Before we celebrate the more ominous, seedy side of collegiate athletics with a Fulmer Cup update, let’s remind people that sometimes people do really, really extraordinary things for each other because of the connections they develop in the course of their work in athletics. Because unless donating a kidney is a mandated policy in the HR manual at Oregon State, this truly is an act of grace:

Oregon State offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf donated a kidney to offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh’s wife. Laurie Cavanaugh, 48, had living-donor kidney transplant surgery on Tuesday at Portland’s Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

Cavanaugh has autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, an inherited condition usually dormant until the patient hits their forties of fifties. Almost all patients experience renal failure before they hit the age of sixty, however, and the morbidity rate is nothing to scoff at: before dialysis and transplants, most patients died within ten years of the onset of symptoms.

Mike Cavanaugh, Laurie’s husband, was understandably overwhelmed.

“When you work as closely as a coaching staff does, you develop some really deep and solid friendships — I guess you could say this is the ultimate in friendship,” said Mike Cavanaugh, who like Langsdorf is in his third season with the Beavers.

Langsdorf will likely have to seriously curtail any beer-drinking he might have been doing prior to surgery. That, sir, is friendship. ONE HUNDRED COCKTAILS of a non-alcoholic variety for you, Mr. Landgsdorf.

Cavanaugh and Langsdorf, post-op.

Sylvester Croom’s already lived three lives in one: Alabama offensive legend, NFL coach, family man, lover, fighter, and now the first African-American head coach in the SEC. He truly has grown into a man of all seasons, a philosopher-king in his own right.

And now, he wants to share his greatest joy with you: the joy of music. Please, bear with the atrocious audio quality of the first minute (the producers said the song “needed edge!”) and listen to Sylvester Croom’s debut album, available on Mud Dog Records for only $39.95, including bonus concert DVD.

We now present to the world…Sylvester Croom, laying down hot tracks on his debut album dropping right here, right now: Sylvester…Croons.

(Psst! Hey! All you need to know is that Sylvester Croom has a very, very deep voice. Proceed!)

MP3 File

Finally, it’s happened to all of us: Sylvester Croom sings.