Yesterday Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit two more home runs, prompting a reporter to ask Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa if Pujols deserves to be voted this year’s Most Valuable Player.
Answered LaRussa, “Those kinds of questions are distractions, and I don’t answer them.”
Though the reporter probably didn’t appreciate LaRussa’s response, it reflected the [...]
Tom Hughes, a coach and motivational speaker, produces a wonderful newsletter. It’s called “Motivational Moments.”
I particularly love this quote from Hughes’ most recent offering: “Dedication is the price you pay to get what you want.”
Here is the rest of the passage on dedication: “It is the amount of time you are willing to work [...]
If you’ve never heard of Randy Pausch, you can learn about him — and about life — in this video. But this clip is not meant to be viewed by you alone; it’s meant to be shared with your team, your teammates, your fellow coaches, anyone who needs a reminder about how precious life is.
Pausch [...]
Yesterday on sports radio, the talk turned to injuries in baseball. There seem to be many of them.
One of the announcers made a point of saying that no matter how much care is given to pitchers, they break down.
The subject made me wonder if the way teams handle the health of their pitchers is just [...]
If your team is like most teams, it will win a few and lose a few. The secret of being successful is winning the tossup games.
What are tossup games? Those are games in which the teams show equal skill and preparation. The score will depend on which team wants it the most.
Ron Darling, former major-league [...]
Last night my friend, Dr. Rob Gilbert, made a bit of a pilgrimage.
He went to nearby Montclair, N.J., to walk past the childhood home of astronaut Buzz Aldrin. On the 40th anniversary of the day man first walked on the moon, Dr. Gilbert, a sports psychologist, stared at Aldrin’s home.
“To look at the house [...]
For the past two weeks, we have been in camp, and I’ve had the privilege of coaching with two of my former players.
Melissa is in college now, and came back to help out for a week. Lauren is a special education teacher, and she also spent a week in our gym.
Their presence not only enriched [...]
Where do great athletes come from?
The question comes up because of a passage in the book, “Munson — The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain” by Marty Appel. In it, former Yankee broadcaster Bill White described Thurman Munson’s birthplace and how it shaped him.
“I think there is something about growing up in that industrial [...]
Ed McMahon’s life offers a lesson for anyone who wants to play on a successful team.
McMahon, who died yesterday, earned fame and fortune by becoming the model sidekick. As a foil for Johnny Carson on the “Tonight” show for many years, he showed what can happen when you accept your role and shine in it.
Yesterday we began our off-season training camp and, after holding the first competitive drill, we posted the results.
Not everyone was happy. Some players scored better than others. Here is what we said to those who were disappointed with their results.
First, your score on the first day of training camp doesn’t matter nearly as much as [...]