team-building
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 [...]
Setting Standards
W. Somerset Maugham said, “It is a funny thing about life: If you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it.”
Last night there was a special about high school bands on television. One of the band directors remarked that each season involved at least two dynamics: the ninth-graders learning the system [...]
A Life of Purpose
Our team has begun dealing with the loss of Valeria Reyes, the young woman we adopted through the Friends of Jaclyn program.
Valeria died yesterday at age 12, four and a half years after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Among the things we discussed yesterday at our team meeting was the way you chose to [...]
An Angel Gets Her Wings
Today is a difficult day. Valeria Reyes, 12, a dear friend and teammate of ours, died of a brain tumor.
We came to know Valeria through a program called “Friends of Jaclyn,” which connects sports teams with children with brain tumors.
We met Valeria 14 months ago at an adoption ceremony. Since then our team has developed [...]
The 20-Minute Rule
Bobby Hurley, one of the country’s most successful high school basketball coaches, spoke about practice at the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association’s weekend clinic in Des Moines, Iowa.
Hurley, head of the legendary St. Anthony’s program in New Jersey, mentioned what we’ll call the 20-minute rule, namely, to compliment every player on the team in the first [...]
Mickey Mantle’s legacy
Yesterday was Mickey Mantle’s birthday. He would have been 79.
Mantle, the glamorous power hitting centerfielder for the Yankees during the 1950s and early 1960s, remains my favorite ballplayer of all time.
Despite his power, speed and skill, Mantle never played the role of superstar in the clubhouse. He made a deep impression on his fellow players [...]
Pre-Game Speeches
Our team got a kick out of this post of a little boy reciting Herb Brooks’ speech to the U.S. Olympic hockey team before its game against the Soviet Union. Maybe you can use it, too.
Some rhetorical points worth noting:
Brooks created sense of history by using the phrase “great moments.” He then mentioned “great opportunities.” [...]
Teaching Values
Every time you see a sports team with an extraordinary winning streak, you immediately ask, “How do they do it?”
Thanks to the eagle eye of Larry O’Connor, who pointed out a recent story in the New York Times, we get another chance to analyze the question.
This time it’s Smith Center, Kan., home to a high [...]
When Others are Running Out
On the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the courage of the police and firefighters stands as a challenge to everyone.
When everyone else was running out, they were running in.
The moment the planes struck the Twin Towers in the World Trade Center, most people found themselves in a new world. Chaotic and terrifying. Not the [...]
