team-building
Test of Wills
This year’s Washington Redskins camp offers a textbook study of a coach’s attempt to motivate and shape a player.
As detailed in this Sports Illustrated article, defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth has drawn the attention of his coach and teammates for his attitude, particularly by boycotting the team’s off-season workouts.
Haynesworth failed a conditioning test yesterday, and coach [...]
Positive Data
Last weekend’s nor’easter did more than disrupt life on the ground. It did its best to foul up air travel, destroying equipment that measures wind speed and direction at New York’s Kennedy Airport.
“”Wind-measuring equipment just shattered on the field,” a controller advised a pilot as the storm raged. Controllers wound up getting phone updates from [...]
Ron Washington Questions
No one is perfect. Let’s begin any discussion of Ron Washington’s cocaine use there.
Having said that, you still wonder how Washington, manager of baseball’s Texas Rangers, ever got involved in cocaine.
Exactly how did he get into a situation where cocaine was present?
What contributed to what he himself calls a moment of weakness?
We may never know [...]
How Did America Get So Good?
Today the United States sets the record for most medals ever won at a Winter Olympics. Whether the men’s hockey team captures the gold or the silver against Canada, America will own 37 medals.
By contrast, 30 years ago, when the 1980 U.S. hockey team pulled off the Miracle on Ice, the entire American squad won [...]
Miracle Anniversary
Last night’s U.S. men’s Olympic hockey victory over Team Canada came nearly 30 years to the day after the “Miracle on Ice,” in which the Americans stunned the Soviet Union.
If anything, the victory over Canada underlines exactly how unbelievable the “Miracle on Ice” was. At least this year’s American team is made up of National [...]
Just Having Fun
A New York Times article just a few days ago offers a glimpse into why kids play sports. The simple answer: to have fun.
This might shock some people, especially considering some of yesterday’s news. New Jersey’s top-ranked boys basketball team is facing expulsion over illegal practices, and a 13-year-old boy has committed to play football [...]
Management Strategies
Two of the NBA’s greatest coaches opposed each other last night, and their post-game remarks help explain what has made them so successful.
Phil Jackson’s team won, and he gave credit to the players. Larry Brown’s team lost, and he took responsibility for it.
It’s a good management strategy. Give credit to the workers when things go [...]
Clubhouse Chemistry
No matter what they major in during college years, coaches need some sense of chemistry. Not molecular chemistry, but human chemistry.
Relationships mean everything to sports teams. Bad chemistry has doomed many a dream. Great chemistry can produce what seems to be an overachieving team.
This subject comes up because of a report from ESPNBoston.com that Rajon [...]
The Horror of Big-Time Football
What is going on in the state of Tennessee?
First, four basketball players are picked up because they are suspected of having drugs, alcohol and a gun in the car.
Now some students are rioting because a football coach, Lane Kiffin, left the school to take a job at the University of Southern California. Let’s repeat that: [...]
Club vs. School
If you know any athletes who play both for their high school and for a club, you know that they must balance their participation.
Not at Immaculate Heart Academy in Northern New Jersey. There, and perhaps at other schools around the country, the rule is hard and fast: You cannot miss a school event to attend [...]
