Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Sports Dishes Out Hard Stuff, "What does OUR worst day look like?"

"Experience is the best teacher but sometimes the tuition is high."

Sport dishes out many lessons; some leave a bad taste.

  • The hard work of commitment and sacrifice are necessary for success, but don't guarantee it. 
  • Random injury or illness can sidetrack a season or career. #NoSureThing #BriansSong
  • Results blend skill and luck. As they say in poker, "the worst luck is second best." Annie Duke's Thinking in Bets is a good read. 
  • "Control what you can control." Remember Charlie Jones' book, That's Outside My Boat
  • Some situations derail you. I knew a guy who was the third in line to be the Giants first baseman. Ahead of him were Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. Both went to Cooperstown. 
  • "Never be a child's last coach." 
  • "Be demanding without being demeaning." 
  • "Somebody has to win; somebody has to lose."
  • Your turn may never come, but that doesn't excuse you from being prepared. 
  • "Fight fair."
  • "What does OUR worst day look like?"
  • Cultures of punishment do not work. 
  • If we're having bad days a lot, then maybe it's us.
  • "Life isn't fair." 
  • It's hard to be truly happy for other people's success. But it's a skill worth cultivating. 
  • "Sport doesn't build character...it reveals it." 
  • "The numbers" don't always reflect a player's impact on winning. Some players energize others, make key plays, and subtle contributions (like screening and contributing to turnovers even if not credited with doing so). The "eye test" matters. 

  • Don't confuse knowledge with wisdom. Wisdom applies knowledge.
  • We make mistakes because of biases of which we are unaware. "We automatically see the world as we want to, not how it is."
  • DNA empowers parents. Nobody will advocate harder or more adamantly for a child than a parent. That's Oscar kilo. I liken it to the "Prime Directive" in Star Trek.


Lagniappe. Do our youth programs have the skills needed to execute complex offense? If not, more time on fundamentals, less on plays.

Lagniappe 2. Need a 3 off a SLOB? 

Lagniappe 3. If you can make the pass... 



 

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