Great Minds of Other Coaches

It has been quite some time since my last post. I have been busy with school and ball and just haven't made the time to get on here. I have however still been looking at coach Starkey and coach Brown's blogs just about every day. Here are some links to some of there most recent posts that I really enjoyed. To see these two coaches full blogs go to: www.hoopthoughts.blogspot.com or www.hoopboost.blogspot.com for coach Starkey and www.ucfwbbthoughts.blogspot.com for coach Brown.

Coach Brown:

http://ucfwbbthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-we-are-knights-basketball.html

http://ucfwbbthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/michael-jordan-10-rules-for-maximizing.html

http://ucfwbbthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/09/mental-management-goal-setting-system.html

http://ucfwbbthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/09/essential-wooden-10-team-tips.html

Coach Starkey:

http://hoopboost.blogspot.com/2009/10/6-rs-of-respected-team-leaders.html

http://hoopboost.blogspot.com/2009/10/wooden-suggestions-for-all-team-members.html

http://hoopboost.blogspot.com/2009/09/great-ones-study-game.html

http://hoopboost.blogspot.com/2009/09/its-about-process.html

http://hoopboost.blogspot.com/2009/09/preparation-and-courage.html

http://hoopboost.blogspot.com/2009/08/hall-of-famer-that-succeeded-while.html

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

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

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.

"Trying is just a noisy way of not doing something."

I had to steal another post from Coach Starkey. It is something that i myself need to put into action more often for sure.

"Obsession is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated."

-Unknown

Trying is just a noisy way of not doing something.

I learned from author and consultant Art Turock that we need to make a distinction between being interested and being committed. When you are “interested” in doing something, you only do it when it’s convenient, but when you are “committed,” you follow through no matter what—no excuses!

Many people are interested rather than committed. They talk about trying to do something, rather than actually doing it. They make lots of noise, but fail to follow up. An interested exerciser wakes up in the morning to rain and says, “I think I’ll exercise tomorrow.” A committed exerciser wakes up to the rain and says, “I better exercise inside.”

When a person is committed to doing something, he or she will find ways to suppress rationalization. Even when it is inconvenient, such a person will keep his or her commitment. Persistence in life is characterized by this mental and behavioral toughness.

-Ken Blanchard (From his book "The Heart of a Leader")

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom."

Great post on Coach Bob Starkey's blog entitled: Perservering: Falling Hard, Bouncing High. An excert from “Think Like A Champion,” by Mike Shanahan.

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." -General George Patton

Leadership

I've got to steal another post from Coach Starkey's blog. It is a quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of, if not the greatest President of all time in my opinion. Coach Starkey's post was entitled "The Supreme Quality of a Leader" and Eisenhower's quote is about just that:

“To be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, you must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality of a leader is unquestioned integrity. Without it, no real success is possible whether it is in a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

Talent + Hard Work = A Machine

I found another one of Bob Starkey's blogs that I loved today. I know that I seem to be taking a lot of stuff from his blog these days but the guy really does put up some really good stuff. If you aren't reading his blog already I encourage you too. Ever since Eric Musselman quit blogging Coach Starkey's blog has become my new favorite. The blog was about Albert Pujols who, in my opinion, is Major League Baseball's most pure and powerful hitter. The guy is a freak at the plate. This is probably why he has been given the nickname "The Machine" because when you watch him it is ridiculous. And as far as we know right now he is one of baseball's "clean" players as far as steroids go. A number that seems to be dwindling among the games biggest stars. But anyway here is the article:

From Michael Northrop of Sports Illustrated for Kids

Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals is the best young hitter in baseball. Heck, the 24-year-old first baseman may be the best young hitter in the history of the game (see "Stacking Up," page 28). At the start of the 2004 season, he had a career .334 average, 114 home runs, and 381 RBIs.

But there is something behind every one of those numbers that is not recorded on stat sheets, replayed on highlight shows, or seen by the fans. "What you don't see is how hard I work, how hard I prepare," he says.

Pujols has just finished one of his daily 2 1/2-hour off-season workouts. He lifts enough weights to sink a ship, watches videos of pitchers he'll face during the season, and spends serious time in the batting cage.

Despite his star status, he was one of the first position players on the Cardinals to arrive at spring training this season. He spent much of that time polishing his play at first base.

During the season, Pujols arrives early for games, takes cuts in the batting cages to make sure his swing is smooth, and watches more video on the opposing pitcher.

"Albert is so professional in his approach, whether it's the winter, the spring, or the summer," says Cardinal manager Tony La Russa.

All that study and preparation helps explain why Pujols is a fast starter (.385 average last April) and why, unlike other hot starters, he keeps punishing pitchers as the season progresses. In 2003, Pujols hit a hefty .346 after the All-Star break and ended the regular season with the majors' best average: .359.

"God gave me this natural ability," says Pujols. "But it's even better when you work hard and you put those two things together. [Then], it's unbelievable."

John Maxwell: The Leadership Expert

I was again reading coach Bob Starkey's blog and saw an amazing post he had. It was from John Maxwell's book "Leadership Gold." In case who don't know who John Maxwell is, he is a speaker and author who is internationally known for his expertise on leadership. He has sold over 16 million books in this area. I think Dr. Maxwell pretty much sums up what leadership is in this simple exert from his book:

Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk.

Leadership is the passion to make a difference with others.

Leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality.

Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.

Leadership is seeing the possibilities in a situation while others are seeing the limitations.

Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd.

Leadership is an open mind and an open heart.

Leadership is the ability to submerge your ego for the sake of what is best.

Leadership is evoking in others the capacity to dream.

Leadership is inspiring others with a vision of what they can contribute.

Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.

Leadership is your heart speaking to the hearts of others.

Leadership is the integration of heart, head, and soul.

Leadership is the capacity to care, and in caring, to liberate the ideas, energy, and capacities of others.

Leadership is the dream made reality.

Leadership is, above all, courageous.

Thinking Positive

I was reading a post on Bob Starkey's blog today and I really liked it. It was entitled "Perspective." So I decided I would post what he had and add a few quotes to it that I have found throughout the year. I have a friend that is always telling me to think positive. I truly think that doing so makes life much more enjoyable.

"The gem cannot be polished without friction."-Chinese Proverb

"May there be enough clouds in your life to make a beautiful sunset."-Rebecca Gregory

"Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn't we?"-Rose Kennedy

"Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems."-Nelson A. Rockefeller

"In order to see a rainbow or a beautiful sunset, we must always be looking up." -Unknown

"Smiles and good humor are the seasonings that make everyday living taste better." -Unknown