NEW CASTLE — It’s not often easy to make the best of a bad situation in sports.

A football player doesn’t want to talk about the touchdown catch he made in a 45-7 loss. A baseball coach won’t want to discuss the home run someone hit in a 10-1 defeat. It’s tough to see progress when you’ve been beaten.

As the saying goes, “There are no moral victories in sports.”

Life, luckily, is different.

Just ask Neshannock High basketball coach John Corey.

For those who haven’t heard about Corey’s recent brush with death, here’s a condensed version of what happened.

Corey, recently married and the father of 10-month-old twins and an 8-year-old son, suffered a stroke on Jan. 16 at the age of 33. In a matter of minutes, he went from tucking his kids into bed to vomiting profusely, suffering “the worst head pressure that I could even try to explain” and losing his sense of reality so much that at one point he guessed his age as 5 years old.

His diagnosis changed dramatically over the next few days, but eventually it was discovered that what was thought to be a potentially fatal brain hemorrhage actually was a blood clot in his brain. This still was a critical situation and could have placed Corey in temporary or permanent paralysis, but somehow, some way, the clot dissipated on its own, and no further damage to his brain was found.

He was released from the hospital three days after he entered, and told he could return to work and coach again as soon as he felt up to it.

He paced himself and retook the reins of the Lancers over the next two weeks, and while that may seem like a risky move to some, he’s quick to point out that a lot of the people who helped lift his spirits during this near-death experience, he met through basketball.

“Coach (Bob) McQuiston over at Shenango, he called me numerous times, sent numerous messages about how he’s praying for me and his kids on the team were asking about me and sending me their well wishes and prayers,” Corey said. “Coach (Al) Campman down at Ellwood City, he sent me a card and all the kids signed it, ‘Coach, we’re praying for you.’ It’s one of those things that you greatly appreciate everybody in your life, everyone that you’ve come across.

“Before I was coaching here, I coached in Struthers (Ohio), and so many of those kids sent me messages, called my wife asking ‘How’s coach?’ So many times, our lives take us in different directions, and sometimes you really don’t reunite with those people until something like this happens. My head basketball coach from high school called. Guys who I coached with before and friends — just everybody calling — it was a very moving experience.”

Corey’s wife Kelly was the one intercepting a lot of the messages, phone calls, emails and Facebook posts during John’s stint in the hospital. She said even though she was so emotionally invested in John’s condition and all the horrible developments of the previous days, she couldn’t help but notice the nonstop adoration of everyone.

“I was very touched by the outpouring of people and prayers and thoughts and their concern — even people you don’t talk to every day — who were concerned about him,” she said. “Food kept coming to the house the next couple of days. We’re still getting cards. I said to John, ‘It’s amazing how thoughtful people are when you really stop to think about it.’ I was just really touched by that.”

Most people don’t stop to think about it. In fact, most people focus on the bad, and why wouldn’t they? It’s plastered all over the Internet, TV and social media networks. Those often are the most highly read and sought-after stories. It’s a bit sad, but it’s in our nature to sympathize with those suffering through tragedy. It’s not that people enjoy seeing crime, murder, rape and tragedies — most people, at least — but more so that we grieve for them.

New Castle is no different, specifically the school district, where John and Kelly both teach.

“It’s not very often that there are gleaming, promising, hopeful stories leading the news,” John said. “But there are so many positives about that school district, and it generally starts with the kids. I’ve always said this about the New Castle Area School District: Most people truly have no idea how special of a place this is. There are so many great kids walking the halls. Some I’ve had the privilege of teaching. Others are just such good young people, they come up and say, ‘It’s great to have you back. Great to see you.’ It just speaks to the high-character people that we have.”

Sure does. And it shows the impact a good coach and person like John Corey can have on a kid’s life. As Kelly pointed out during an interview, people don’t spend time and effort finding about the well-being of a coach who was a jerk. They inquire when he or she positively influenced their lives.

Sports aren’t always about winning, losing or becoming a great athlete. There are values, life lessons and great, caring people who can help shape the lives of young people who are part of athletics. So, sure, that missed shot at the buzzer might hurt. That dropped pass will sting, and that strikeout might fee like the end of the world. But good always can come from it.

Just ask John Corey.

“I definitely wish none of this would have happened, but I’m a very optimistic guy, a very positive guy, and there are so many positives that have occurred because this has happened, which is kind of strange to think about,” he said.

It’s not strange, coach, it’s smart.

(Email: j_simon@ncnewsonline.com)