Rev. 2/14/07, & 4/21/08
The football coach arrived at the field early before the final home game of the season. Good natured, he planned to see if there were any things needing last-minute help in order to insure everything was complete and ready to go for that evening’s game. As he entered the gate and surveyed the field – the coach stopped and just stared. To his amazement, the field was not lined, the markers were not out, the sidelines had not been roped off, the trash cans had not been emptied, the scoreboard was not on, the benches were missing from the sidelines, the ticket takers were absent, as were the referees, linesmen, police security and the bathrooms and concession stand were locked up. Sprinkler pipes were still on the field, and it was obvious that it had not been mowed any time recently.
The coach was stunned! “How could this be?” he asked himself.
Always before when he showed up, everything was always ready. All he had to do was put the med kit on the bench, look around, nod his head, and feel the satisfaction of having joined the set-up crew as it completed its work.
He looked around. There was nobody there. The athletic director probably was asleep, and the scoreboard operator would be lucky if he showed at before the game started. The coach was completely alone.
Before the coach could walk around exploring to see if he could determine what had happened, several of the football players showed up. They too looked around and were bewildered as to why the field was not ready. At the same time, two school buses pulled into the nearby parking lot, and the visiting football team and other membes of their student body started to unload.
As the coach started to walk over to the bus to talk to the visiting team’s head coach, he stumbled over a pile of teeth. Of all things, there had been a stack of teeth four or five inches high, now kicked and strewn about the 20-yard line. Looking down, the coach noticed that there were actually about another half dozen piles of teeth placed about two yards apart. Now the coach was truly perplexed.
Suddenly it all made sense. When he looked back, he realized that he should have seen it coming. There had been hints, but it was just too outlandish to seriously consider, and he had to admit that he had always pushed the notion away – refusing to give it any serious credibility.
Yet now, the telltale signs could not be denied. The set-up work had not been done, and piles of teeth had been left behind. His worst fears had to have come true. Obviously, he had overlooked the signs of stress and fatigue despite having noticed an increase of errors and omissions. But his coaching staff and players had been able to cover over the mistakes so that nobody else knew what was happening.
And then it occurred to him, if piles of teeth were being deposited here, what was being left under pillows in hundreds of children’s bedrooms? Surely, yardline markers, footballs, medical kit ice packs, and/or walkie-talkies weren’t being deposited in various homes throughout the county. Yet deep down, he knew that could very well be the case.
Who knew the cause, or at what point it could no longer be hidden? What caused him finally to snap – to lose touch with reality? And further, was there any hope of returning things to the way they were? Because if not, how in the world would the field be prepared for future games? If the athletic fairy continued to lose touch with reality and revert back to his previous position as a former regional tooth fairy – there would be no way that the football field would ever be ready for any future games – ever again.
Well, unless maybe the coaches, players, volunteers – along with the athletic director and field manager – worked together to prepare the field before the game – as well as also helping with the clean up afterward – maybe, just maybe, they could actually still get the fields ready. But actually, that was just “crazy” thinking – the coach quickly regained his senses and concluded that the athletic fairy simply would have to be cured – there just wasn’t any other realistic option for getting things done other than with the usual magic by the athletic fairy.
With the basketball season quickly approaching, it was obvious to the football coach that the basketball program would simply have to do without until the athletic fairy had had time to recover and once again was back to his old self! But first, the football needed the athletic fairy to hurry and get the football field ready – now! After all, if enough people simply wanted it to happen – how could any truly good fairy withhold the magic?
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Bad Days Are a Test of Character
I wish that I had written this, but I didn't. It was in a church bulletin, and was attributed to Kari Myers, entitled "Being Good When You Feel Bad," The Link
It goes:
Sickness, stress and sleep deprivation are three things that can really do a number on a person's disposition. Don't ask me how I know this. I just do. Maybe you know it, too. It is hard to be good when we don't feel good.
When we feel bad, physically or emotionally, we tend not to handle things as well as we would on a good day. Bad days can tempt us to focus inward. If they persist, we can fall into self-pity or become obsessed with improving our situation. We can become self-absorbed, self-serving or just plain selfish. But it does not havbe to be so.
Jesus showed us another way. At the moment of his betrayal to an angry mob who would take him to a cruel death, he healed the servant of his enemy. On the worst of days, as he was unjustly arrested and threatened, he responded with compassion. In the midst of his own pain he took notice of and tended to the pain of another.
Jesus loved in good times and bad. So feeling bad is not an excuse. It's a test. Bad days are a test of character. They show how closely, or not so closely, we're following the example of Christ. They also build character.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul calls us not just to endure suffering, but to rejoice in it. For "suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope" (5:3-4). So the next time things take a turn for the worse, let's look for ways to serve others. We can be good even when we feel bad.
It goes:
Sickness, stress and sleep deprivation are three things that can really do a number on a person's disposition. Don't ask me how I know this. I just do. Maybe you know it, too. It is hard to be good when we don't feel good.
When we feel bad, physically or emotionally, we tend not to handle things as well as we would on a good day. Bad days can tempt us to focus inward. If they persist, we can fall into self-pity or become obsessed with improving our situation. We can become self-absorbed, self-serving or just plain selfish. But it does not havbe to be so.
Jesus showed us another way. At the moment of his betrayal to an angry mob who would take him to a cruel death, he healed the servant of his enemy. On the worst of days, as he was unjustly arrested and threatened, he responded with compassion. In the midst of his own pain he took notice of and tended to the pain of another.
Jesus loved in good times and bad. So feeling bad is not an excuse. It's a test. Bad days are a test of character. They show how closely, or not so closely, we're following the example of Christ. They also build character.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul calls us not just to endure suffering, but to rejoice in it. For "suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope" (5:3-4). So the next time things take a turn for the worse, let's look for ways to serve others. We can be good even when we feel bad.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The True Athlete
Coach Bruce Brown
Recently I had the thrill and privilege to hear Coach Bruce Brown speak at an athletic directors’ conference. Brown clarified how he defined a true athlete, or what he called simply an athlete in contrast to those non-athletes or selective athletes that also inhabit various high school or even college sports teams.
He defines non-athletes not as people who don’t play, but rather as people who play but just don’t get it.
Coachable
In contrast, what Brown calls an athlete is a person that is coachable – someone who has learned to take correction as a compliment. An athlete looks the corrector directly in the eye, is not fearful, and feels that s/he might get something useful from what s/he is being told.
Discipline
An athlete has discipline – discipline to focus his/her attention and to focus his/her effort. It includes the discipline to respect authority, to prepared, to practice, to model good sportsmanship, and to do what is right regardless of what anyone else does to her/him. Non-athletes see discipline only as punishment.
Accountable
Athletes are accountable – which Coach Brown defines as being reliable for doing the work that needs to be done. An athlete works out just as hard when the coach isn’t right there watching. An athlete holds herself/himself accountable and a team holds each other accountable.
Integrity
An athlete has integrity – in which yes means yes, no means no, your handshake seals the deal, and his/her signature has meaning. A non-athlete says what others want to hear and then goes on to do what s/he wants to do anyway. To Coach Brown, if you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters; and if you do have integrity, nothing else matters.
Mentally Tough
An athlete is mentally tough. Mentally tough people’s spirits can’t be broken. Mentally tough people are priceless to a team, and mentally weak people are like dragging around a dead carcass. The mentally weak get discouraged and indulge drama. A team that has drama is not a team. Coach Brown believes the test for mental toughness is how fast a person recovers from a mistake. If in a volleyball match, a player that shanks the ball when it is served to her/him and doesn’t recover quickly before the next serve should not be surprised to shank it as well.
Selfless
An athlete is selfless, not selfish. An athlete puts the team first. Everything a player does impacts the rest of the team. Every decision a player makes impacts the rest of the team. An athlete does nothing to hurt his/her team. Coach Brown made very few rules for teams he coached. He had one overall standard: don’t let your teammates down. An athlete feels s/he owes it to his/her teammates to listen and get it the first time, or to seek help if s/he doesn’t understand.
Selective Participants
Coach Brown describes some non-athletes as selective participants. These players usually are born with talent, but believe that their talent is enough. They often believe that the team might lose without them and therefore they’re the exception who is above the rules. Selective participants often choose when to listen or when to tune out, when to work out, often criticize others, take short cuts, have easy days, take days off, avoid responsibility, view something only for what they get out of it, come late, leave early, and often claim to have injuries when the practice gets physically tough.
Conversely, athletes give you their best, thrive on the challenge, and don’t need to look at the scoreboard to know how they’re doing. In their heart, they know. The don’t make excuses.
Why Play Sports?
Now questions can be asked as to why play sports, and if the importance of sports isn’t blown out of proportion. In response, let me answer these questions with other questions. Where else in high school is a student pushed fully to be a participant, more than merely a passive observer; where else is a student challenged to go beyond whatever their current limits are intellectually, physically and most importantly, emotionally? How better to prepare a student for the emotional, intellectual and physical challenges that lay ahead in real life; how better to have the motivation and opportunities to practice and develop the kind of skills one needs to be successful in the real world – both as an individual as well as a member of a team?
4th Quarter and Down Two Points
Now imagine that it is fourth quarter, there are less than two minutes remaining, and your team is down by two points. Who do you want out on the court, the athlete or the non-athlete?
Real Life
Now imagine further that the game is not football or basketball, but rather some real life challenge such as facing cancer or some other serious illness or injury, or coping with a financial setback or loss of job, or a house burns to the ground, or having to overcome any number of other obstacles.
Imagine that instead of athletes, we are educators; instead of a team, we are a school district, and imagine that instead of being behind in the score, we are behind financially. When the challenge is the toughest, a coach wants the true athlete in the game. Imagine if with only two minutes left, the non-athlete chooses then to publicly and loudly criticize the coach because the team is not winning. What coach at the very least wouldn’t want to bench the non-athlete, if not send her/him to the showers or out the door permanently? In real life, would the urge be any different with true professional educators and non-educators when facing a crisis?
It is at times of adversity while under pressure, that a team can either pull together or pull apart. A true team finds ways to pull together, support each other, and face the challenge head on – together. The final question: which are we?
Recently I had the thrill and privilege to hear Coach Bruce Brown speak at an athletic directors’ conference. Brown clarified how he defined a true athlete, or what he called simply an athlete in contrast to those non-athletes or selective athletes that also inhabit various high school or even college sports teams.
He defines non-athletes not as people who don’t play, but rather as people who play but just don’t get it.
Coachable
In contrast, what Brown calls an athlete is a person that is coachable – someone who has learned to take correction as a compliment. An athlete looks the corrector directly in the eye, is not fearful, and feels that s/he might get something useful from what s/he is being told.
Discipline
An athlete has discipline – discipline to focus his/her attention and to focus his/her effort. It includes the discipline to respect authority, to prepared, to practice, to model good sportsmanship, and to do what is right regardless of what anyone else does to her/him. Non-athletes see discipline only as punishment.
Accountable
Athletes are accountable – which Coach Brown defines as being reliable for doing the work that needs to be done. An athlete works out just as hard when the coach isn’t right there watching. An athlete holds herself/himself accountable and a team holds each other accountable.
Integrity
An athlete has integrity – in which yes means yes, no means no, your handshake seals the deal, and his/her signature has meaning. A non-athlete says what others want to hear and then goes on to do what s/he wants to do anyway. To Coach Brown, if you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters; and if you do have integrity, nothing else matters.
Mentally Tough
An athlete is mentally tough. Mentally tough people’s spirits can’t be broken. Mentally tough people are priceless to a team, and mentally weak people are like dragging around a dead carcass. The mentally weak get discouraged and indulge drama. A team that has drama is not a team. Coach Brown believes the test for mental toughness is how fast a person recovers from a mistake. If in a volleyball match, a player that shanks the ball when it is served to her/him and doesn’t recover quickly before the next serve should not be surprised to shank it as well.
Selfless
An athlete is selfless, not selfish. An athlete puts the team first. Everything a player does impacts the rest of the team. Every decision a player makes impacts the rest of the team. An athlete does nothing to hurt his/her team. Coach Brown made very few rules for teams he coached. He had one overall standard: don’t let your teammates down. An athlete feels s/he owes it to his/her teammates to listen and get it the first time, or to seek help if s/he doesn’t understand.
Selective Participants
Coach Brown describes some non-athletes as selective participants. These players usually are born with talent, but believe that their talent is enough. They often believe that the team might lose without them and therefore they’re the exception who is above the rules. Selective participants often choose when to listen or when to tune out, when to work out, often criticize others, take short cuts, have easy days, take days off, avoid responsibility, view something only for what they get out of it, come late, leave early, and often claim to have injuries when the practice gets physically tough.
Conversely, athletes give you their best, thrive on the challenge, and don’t need to look at the scoreboard to know how they’re doing. In their heart, they know. The don’t make excuses.
Why Play Sports?
Now questions can be asked as to why play sports, and if the importance of sports isn’t blown out of proportion. In response, let me answer these questions with other questions. Where else in high school is a student pushed fully to be a participant, more than merely a passive observer; where else is a student challenged to go beyond whatever their current limits are intellectually, physically and most importantly, emotionally? How better to prepare a student for the emotional, intellectual and physical challenges that lay ahead in real life; how better to have the motivation and opportunities to practice and develop the kind of skills one needs to be successful in the real world – both as an individual as well as a member of a team?
4th Quarter and Down Two Points
Now imagine that it is fourth quarter, there are less than two minutes remaining, and your team is down by two points. Who do you want out on the court, the athlete or the non-athlete?
Real Life
Now imagine further that the game is not football or basketball, but rather some real life challenge such as facing cancer or some other serious illness or injury, or coping with a financial setback or loss of job, or a house burns to the ground, or having to overcome any number of other obstacles.
Imagine that instead of athletes, we are educators; instead of a team, we are a school district, and imagine that instead of being behind in the score, we are behind financially. When the challenge is the toughest, a coach wants the true athlete in the game. Imagine if with only two minutes left, the non-athlete chooses then to publicly and loudly criticize the coach because the team is not winning. What coach at the very least wouldn’t want to bench the non-athlete, if not send her/him to the showers or out the door permanently? In real life, would the urge be any different with true professional educators and non-educators when facing a crisis?
It is at times of adversity while under pressure, that a team can either pull together or pull apart. A true team finds ways to pull together, support each other, and face the challenge head on – together. The final question: which are we?
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