Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
What do you give?
Do you just do "what's enough"; or do you do "everything that you can" to help your team? The best give more than they're asked to give! -Kevin Eastman
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Breakfast of Champions
from hoopboost.blogspot.com
Here's another good one from Coach Creighton Burns that he attributes to John Mason. This one will be a passout for our team next week.
Thomas Edison Was Afraid of the Dark...yet he overcame that obstacle in a big way and invented the light bulb. The door to opportunity swings on the hinges of adversity. Problems are the price of progress. The obstacles of life are intended to make us better, not bitter. Adversity has advantages!
The truth is, if you like things easy, you will have difficulties. If you like problems, you will succeed. The biggest successes are the ones who solve the biggest problems. Ann Giminez says, "Between you and anything significant will be giants in your path." You cannot bring about change without confrontation.
The problem you face is simply an opportunity for you to do your best. Have the attitude of Louisa May Alcott: "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship." Don't let your problems take the lead. You take the lead.
The Chinese have a proverb that says, "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." It seems that great trials are the necessary preparation for greatness. Consider what Jesus said: "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world."
Every problem introduces a person to himself. Challenges make you stretch-they make you go beyond the norm. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Turning an obstacle to your advantage is the first step towards victory.
Life is as uncertain as a grapefruit's squirt. Consider what Sydney Harris said, "When I hear somebody say that 'Life is hard', I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'" We might as well face our problems. We can't run fast or far enough to get away from them all. Rather, we should have the attitude of Stan Musial, the famous Hall of Fame baseball player. Commenting on how to handle a spit ball, he said, "I'll just hit the dry side of the ball." Charles Kettering said, "No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm."
The breakfast of champions is not cereal;
--it's obstacles.
Here's another good one from Coach Creighton Burns that he attributes to John Mason. This one will be a passout for our team next week.
Thomas Edison Was Afraid of the Dark...yet he overcame that obstacle in a big way and invented the light bulb. The door to opportunity swings on the hinges of adversity. Problems are the price of progress. The obstacles of life are intended to make us better, not bitter. Adversity has advantages!
The truth is, if you like things easy, you will have difficulties. If you like problems, you will succeed. The biggest successes are the ones who solve the biggest problems. Ann Giminez says, "Between you and anything significant will be giants in your path." You cannot bring about change without confrontation.
The problem you face is simply an opportunity for you to do your best. Have the attitude of Louisa May Alcott: "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship." Don't let your problems take the lead. You take the lead.
The Chinese have a proverb that says, "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." It seems that great trials are the necessary preparation for greatness. Consider what Jesus said: "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world."
Every problem introduces a person to himself. Challenges make you stretch-they make you go beyond the norm. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Turning an obstacle to your advantage is the first step towards victory.
Life is as uncertain as a grapefruit's squirt. Consider what Sydney Harris said, "When I hear somebody say that 'Life is hard', I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'" We might as well face our problems. We can't run fast or far enough to get away from them all. Rather, we should have the attitude of Stan Musial, the famous Hall of Fame baseball player. Commenting on how to handle a spit ball, he said, "I'll just hit the dry side of the ball." Charles Kettering said, "No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm."
The breakfast of champions is not cereal;
--it's obstacles.
You have to be READY to succeed.
from hoopboost.blogspot.com
Here are some thoughts on being "ready." As a player, are you ready to play when the ball is tipped off. As a player on the bench, are you ready when your name is called. As a team, in a close game, when circumstances arrive, are you ready to win the game. As coaches, are we ready for all the challenges that come our way -- dealing with players, practice and game situations, adversity, and yes, even success. A big part of excellence is being "ready" for it.
“I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.”
-Abraham Lincoln
“Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.”
-Wayne Dyer
“When the will is ready the feet are light.”
-Proverb
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
-Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens
“If your're not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he'll be ready to take your job.”
-Brooks Robinson
“The beautiful souls are they that are universal, open, and ready for all things”
-Michel de Montaigne
“Losing doesn't eat at me the way it used to. I just get ready for the next play, the next game, the next season.”
-Troy Aikman
“Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them.”
-Charles Caleb Colton
“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
-Benjamin Disraeli
“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.”
-Henry David Thoreau
“I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.”
-Abraham Lincoln
“Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.”
-Wayne Dyer
“When the will is ready the feet are light.”
-Proverb
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
-Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens
“If your're not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he'll be ready to take your job.”
-Brooks Robinson
“The beautiful souls are they that are universal, open, and ready for all things”
-Michel de Montaigne
“Losing doesn't eat at me the way it used to. I just get ready for the next play, the next game, the next season.”
-Troy Aikman
“Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them.”
-Charles Caleb Colton
“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
-Benjamin Disraeli
“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.”
-Henry David Thoreau
Friday, February 18, 2011
BE RELENTLESS
BE RELENTLESS. Every pitch, every play, go all the way to the end. We won't hesitate. I can take whatever comes with that. - Darin Erstad on his expectations for this year's Husker baseball team
Friday, February 4, 2011
ENTHUSIASM and ATTITUDE
DON'T CONFORM...BE DIFFERENT WITH ENTHUSIASM AND ATTITUDE
When the Cincinnati Reds signed Pete Rose in 1961, the organization made a regular habit of signing young Cincinnati-area players to fill its minor league rosters. Rose was signed not because he was an attractive prospect but because he was from the area. When he arrived at spring training in Tampa, Florida, he had one above-average tool—his speed—plus an abundance of enthusiasm and determination. His arm strength was barely average, his defensive skills were unimpressive, and he lacked power. But Rose was always among the first to work out in the morning and the last to stop at night. When his assigned team was not scheduled to be doing anything, he would mix with another team and find some way to get extra work. Rose had been assigned to Karl Kuehl’s Class D Geneva, New York, team for spring training, but one day Kuehl went over to the Triple A game. One game was not enough for Rose, so after his workouts ended he would dash over to the Triple A game and tell the veterans, “If you’ve had enough for today, I’d love to finish the game for you.” When a veteran chose to opt out, Rose would take over for the late innings. No other young player had the nerve to make such an outlandish request, and it paid off for Rose—he got noticed and kept moving through the system.
Rose thus ignored the tacit demands to conform, and he advanced by not being afraid to be different. He chose extra work and spending time with more advanced players over team bonding. This takes some degree of courage, since he did make himself stand out from the crowd with his work ethic and relentless hustle.
From "Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge" by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl, and Casey Tefertiller
When the Cincinnati Reds signed Pete Rose in 1961, the organization made a regular habit of signing young Cincinnati-area players to fill its minor league rosters. Rose was signed not because he was an attractive prospect but because he was from the area. When he arrived at spring training in Tampa, Florida, he had one above-average tool—his speed—plus an abundance of enthusiasm and determination. His arm strength was barely average, his defensive skills were unimpressive, and he lacked power. But Rose was always among the first to work out in the morning and the last to stop at night. When his assigned team was not scheduled to be doing anything, he would mix with another team and find some way to get extra work. Rose had been assigned to Karl Kuehl’s Class D Geneva, New York, team for spring training, but one day Kuehl went over to the Triple A game. One game was not enough for Rose, so after his workouts ended he would dash over to the Triple A game and tell the veterans, “If you’ve had enough for today, I’d love to finish the game for you.” When a veteran chose to opt out, Rose would take over for the late innings. No other young player had the nerve to make such an outlandish request, and it paid off for Rose—he got noticed and kept moving through the system.
Rose thus ignored the tacit demands to conform, and he advanced by not being afraid to be different. He chose extra work and spending time with more advanced players over team bonding. This takes some degree of courage, since he did make himself stand out from the crowd with his work ethic and relentless hustle.
From "Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge" by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl, and Casey Tefertiller
PRESSURE
“Pressure comes when someone calls on you to perform a task for which you are unprepared.”
-Tony LaRussa
The most important four letter word in sports
N - E - X - T
All great shooters go on to the next shot, whether the miss or make the previous one. A great hitter is great in part because he can put the last at bat out of his mind. As a team, it's important to play the game one possession at a time and to do that, you have to forget about the previous possession and concentrate on the present. As coaches, and this one was hard for me when I first started, you have to move past the last game. I didn't have a problem with a victory but I would let a loss or poor performance linger to long in my approach with our team. Sue Gunter would also stress that the most important game on your schedule is the next one because it is the only one you can do anything about. The same is true with a shot, a possession, any phase of the game -- or life for that matter.
From Brian Tracy
From Brian Tracy