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What’s the Message?

Exactly what is the message when you suspend two players after a bar brawl, and then reinstate them just in time for the start of fall practice? That’s the situation at the University of Tennessee, where two players are back in the fold after a brawl that left an off-duty police officer seriously injured. Tennessee Coach Derek [...]

Coaching Tips

  • Friday marked the 18th birthday of “Success Hotline,” a daily motivational phone recording from Dr. Rob Gilbert. In those messages, which number more than 6,000, one stands out for me. Dr. Gilbert tells the story of a strongman who can bend an iron bar. At first the bar won’t move. That’s when things change. The strongman seems to go to another level of effort and intensity, and soon the bar looks more like a horseshoe. Dr. Gilbert offers the moral of the story: when things get difficult, champions don’t get discouraged. They get excited. How about you? When you hit obstacles, what happens to your energy level? Randy Pausch, who gave brilliant lectures before succumbing to pancreatic cancer, said this: “Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.” No matter what obstacles are in front of you, remember the strongman. It’s not time to get discouraged. It’s time to get excited. Dr. Gilbert’s hotline number is (973) 743-4690. #
  • Coach Kevin Reilly offers thoughts on the New York Knicks' draft at knicksofthetrade.com #
  • "People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher and better than themselves." -- Tryon Edwards #
  • "A free lunch is only found in mousetraps." ~ John Capuzzi #
  • "There is nothing so fatal to character as half finished tasks." ~ David Lloyd George #

Welcome to Total Game Plan

About Mike Tully

Coach Mike Tully has studied peak performance for three decades, first as an international sports writer and then as a championship coach. Coach Tully covered Olympic Games in Lake Placid, Los Angeles, Sarajevo and Seoul, as well as more than 100 consecutive World Series games. Now he takes the insights gained from the greatest athletes in the world and brings them into high school and college gyms.

Recent Posts

Concussions
August 3, 2010
By Coach Tully
Wanting Great Things
August 1, 2010
By Coach Tully
Test of Wills
July 30, 2010
By Coach Tully
Great Players, Failed Coaches
July 28, 2010
By Coach Tully
Rookie Rituals
July 26, 2010
By Coach Tully