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Archive for March, 2010

Encouragement

Today’s post will be brief and come in the form of quote sent by my friend and co-author, Gary Pritchard. It says, “A word of encouragement during failure … is worth more than a dictionary of praise after success.” Sometimes people quit when they are so close to success. As a coach, you never know when just […]

Ron Lundy’s Lesson

I haven’t been able to blog every day because of a book deadline. But there was an item in the news that deserves mention. Ron Lundy, a legendary New york disc jockey for decades, died earlier this month at the age of 75. Lundy was renowned for a sparkling, cheerful drawl that warmed all his […]

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 […]

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? […]

Measure and Post

Expect the restaurant kitchens in New York City to get cleaner. That’s because the city’s Board of Health has voted to publicly post the cleanliness grades where customers can see them. These grades have previously been available online or at the Department of Health and Mental Hygeine. But now they must be posted in the […]

Structured Play

Now there is a coach for recess. There’s no more spontaneous running around, or skipping, or games of tag, or just looking at the sky. According to the New York Times, a growing number of schools are putting more structure into recess to “curb bullying and behavior problems, foster social skills and address concerns over […]

Studying the Brain

Here comes the next frontier in training. It’s the brain. Evidence suggests that an athlete’s gray matter is fundamentally different from another person’s. And if this is the case, then the brain — more than ever — controls all three aspects of performance: physical, mental and emotional. In the April issue of Discover magazine, author […]

Practice Design

Lately I’ve been working with coaches on practice design. They want to know how to make the most of the time they’re given. For more efficient and effective practices, start with the advice I heard legendary high school basketball coach Bobby Hurley give at a clinic last year in Iowa. “Write down your practice, and […]

Your Team Captain

What do you look for in a captain? At the school where I coach, The Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, NJ, you never have to wonder. Each season the athletic department spells it out with the “Captains Award.” It’s given out each fall, winter and spring season to “that male or female captain who has […]

Could This Man Be You?

Yesterday’s New York Times ran an extraordinary piece on Seton Hall University Basketball Coach Bobby Gonzalez. Written by Kevin Armstrong and Pete Thamel, the article makes several points: — Gonzalez is the only coach in the history of the Big East Conference to be suspended for sideline behavior. — A longtime acquaintance says of Gonzalez, […]