How can failures make you a Hall of Famer?

Had to steal this post from Coach Starkey. It is about one of my favorite baseball players, Tony Gwynn.

From "Failing Forward" by John Maxwell:

On August 6, 1999, a major-league baseball player stepped up tot he home plate in Montreal and made another out -- the 5,113th of his professional career. That's a lot of trips to the batter's box without a hit! If a player made all those out consecutively, and he averaged four at bats per game, he would play eight seasons (1,278 games straight) without ever reaching base.

Was the player discouraged that night? No. Did he think he had failed himself or his team? No. You see, earlier in the same game, in his first plate appearance, that player had reached a milestone that only twenty-one other people in the history of baseball have every achieved. He had made his 3,000 hit. That player was Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres.

During that game, Tony got on base with hits four times in five tries. But that's not the norm for him. Usually he fails to get a hit two times out of every three attempts. Those results may not sound very encouraging, but if you know baseball, you recognize that Tony's ability to succeed consistently only one time in three tries has made him the greatest hitter of his generation. And Tony recognizes that to get his hits, he has to make a lot of outs.

One of the greatest problems people have with failure is that they are too quick to judge isolated situations in their lives and label them as failures. Instead, they need to keep the bigger picture in mind.

"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake."

-Nelson Boswell

Learning from Winners

“To succeed, you absolutely need to gain more knowledge in your selected field. How do you go about doing that? One of the most fruitful ways is from the living lessons role models provide. It is easy to become a winner if you’re simply willing to learn from those who have been winners themselves. Find out who has the most success at what they do. Watch their technique. Observe their methods. Study their behavior.” -Mike Shanahan

Success and Failure: Both used as tools for teaching

Saw another post on Coach Starkey's blog that I really enjoyed. It is from Chris Widener at Success.com. It is about both Failure and Success. I have also added some quotes at the end of this post.

Most people think that failure is bad and success is good. I want to help you change your thinking about that if you fall into that category. I will give you that failure isn’t fun and success is, but I think the following is true:

Both failure and success are good... if you know what their specific purposes are.Of course we know that success is good, but why? Success is good because it confirms things for us.

Success confirms our plans.

Success confirms our decisions.
Success confirms our resources.
Success confirms our strategies.
Success confirms our hunches.
Success confirms our teamwork.
Success confirms our risks.
Success confirms a lot of things!

So when you are successful, ask yourself the following question: What does this success confirm in my mind?

Now, what about failure? What is the role of failure and how in the world can it be GOOD?

Failure’s role is to teach us. We learn from failure.

Failure teaches us that we need to change our plans.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our decisions.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our resources.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our strategies.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our hunches.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our teamwork.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our risks.
Failure teaches us that we need to change a lot of things!

But at least now we know one more thing that won’t work! With every failure, we learn one more way we can abandon and focus in on what may be the correct way in the future! When we look at it that way, we set ourselves up for a powerfully successful future! So when you fail, ask yourself this question: What does this failure teach me? Remember, Success and Failure are both good. They can both be your friend... if you know what role they are to play in your life.

Learn From Failure and Confirm with Success.

"The biggest mistake and athlete can make is to be afraid of making one." -L. Ron Hubbard (author)

"The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part; the important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle." -Baron Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympic movement)

"Experience is the name we give our mistakes." -Fred Shero (Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers)

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it." -Lou Holtz

Clyde Drexler talks about practice.

An Artcile from today's "USA Today."

Clyde Drexler doesn’t argue what is the greatest sports team in history.

Why should he?

He played on it.

In 1992, Drexler and his Olympic basketball teammates would be known as the “Dream Team.”

The gold medal and total dominance was assured by a lineup that also included Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin and Christian Laettner. (Photo by John Smierciak, AP)

“Untouched and unscathed,” said Drexler about the team that was inducted into the U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame presented by Allstate on Wednesday. “The only real problem we had was practice. We felt if we survived practice the game would be a cake walk. We just came out and did our job.”

The team was coached by Chuck Daly who won two NBA titles with Detroit.

“He was the perfect personality to coach that team,” Drexler said. “We used to call him the Godfather. Nothing you did bothered Chuck Daly. He just wanted you to show up for practice and give it everything you had.”

The team finished 8-0 and averaged 117 points a game and only Croatia came within 30 points of them.
“I’m probably more impressed now,” Drexler said. “As you have a chance to see how kind history has been to the Dream Team. It was special because of the level of performance and us becoming the standard bearer for all future Olympic teams

Best receiver you haven't heard of: Houston's Andre Johnson

Great Article in today's "USA Today" about Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson. Written by Gary Mihoces

HOUSTON — Andre Johnson, who had more catches for more yards than anybody in the NFL last season, shuns sideshows and showboating. That is something 10-year-old Brant Walker admires about his football hero.

"I haven't ever seen him jump into the stands or do anything like that. He just gives the ball to the ref," says the youngster, who got to meet Johnson recently at the Houston Texans' camp after making the 635-mile drive here from Plainview, Texas, with his mom.

Johnson also is not inclined to engage in verbal sparring on the field or in the media.

"I've been here going on seven years now. You've never seen me talking any trash. That's not part of my game," he says.

But surely, as a star wide receiver in the NFL, he must do some give-me-the-ball lobbying?

"He doesn't have to say it because that's who we're looking for anyway," says Texans quarterback Matt Schaub.

"I'm always in tune with where he is and who is covering him and what defenses are doing. We're always trying to get him the ball."

Houston selected the 6-3, 228-pound Johnson No. 3 overall in the 2003 draft out of the University of Miami, where he also was a Big East sprint champion in track.

He had 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2004 and 2006. In 2007, he missed seven games with a knee injury and slipped to 851 yards.

Last season, it all came together with 115 receptions for 1,575 yards and eight touchdowns. Of his receptions, 79 produced first downs, also No. 1 in the league.

The message he draws from last season is to stay grounded.

"Just as you can be one of the top guys in the league, you could easily be one of the bottom guys. So I don't take that for granted," he says.

"I want people to keep saying that Andre Johnson goes out and plays the game right. And he plays as one of the top guys in the league. I'm going to continue to carry myself that way on the field and work hard as I can every time I come out here and not take it for granted because you never know."

Johnson's goal this season is to help the young Houston franchise to its first playoff berth after consecutive 8-8 seasons.

"He's been the constant, and he has stayed the course," says Texans coach Gary Kubiak. "A lot of guys could get frustrated, but he's committed to this team and this organization taking the next step. … He's as good a worker as I've ever been around, and I've been around some good ones, Jerry Rice, Rod Smith, those guys. And believe me this guy is as good a worker as I've ever seen."

While Johnson worked last week in camp, his 10-year-old fan got to watch his every move from the sideline.

Before coming here, Walker had written a letter to Kubiak and Texans' president Jamey Rootes detailing his admiration for Johnson and saying he would be visiting camp.

When Walker and his mother, Linda Gail Walker, arrived to sit in the stands, they were contacted by phone by a member of Rootes' staff and given passes to watch from the field.

Johnson was told about their visit. He spent time with the youngster on the field.

"I've got your letter. I'll stay in touch," Johnson told Walker after they posed for photos.

Johnson says the experience was a reminder to him that young fans watch how he conducts himself.

"It definitely keeps me on my Ps & Qs," says Johnson. " … I can appreciate him following me and looking up to me as his role model."

ESPN's Carry On

The Importance of Having a Team

In case you are not a reader of Coach Bob Starkey's blog this was his post from yesterday.

If you have followed Coach Don Meyer the past year, he has not doubt been a great inspiration to us all. But it is important to understand that as he navigates through the adversity that even in pain he is trying to teach us coaches. It is what he does best -- help us to do our jobs better.

That's why one message he was sending us over and over resonated with me very strongly -- give thanks we have a team. If you watched any of his interviews, the part that was most emotional for Coach Meyer was talking about having a team to coach -- to teach -- to mold.
During a video of his story showed during the ESPYs, the poignant moment of the night was when his daughter Brittany spoke of the first communicative message from Coach after the car accident. Unable to speak, he grabbed a pen and pad and wrote, "How long before I can coach?" In other words, "when can I rejoin my team!"

Not too long ago I had career opportunity that would have kept me in athletics but took me away from coaching. As I do before making a big decision, I have a small circle of influence that I ask for advice and guidance which by the way always includes Coach Meyer. At the top of that list is my junior high coach and mentor, Allen Osborne. Allen listened to me explain everything and then told me to pass on it and stay in coaching. I asked him why and he responded, "You will miss the feeling of being part of a team. You will miss shaping a team. There is something special about a team." His words carried a lot of weight because a few years before, after long and successful career, Allen had retired. It lasted on year. He need a team again.

To me the best part of being a coach is practice. It's what I enjoy the most. It's where I think I have the most influence on our "team." The way we conduct practices at LSU, in my opinion, not only makes them better players but better people. When asked what he misses most about coaching, John Wooden simply said, "Practice. The smell of the gym. The sound of sneakers squeaking."

This really hit home even more last night when I was reading "Champion," a magazine published by the NCAA. Don Ketchum wrote an article in this summer's edition on Bruce Snyder. Coach Snyder was an outstanding football coach that died last spring after a courageous 10-month battle with cancer.

Here's a little from Ketchum's article:

Snyder's cancer was discovered in June 2008, and he began his long difficult fight at medical facilities in Phoenix and at his home. Late in 2008, Snyder was invited by Texas coach Mack Brown to visit practice for the Fiesta Bowl. Snyder described the experience on http://www.caringbridge.org/:

"I was treated first class," he wrote. "Golf cart, access to the entire field, introduction to Coach Brown's staff individually and was able to watch the entire practice."

"At one point, I closed my eyes and took in the feeling of being at practice. There was the smell of cut grass, the voices of coaches on the run yelling instructions, the sound of the horn to alert players and coaches to switch drills and the sounds of pads -- it took me back to the days that I cherish."

"And at the end of practice, Coach Brown introduced me to his team and asked if I would say a few words. What an honor. I love talking to a team. It wasn't my team, but it was a football team."

Sometimes we take things for granted -- like we in fact do have a team...our team! Sure, we have our share of adversity and obstacles but that's life -- and we still have our team!

It also reminds of something that I heard Kelvin Sampson speak about three springs ago at a coaching clinic. He said his program would look each year for a retired coach to adopt because of the enormous hole in your soul when you get out of coaching. They would invite the coach to practices. Ask him for input. Have him address their team. Take him on a road trip. What an amazing idea. Mack Brown gave Coach Snyder a wonderful gift by making him a part of the Longhorn football program for an afternoon.

So today, let's be thankful that we have a team...a team to practice...a team to coach. And let's think about those who no longer do and make them a part of our team!

If you have the time, please copy and paste and email this to every coach you know. It's really an important message for all coaches to understand.