Do you see that symbol at left? For some, it's just a regular triangle. For others, especially those with an interest in math or science, see it as the Greek letter Delta, the symbol for change.
It's a symbol that seems pretty appropriate lately with the moves that have hit the local sports scene. And it's even more appropriate that symbol has three points, because there's been three big changes of late.
The first one came down less than three weeks ago, on Jan. 20, when it became known Helias football coach Phil Pitts was resigning after four years in the top spot.
Pitts was leaving one of his alma maters for another, as he would be leaving where he played high school football for the place he played college ball and taking a job on the coaching staff of the Missouri Tigers.
It was an announcement met with plenty of fanfare, which was in direct contrast to the next big change. That came just three days later, on Jan. 23, when Lisa Dey made a low-key announcement that barely made a ripple. But it should have, as she was announcing her retirement as the Jefferson City softball coach.
It's been said that bad news comes in threes, and if you believe in that, it should have made a lot of schools nervous. The place that eventually got hit was Blair Oaks, as football coach Brad Drehle announced this past Thursday he would be resigning to take the same job at Waynesville.
Those three aren't just bound by when they made their announcements, as they've got a lot of other things in common.
Start with the most obvious place - wins and losses - and they all have many more of the former than the latter.
Dey's clearly got the most, as she joins a pantheon of great Jefferson City coaches with her 424 wins during a 21-year career. In case you're not good with math, that's an average of 20 wins per season. Even if softball teams played 40 games a year (they don't, by the way), 20 wins per year would be pretty good. Considering they usually max out around 30, and that number becomes even more impressive.
In Drehle's nine years at Blair Oaks, the Falcons racked up a record of 97-22. That's nearly 11 wins per year, which pretty much guarantees you're playing well after the regular-season schedule is done.
It's a similar story with Pitts, who went 40-15 in his time at Helias, and a winning percentage of .727 is good for any Class 4 team and great for one that routinely plays schools in bigger classes.
The trio also has deep postseason runs in common.
Dey's success translated into countless district titles - believe me, I tried before giving up. It resulted in seven trips to the Final Four and a state championship in 2009.
Drehle made three trips to the big game with the Falcons and they won a title in 2006.
And in half of his years at the helm, Pitts had the Crusaders in the state championship game. Granted, they lost both times, but that's understandable when you have the juggernaut of the Webb City Cardinals as your foe.
All three also displayed a trait that had a lot to do with that success - a passion for their sport. You didn't need to spend more than a moment with any of them before realizing how much they loved doing what they were doing. The fire they have never seemed to wane, and their teams fed off that, always giving the utmost effort.
I'm not saying it will be an impossible task, but whoever replaces these coaches had better realize they've got some big shoes to fill. And if they haven't done it already, the fan bases at the three schools should definitely take a moment to reflect how good they've had it.