stands in the 70’s. With your many prayer warriors out here…you will beat this thing!!! (Mrs. D…go easy on him! LOL)