Ray K. Erku / Post Independent Rifle sports icon Coach Gordon Cooper was treated to a pleasant surprise Saturday. Basking in some late-morning sun at the rotunda entrance of the Veterans Nursing Home, a hefty motor procession circled by to wish him happy birthday. The man who many simply refer to as “coach” just turned 91 on April 1. “You’re awesome!” former Rifle High School baseball player Brian Rust, a product of the Rifle’s 1985 state title, whooped to Cooper through a pick-up truck window. “He was an awesome coach. He taught us a lot.” Members of the Rifle Police Department as well as a bus-load of Bears varsity football players en-route to take on Basalt later that afternoon also joined former players, friends and those who revere the beloved Cooper.