We should be forward looking but have the opportunity to study both contemporaries and the past. What made great teams and great players outstanding? Blend will and skill and cast your own luck. Pasteur remarked, "chance favors the prepared mind."
As coaches, we are chefs, assistants are sous-chefs, and players are dynamic ingredients. We create menus of offense and defense suited to both the chefs and the pieces.
The food and the dining experience reflect our identity. We reject boring, erratic, pedestrian, and uninspiring. Each team we coach becomes a metaphor for our mortality. A meal is transient, finite, unique. We celebrate 'special' meals and extraordinary menus.
Sometimes we cook our hearts out only to suffer a flavorless or burnt dish. Sometimes the ingredients don't fit together well. Occasionally we have a masterpiece.
Sometimes the challenge is to create a special meal from our usual ingredients. For example, maybe we have to cook press break or 'box and one.' We pick the groceries and cook.
