The river is constant. The river gurgles, hisses, and swooshes just as the wind slips through the bare branches on the trees. The river is rhythmic; the same white riffles twist and turn over and over and over. The river is mesmerizing as it shimmers in the changing light and slides by your feet.
The river seduces. Wade in and feel its cool power along your legs. The river is electric. It won't let you hold onto a moment because just as it was there, it is gone. Constant motion.
Salmon River Trout Management Area
My dog made her way out to this rock. She loved the process. She got to the rock and looked around like a queen. She faced the river and was in control. Then, she froze. The angle of the rock combined with the deceptive speed and movement of the river was too much. She panicked. She froze and whimpered. She was stuck.
Eventually, I waded back over and carried her to the bank.
As I stood there and fished, I got to thinking about her experience. She never waded more than two feet into the river the rest of the day--she stuck to the bank and enjoyed herself alongside the river. She learned something about herself and she learned something about that river. And, she was at peace with both.
"Good for her," I thought. She took a chance; she lived an intense moment. She now has a better understanding of her relationship amongst the river.
Brady Heslip's story courtesy of Andy Katz. Here is a kid that will forever be remembered in the NCAA statistical records, and he didn't have the straight-forward journey to get there.
Roger Rubin's article in the New York Daily News includes a great line from Kyle O'Quinn: “People ask about what it was like in the game but at the end it was just us playing basketball. Those other teams are names, but they’re just players like us, so why not us?"
This quote reminds us that kids are playing a game, kids are competing, kids are ecstatic upon victory, and kids are crushed upon defeat. And hopefully, kids are having fun playing a game with former high school teammates and rivals.
Thank you Sharon Greenthal for the Versatile Blogger Award and kind words. I'm flattered and humbled that another blogger took the time to read my blog and to think of my content for this award. And, be sure to check out her blog http://www.emptyhousefullmind.com/ for a wide range of content.
7 Random Things About Me:
1. The smell of carpet, and especially the smell of a carpet store, makes me dizzy 2. I get extremely nervous when a salesperson engages me...I guess the teacher in me has a hard time with getting the best price for me while bolstering the salesperson's confidence 3. The condition of my front lawn makes me self conscious 4. Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Aleis my favorite beer, but I always tell people Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is my favorite 5. I am a reality TV addict 6. I hate shaving and often wonder when I do shave, if I do it the right way 7. I'm shocked when people don't follow MY rules for etiquette and social normalcy
My 15 Nominations for The Versatile Blogger Award:
This is the first Big East Tournament final without an original member. But at this point, what does that mean? Teams like Syracuse and Pittsburgh replaced with teams like Central Florida and Houston still reads like a typo. That can't be right, can it? This is like trading a 2011 Dodge Charger for a beat up Pinto that's been sitting in the field behind grandpa's shed.
Goodbye to the sleek and powerful 'Cuse and Pittsburgh.
Hey there Golden Knight, wanna play?
Maybe this Cincinnati Louisville Big East Tournament Final is fitting. Both clubs (no Cincinnati brawl pun intended) should scare any higher seed in the NCAA bracket. And because the league is shifting and stretching in such uncanny ways, these two teams seem to represent the new regime. Rick Pitino is already a Godfather figure, right?
The Big East Tournament Final:
The good cop. Articulate. A mentor. He embodies patriarchal toughness. He brings reason, purity, responsibility, and accountability to an NCAA athletic world that is warped. Mick Cronin is the new Big East and he is easy to love.
Rick Pitino has a past. But don't we all? He faced the media, the accusations, and the repercussions of his choices head-on. With his Italian swagger, Pitino commands a Godfather-esque reputation. He wants the keys to the new Big East Tournament.
This Big East Tournament Final is FINALLY what we've been waiting for all week.
A flashy, gritty, competitive point guard is in the finals and Peyton Siva has elevated his game.
A legit, polished, and competitive post player is patrolling the paint and Yancy Gates has repented and paid for his mistakes--and ironically earning a Criminal Justice degree. This Yancy Gates story--a story of mistakes, accountability, education, and second chances--is exactly what amateur athletics are supposed to tell.
Sports mark chapters of our lives. This week melted away as this Big East Tournament evolved. What happened Tuesday? I can't remember. Well, it is Friday and there will be no need to watch ESPN's gamecast during work. Saturday allows us to sleep, so the night cap can be enjoyed from the couch, rather from bed.
Semifinal #1:
The "Otto" the Orange is so politically correct for such a scandalous 2011-2012 team. Somehow, taking the street-fighting Bearcats feels better to me. At least you know what you are going to get with them, right? A punch in the face is direct. Drugs and molestation is dark, back alley, and sociopathic.
Yeah...somehow those bearcat eyes let you know what you are going to get. Beanie's smile? Not so much. Ewww. I just got cold shivers.
Semifinal #2:
He's too sexy and his team has been relatively quiet all year. Peyton Siva plays them into the championship, rather than into a tough loss.
I know Mike Brey doesn't believe this...but the Fighting Irish have won some good games, but they just seem to lack a little moxie this year. I'll give him overtime...but Pitino's team gets it done.
Day two saw closer games and UConn's overtime win is getting everyone talking about today's match-up with Syracuse. Talk of another run? Forget it. Syracuse's depth and Fab Melo do the same thing they did to the Huskies two times already. Melo is simply majestic. Look at that smile. He definitely brushes and flosses every day.
The second Big East Quarterfinal game should be a good one. But, Cincinnati is too tough for Georgetown. The Hoyas aren't ready for Yanci Gates. He'll cold cock 'em.
Game three of the Big East Quarterfinals should be interesting. Look for Marquette's Jae Crowder to go off. This should be a battle, but I just don't see Louisville's defense being able to contain the Golden Eagles for forty minutes.
The nightcap of the Big East Quarterfinals is somewhat shocking. Did anyone else see South Florida getting out of the second round? And now they take on a rejuvenated Notre Dame team that has been playing with focus, energy, and purpose since injured freshman Eric Katenda got to campus in January. Is there even a question here? Notre Dame moves on leaving USF on the NCAA tournament bubble.
Finally! Three days later and we have our Big East Tournament quarterfinal match-ups.
The Big East Tournament "3 tournaments in 1" is an awesome structure. In the first round, 8 teams fight to the death. Coaches exert a lot of time on advanced scouts to get through the first day. Team captains say their things. Fans pay for multiple nights in hotels and pray for a win. And, they all do this to just get to the next day, which has four FRESH teams waiting to battle. Awesome.
And still, ANOTHER four FRESH teams wait two days out. I love it. The Big East Tournament is the best conference tournament in division I basketball...period. At this point, Villanova looks like the team that can survive the first three days.
Big East Tournament Second Round Predictions:
UConn and West Virginia start the Big East Tournament day at noon. Sigh. It would make sense to flip the USF game time with this game time, but so it goes. Two senior NYC guards, Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones, should run the show and stop UConn. The mountaineers cruise to a comfortable 4 possession win.
Pittsburgh has no chance against Georgetown. World--meet Jason Clark. A close game becomes a Hoya 16+ win. Done.
Louisville and Rick Pitino's white suit get it done and erase Seton Hall's outburst. Kyle Kuric goes off and this game is over within 8 minutes of the second half. Pitino is Too Sexy.
USF faces off with Villanova. We all have to root against the soft schedule of USF and yell "over-rated" at the top of our lungs. Do it. Villanova played one hell of a second half in the first round and look like they can make a nice little run.
A Tuesday first round series sets up a survive and advance to JUST get to a second round day. The Big East Tournament is so intriguing because of the pedigree of the league. The plethora of bubble teams that need a win or two to scrap their way into the NCAA tournament all get a chance to make or break their bubble BEFORE the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. Awesome.
I went 2-2 with my first round picks. Villanova and Pittsburgh definitely surprised me. Could they be this year's Big East Tournament story? Regardless, round two should be a better day with closer games.
The Big East tournament will be special this year. We won't see a five-in-a-row UConn-esque run, but we will see some awesome games. The Big East has young, dynamic guards that love the NYC spotlight. Expect tight games and flashy highlight reel finishes.
Big East Tournament First Round Predictions:
UConn over a boring DePaul team...in a close game. Drummond gets in foul trouble; Napier does just enough to keep the game closer than it should be, Lamb struggles. No one feels like interrupting their day job to check this game out at all, but that doesn't matter because the rest of the day will make up for this.
St. John's edges Pittsburgh in some sort of close game. Moe Harkless is the man of the day making some sort of stud play to seal this game. This game will be a first half grind that accelerates into a chippy, Big East Tournament classic. Get home early from work to catch the second half.
Seton Hall gets hot and Herb Pope scorches the Friars and shoots 5-8 from behind the arc. I don't see much defense going on in this one. This should be the highest scoring game of the day that will get a lot of people talking about how Seton Hall can make a run...and they will on this day.
Rutgers stuns Villanova. Myles Mack thrives in NYC and matches his career high. I smell overtime and a superfluous Mike Rice. Rutgers will struggle early, and then dust themselves off to smash Villanova in the face in an epic come-back win. The Big East Tournament at its best. This also has the feel of a statistical anomaly like Rutgers never leading the game until the last second, off-balance, 17-footer Myles Mack shocker.
The best things in life are free. I hope you enjoy the list. I tried to pull a variety of versions to make this as interactive as possible. Pick your version and enjoy.
George Olsen: The O.G. version.
Lena Horne: the sexy, classic, and if you see her at a bar you'd be too intimidated to break the ice choice.
Ink Spots: the Mafia's if you hear this come on you are probably about to be made or be whacked choice. Listen with caution.
Bing Crosby: The standard crooner version that a college guy could put on to impress the cute girl across the hall because she doesn't know any other option choice.
Sam Cooke: The cool cat social movement catalyst choice that isn't as good as some of the other versions but is forgiven for his Change Is Gonna Comeclassic.
Hank Mobley Quintet: The underrated saxophonist, light a full bodied cigar, pour a glass of whiskey, sit on a leather couch, and pass a spring weekend with a long-lost friend version. By the way, this is my favorite version.
Janet Jackson and Luther Vandrossthe inspiration for the post, the I love the 90s, the I love spin-off movies like Mo'Money, and the "now that I discovered what you mean to me" high school dance moment version
The Muppet Show the I vaguely remember this and it may get lost from our collective cultural psyches if we don't keep this floating around version
R. Kellythe version that is really good and I really like. But, he did pee on a 16 year old girl...
Let me know if I missed any one's preferred version of The Best Things in Life are Free. Thanks for reading and happy listening.
Men's Basketball Coach Bob Walsh's recent post "Why Is It So Hard to Talk and Play?" got me thinking about how we handled this at Paul VI Catholic High School.
Communication is a skill that most fourteen year old athletes don't have. We had to provide our athletes with a vocabulary we wanted them to use, we had to show them when to use it, and we had to show them why they need to use the skill. Lastly, we had to provide multiple opportunities in practice, in games, and in meetings for them to process the new material.
As we built the program, we needed to determine our benchmarks and we needed to determine what we would accept as evidence of mastery. Here are some differentiated ways to assess your program.
Win/Loss Record
The win/loss record is the black and white standardized test. What is your program's accepted level of mastery? 20 wins? Top 4 finish? Championship?
This is the most glamorous and the most emotional benchmark. But this cannot be the only way to measure your program's growth, right? Look at UConn Men's Basketball, a national championship cannot be the only way to assess their 2010-2011 season. If you are rebuilding and felt 15 wins would be a great benchmark, but only won 13 games, is the entire season a failure?
Rank Film Clips/Games
Provide clips that illustrate different outcomes. Ask them to rank the best to the worst. You may be surprised to hear what they say.
When we were very young and did not have depth, we could not truly compete with some of the powerhouses. So, here is what I did to assess our transition defense:
Clip 1 showed an outlet pass with the guard taking 3 dribbles to the rim, but had his shot blocked by our late-to-recover big man.
Clip 2 showed a missed free throw into a secondary break that lead to a ball reversal and a made, open 3.
Clip 3 showed a successful defensive conversion that we negated with a hand-check as the opponent pulled the ball out to set up a set.
I intentionally picked three that did not end with a clean, successful stop. I needed to know if the team mastered the objectives the coaching staff set out to teach. Could they apply and evaluate the concept AND the physical execution, even though our youth could not physically compete with the 18 year old high major seniors they faced every night?
In the off-season, have them rank their top 3 offensive games, defensive games, and transition games. Have them rank the worst losses. Make sure they provide reasons.
Pick Your Own Team
There is always a way to incorporate a scrimmage into a practice.
First, this provides the guys who may not see a lot of game time with a way to communicate with their team and to contribute to the success of the team. We always had the last two guys on the bench pick and coach their own teams.
Second, it gives your main rotation feedback from someone other than a member of the coaching staff. What does it tell you if your starters don't get drafted in the first round? What does it tell them?
Third, it gives you feedback regarding sets in which your team believes. Are they calling the same sets you would call? Are they only calling one or two sets? Are they not calling any sets? This is all valuable feedback and an alternate way to assess your team's growth.
Even after the season, this could be a great way to debrief. Each student-athlete could draft their top 5 players if they needed a 3, if they needed a stop, or if they needed to execute a set. Play around with this to differentiate the assessments.
Outside Feedback
I sat with the coaching staff at St. Andrew's School (MD) a few weeks ago. They were despondent after a tough road loss. The staff is in their first year and did not bring any recruits with them. But, one of the coaches mentioned a few comments from the parents of their athletes. The parents commented on the fight of the team and the decreased margin of defeat. Rather than being down 20+ at half time, St. Andrew's is taking teams to the fourth quarter--with the same group from previous seasons.
I commented on the way their student-athletes tried to execute press breaks. Physically, St. Andrew's did not have the athletes, the physical maturity, or the depth. The other team pressed through the 3rd quarter until their lead swelled to 20. The St. Andrew's staff burned timeouts trying to stop the bleeding, but I was impressed how their kids kept fighting, kept listening, and kept attempting to do all the right things.
The differentiated instruction is the cerebral part of coaching and teaching to which I'm addicted. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Ready for March Madness?
Whitney Houston was sexy. I loved her vocals. I loved her quintessential 80s and 90s songs. I might have stared a little too long at her videos, album art, and MTV appearances. I loved Whitney Houston's unabashed love for Bobby Brown, whom I loved from his New Edition days. For some reason, Cool It Now always finds its way onto my mixes.
Here are my top 3 Whitney Houston songs:
3. I get so Emotional
The jeans, white T-Shirt, and leather jacket made her seem like she could live around the corner from me. I remember the older girls on the bus, if they were hot, dressed like this and *loved* Whitney Houston. So, any smart prepubescent boy loved Whitney Houston to fit in with their big sister/babysitter tendencies. I remember this girl, Melissa, used to let me listen to her Walkman and I would get so emotional when our thighs touched while we crammed into the back seat of the bus.
2. I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Do you remember how all the girls started doing their makeup like this? How could any boy concentrate at school? Forget about that purple dress. When this song comes on at school dances, you best find your way to the section of girls that dress and dance like Whitney Houston. Without a doubt, this will always be in my top Whitney Houston songs.
1. I Will Always Love You
This version urbanized the song and cemented it into the psyche of the children of the 90s. Even Adam Sandler references it in the movie Bulletproof. I love when Whitney is sitting in the chair. When she snaps her head up and belts out the chorus...that is what made Whitney Houston great and that is what put this song at the top of the list.
Let me know what your top Whitney Houston songs are and here's to you, Whitney.
There is a plethora (honorable mention: Three Amigos) of movie lists out there. This is my list of movies that most influenced the weekends of the late 80s and that my mom never approved, never knew we we watched, or made her worry about who her two sons would eventually become.
1. The Last Dragon
The movie came out in 1985, but my brother and I probably discovered it when it landed on HBO a year or two later. This had everything we wanted: corny humor, fighting montages we could imitate, and an obscurity only the boys on our street would know--like a secret handshake. This also had questionable content that drove our mother insane: our affinity for urban culture, violence, and an over-sexualized Lady Laura.
2. Youngblood
A 1986 classic that we didn't see until its HBO airing. This was another movie my brother and I would watch really early in the morning while my mom still slept. This was also a movie my neighbors would have been watching at the EXACT same time and as soon as it ended, we would meet up on the street in the most uncanny of ways to reenact this scene. We never were the biggest hockey fans, and we only played hockey when the lake froze over and the ice fishing wasn't hot. We went through phases of loving and hating street hockey, but this was our model to copy for all of our sick puck skills. We also modeled all of our goal keeping style on this guy too.
3. Predator
By the 90s, she knew we loved the movie. In the early morning HBO hours of the late 80s? No way. Funny how we used to have these Entertech Water Gunsthat my mom would buy for us: "The look, the feel, the sound--SO REAL!" We used to call it "bang Gotcha! war." We'd take turns being the Predator and hunt each other down. Awesome 80s violence.
Honorable Mentions:
Kickboxer. Mom never appreciated how we would beat each other with sticks, drop rocks on each other, and try to beat each other up. Bloodsport. Why was Van Damme so good at making bad movies? We loved this movie and would reenact all of the scenes. We used to set up fighting tournaments and try to fight blind folded. I think the title of this movie turned my mom off too.
Best of the Best.
Gleaming the Cube.
We never actually owned a skateboard. We would use our neighbor's and try to shred. Too many injuries and such a weird title that definitely turned my mom off from this movie.
Let me know if any of these resonate with you and your mom, and if we are long lost soul mates.
I give my students 13 minutes to respond to the prompt: "Experience is the best teacher." Decide whether you agree or disagree and provide at least one example.
Here is my response:
Observation is the best teacher. I feel people learn best when they can imitate something great. I feel people learn best when they can watch and avoid mistakes. Look for crowds. Is the crowd flocking to a certain event, a certain painting, a certain star, a certain type of car? Why? What does that thing have that you do not? Observe. Study. Practice. Strive to imitate that model. Perhaps there are features about that model you do not care for. What are they? Look at them. Identify them. Do not include those items in your model.
There is something to be said for letting somebody else go first. Ladies first! Observe.
Sometimes you may not want to follow. Okay. Trail blaze. You may make a mistake, you may not. there is nothing wrong with this. Sometimes the end is unknown. Maybe go on a walk-about. This is good. When you get to the end, look around. Observe. Take it all in. It. Take it in. Then, then learning will occur.
Reflect. Reflecting is observing. Take stock of what transpires. Look in the mirror. Study the face. Observe. Teach. Coach.
I looked at the clock--six minutes to go. Can't stop. I want to stop and observe my students. Who is tirelessly writing? Who is starring? Who has their head down? Who did not have paper out, or a pen out? Is anyone else struggling with this topic? Why do those NCLB people pick such topics? There cannot be high school English teachers on this test creation committee. As Richard Bach writes, "you teach best what you most need to learn." Wouldn't a topic on something relevant to the adolescent mind get better writing? Maybe their writing will be better than mine since my mind is a bit removed from adolescence...or so I tell myself.
A prompt I would really like to tackle in 13 minutes: Hip Hop is the appreciation of the urban aesthetic. Support or refute.
Or: Should bars include domestically brewed craft beers in their "domestic happy hour" specials?
Maybe: Music is the dominant agent in cultural changes.
Another: A green lawn is indicative of a self-conscious man.
Maddock Douglass describes his Three Types of People to Fire for Businessweek.com. I agree and anyone that works closely with any team knows that those three types of people crush innovation.
Cocoon's Bernie Lefkowitz
However, I feel like these people Douglass describes can all be lumped together into one category as the victims, the nonbelievers, and the know-it-alls are all in the same part of the pool (or not even in the pool)--like Bernie Lefkowitz from Ron Howard's Cocoon. Bernie embodies qualities of all three.
South Park's Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski
There are two other groups of people on a team, though, that can contribute to or counteract innovation. The second group are opportunists. They enjoy status quo. They enjoy routines. They enjoy predictability. They do their jobs and they do them well. At times, they may fall into a funk and at others, they can be creative and innovative. They are the contemporary everyman--they can be dynamic and altruistic, yet struggle with self-fulfillment. Really, they are Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski.
Chris Chambers from Stand by Me
The last type is less common and not every team will have one every year--the Chris Chambers of the world. This person has an uncanny ability to form goals and achieve goals while motivating those around them. They fluctuate between confidence and over-confidence. This person is driven, yet discontented; they often accomplish the seemingly impossible, but also charge into problems without considering casualties. They will inspire Bernie Lefkowicz, but they will also abandon him. They will earn Stan's and Kyle's allegiance, but they will also isolate them for their hesitancy.
Most teams seem to have a lot of Bernies, a handful of Stans and Kyles, and find a Chris Chambers every now and then. As their leader and manager, you need to identify all three types and evaluate what each type brings to your team. What is each type of person doing for the current climate and what can they do for the future? Know the personalities of the people around you and keep building a culture for success.
I'm still emotionally high from last night's Paul VI buzzer beater over Dematha, which probably biases this top five list. Really, any come-from-behind win, or clutch strike out, or improbable goal is exhilarating. All coaches have huge lists of when they have been part of such games and all athletes have those moments too. The kid next door can tell a story about a whiffle ball game at the beach. The guy at work rants about their softball beer league when somebody made a great play that lead to high-fiving and jubilation.
But to be in the top five, history and cultural context shape the moment into the extraordinary and make the moment supernatural. Here is my top five:
5. The New England Patriots Tuck Rule Game
As Sean Rollins writes here, "That game was seen as just any other on January 19, 2002, but ten years later, it’s seen as a game that sparked a dynasty." Of course.
But for me, this marks a monumental swing in football allegiance--the kind of which Bill Simmons would gladly exclude me from his fan base for committing such a crime.
from bleacherreport.com
This marks the moment I divorced the Jets for this young, much more sexy enigma. I was on dorm duty back at St. Andrew's (RI). The snow storm was burying us and St. Andrew's had already won a basketball game that day, but I couldn't go out and celebrate with the coaching staff because of dorm duty. I couldn't do the New England snow party routine because of dorm duty. I was stuck with ten or so kids who were playing Play Station and had no interest in the game and I couldn't invite anybody over because of dorm duty.
I was alone. I was looking for something to believe in. I was vulnerable. Tom Brady took advantage of me and now the Patriots are my team and that game is in my top five.
4. Game 5 of the 2001 World Series
The attack on the World Trade Center changed everything.
But on a superficial level, this was the first season I watched Yankees games without any of my long-time Yankees friends. I was fresh out of college and living in the dorms at St. Andrew's and hadn't really had time to make any sense of this new place and this phase of life.
My dorm apartment was a kitchenette with a knocked out wall to bring in an old dorm room to act as my bedroom. I was in the bottom corner of the dorm at the furthest corner of campus. I had my college futon against one wall and the TV against the other. The kitchenette was to my right and the door to the dorm was on my left. I was surrounded by responsibility and cut off from the irresponsibility of sports bars, bar flies, and college.
from bleacherreport.com
I jumped from my couch and screamed so loud, so long, that I found something dark in that scream. Ethereal. It released the feelings of loneliness, of uncertainty, and fear. It ushered in excitement and a sense of triumph. Through Scott Brosius and the Yankees, I was connected to family, friends, and the world.
It validated my memories and made me proud to be me.
3. Vassar College Men's Basketball over NYU 1999
To this day, this season is the best in Vassar Men's basketball history. Two other teams came close to breaking our single season wins mark, but our 18-9 record still stands.
We struggled through two seasons of mediocrity in 97-98 and 98-99. Some dead weight graduated and some new freshmen changed this team. We caught lightning in a bottle. For the other two guys in my recruiting class, this was our peak. I ended up joining the swim team our senior year and the other two guys suffered through a brutal 8-17 2000-2001 inaugural season in the Liberty League.
In both our freshman and sophomore years, NYU abused us. Flat out. We weren't even a little brother to them. They were a bully and we were the poor wimpy kid they tormented. We hated this team and this game on the schedule because they demoralized us every year. The three of us all had great high school success and never experienced losing the way we did in our first two years at Vassar. Schools like NYU, Wesleyan, and Williams toyed with us. Those 30+ point loses, especially at home, were impossible to endure. They made basketball miserable.
But in that 99-00 year, we put it together. We climbed the regional NY/Metro DIII rankings and were just outside the D3 top 25 that year. NYU came to our gym and we stunned them. That pig pile underneath our home basket, in front of our fans, with each other...
We knew what it was like to lose. We knew what it was like to suffer. This was the antithesis of the previous two years. We were validated. Our efforts meant something. We proved to ourselves we were as good as we believed.
Triumph.
2. UConn over Clemson 1990
What else could a 12-year old Connecticut kid want? I had a blue and white UConn ball I held every game. I cried because I thought it was over. I cried when Tate George knocked it down. My mom went upstairs in disgust (funny-even to this day she gets so disgusted with UConn, but gets even more excited than I do over games like this...I think she would leave my dad for Kemba if she had the chance). Me, my 10 year old brother, and my father stood, arms around each other, and prayed in front of the TV. One of my favorite memories all time. Basketball, family, and life intersected.
1. Paul VI over DeMatha, January 27th 2012
One year ago...courtesy of washingtonpost.com
We were up 17 in this 2011 game and Mikael Hopkins had a tip-in with 3 seconds left to give them their first lead of the game.
Triumph. courtesy of washingtonpost.com
Last night after draining a go-ahead 3 with .2 seconds left.
This is why teachers teach and coaches coach. I cried last night seeing Patrick Holloway so happy. That moment for me was more about seeing a young man experience a moment that validates what he believes in than the actual winning of the game. Over the last two years, he wore me out both physically and emotionally. We all rebounded for him. We all let him in the gym early. We all stayed late. And, we coached him through times when he didn't necessarily believe in himself. This is why we do what we do and it comes and goes as fast as .2 seconds.
But this moment runs even deeper for me and is the cathartic release of 10 years of history and an 0-7 record against DeMatha that spans stints at St. Andrew's (RI) and Paul VI. Each one of those games has memories clinging to it--I think that is true for all coaches, right? The game marks chapters of our lives, not just stats and numbers on a page.
DeMatha beat us with ease during the 2009-2010 quarterfinal WCAC game. That night, Paul VI was the last team they played in their old, historic gym before they moved to their new epicenter.
That was also the night my Uncle Stan had his funeral and I decided to stay for the game rather than go home to family. I felt, and still feel, Uncle Stan would have actually been disappointed if I skipped the game. A unique experience of coaching in a Catholic league is the pregame prayer and on that night, that moment brought me to tears with memories of Uncle Stan. It didn't matter we lost that night. It mattered that the game was played and coaches coached. A piece of my Uncle lived that night while I was on the sidelines. Really, that was his funeral and he and I intersected one last time. Don't get me wrong. I don't need a DeMatha game to remember my Uncle, but the context behind last night's moment makes this supernatural.
He was the one who taught me to play. He was the one that made me tough. He was the one that showed me what I can learn about myself and about life by doing defensive slides with two bricks in my hands on an outdoor court in August.
Last night, I could not stop myself from running onto the court and diving into the pile.
He, life, and all things between are the reasons why this is my number one storm the court game.
Seamus Heaney has ability to find meaning in something otherwise overlooked.
One of my favorite's of his is Field of Vision, which ends with these two stanzas:
Face to face with her was an education Of the sort you got across a well-braced gate-- One of those lean, clean, iron, roadside ones Between two whitewashed pillars, where you could see
Deeper into the country than you expected And discovered that the field behind the hedge Grew more distinctly strange as you kept standing Focused and drawn in by what barred the way.
There are two distinct things going on here as the narrator stands and studies his nearly catatonic aunt. He sees a life well-lived in his aunt's face--a life full of experience.
He also realizes that he, too, is becoming catatonic through his pensive examination of this field that expands out further and further and becomes more strange and unusual.
What the narrator needs to do is get on up over this gate. The fear, uncertainty, introspection, and hesitation he feels is all just part of living, but only if he is actually living.
This is his turn to make the Next Play and educate himself.
Basketball taught me to quickly move on from making mistakes. Within the game, there is always the emphasis on the next play.
Don't dwell.
Don't over think.
Don't let it get to you.
Be confident.
Be ready to make the next play.
As coaches, we always yell, "next play! Next Play! NEXT PLAY!" to shake our players out of their funk and get them moving onto the next moment.
In high school and college basketball, I felt like this was easy. I'm starting to grow unsure of myself, however, when I try to make the real world application.
Today I met with an English department colleague about an action my co-chair and I felt was unprofessional and detrimental to the team's morale. This conversation did not go well. My colleague quickly became defensive and argumentative thus preventing any chance of me learning about their perspective or this person listening to our perspective.
The only thing I could do was sift through the tone in search of the root of the behavior and leave her with a brief recap of our observation--that we felt her actions compromised the integrity of our team and we felt her decision was unprofessional.
I know she heard me based on her reaction. But did she listen to what was said?
The script I rehearsed about other ways to handle the issue and to open myself up to be receptive of her perspective went right out the door.
As I debriefed with my co-chair, I could not stop myself from dwelling on the poor outcome. What did I do wrong? What could I have done to create a conversation rather than trigger the tirade? I was ineffective and as a result, I contributed to the negativity beginning to swirl in our department by upsetting my colleague.
I made a mistake. But why can't I disengage and move on like I was always able to do in the game of basketball?
I started watching the Syracuse/Cincinnati game and remembered how fast the game moved. For every missed shot, foul, turnover, or blown assignment, that player was immediately thrust into another situation. Another opportunity to be successful came within the next second. Literally.
The school day ended and now I have all this time to dwell on the day and my mistakes. My next play my not come for another day, week, or month. I don't have practice to go to tomorrow to work out the decision. I don't have a coach breaking down film with me. I just have me and my reflection.
Most would agree a locker room becomes the team's pious place for revitalization, focus, clarity, and accountability.
This locker room is clean.
The locker room is also haunted and we've all experienced the spirit of a place.
Sometimes we walk down into our basement and need to sprint back up the stairs because we feel like something malevolent is about to swallow us. We've also sat on a beach with the sun massaging our melanin, calming our minds, and swaddling us with unconditional love.
What is the spirit of your locker room? I found a great resource from Chris Edmonds here. I plan to post his 12 indicators in our English department work room.
But, what is the spirit of your locker room? The effective leader needs to know if the locker room is the dark basement, the warm tropical beach, or somewhere in between. Is their a Beast lurking, waiting, and timing its attack or is your house clean?
Look for sects within your team. People will naturally group themselves based on similar backgrounds and familiar experiences.
Then, spend time with each of these sects away from the locker room and find out what each sect believes. Make sure they are forming a collective psyche that can be a positive force in your locker room. Coach them. Lead them to other sects and be ready to exorcise any Beasts that are absorbing power.
The effective leader is vigilant.
The effective leader knows the dark corners.
The effective leader is prepared to make quick decisions.
