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One of the most exciting times for an athlete is when their team gets new gear to wear — a new uniform, team sweats, team shoes or pre-game warm-up outfit. In new gear, the step seems quicker, the jumps a little higher. For some reason, it makes you feel better as an athlete. I remember those days as a player, and even when I ordered new things as a coach it was always fun. Outerwear, however, does not make the player different. It is what is on the inside that counts.
As the coach of a college fall sport, for me, this time of year is a time of looking forward and planning ahead. We've finished reflecting on the past season, we've completed our exit interviews and we've laid out the plans for spring training. Now our attention turns to filling open positions with future recruits and envisioning what the future team will look like. Veterans return from Christmas break ready to embrace the challenge of becoming smarter, better and stronger. New recruits sign on with the hopes of becoming an important part of the future of the program.
In every new season, we are presented with new opportunities, new challenges, new relationships and new realities.
While out on a run the other day, I thought to myself, "I need new running shoes." Not WANT new running shoes; NEED new running shoes. These things are terrible! They are several years old, have been worn down, used and abused. They are literally falling apart! Sometimes I think it would be healthier for me not to run instead of grinding it out with these things.
As the run went on, all I kept thinking about was the need for new running shoes, and soon I realized that there was a spiritual parallel here. Stay with me on this one.
Hockey Chat: In 1896, the Ontario Hockey Association stated the role of the goaltender in the rules: "The goalkeeper must not during play lie, sit, or kneel upon the ice” These rules held until goalies were given permission to drop to the ice with the start of the NHL in 1917. The new rules gave them freedom from being penalized for dropping down and allowed them to better protect their goal.
New Year's resolutions. I have made a thousand over the years. Some have worked, others have not gone so well. Every January we have the chance to start a brand new year. As athletes, we set goals to become bigger, faster and stronger and to improve our personal performance. As coaches, we strive to learn more, listen more and win more. But a new year brings us much, much more. What makes this year different?
In the 1980s, the San Francisco 49ers made popular what became known as the West Coast Offense, an offense characterized by short, controlled-pass plays that gained only five to six yards. By running such low-risk plays, San Francisco nibbled away at their opponents. Even strong defensive opponents who never gave up “big plays” were humbled by the 49ers’ consistent gains. San Francisco’s strategy earned them five Super Bowl titles between 1982 and 1995.
In sixteen years as the coach of the Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach guided his team to nine NBA championships. He retired after the 1966 season as the winningest coach in NBA history with 938 wins. While his teams had some great players, they were characterized more by their team play, which included a new concept of using role players. According to Auerback, a role player is one who “willingly undertakes the thankless job that has to be done in order to make the whole package fly.”
Just before the start of the 2004 baseball spring training, St. Louis Cardinals' slugger Albert Pujols signed a seven-year, $100 million contract with the team. After hitting like no other major league ballplayer in history in his first three seasons, the Cardinals wanted to make sure he remained in St. Louis for many years to come. Pujols assured them that, "The money … won't change the way I play baseball."
There are many times in life when outside influences tempt us to compromise our character. Things like money, power and fame even in little doses can bring about greed, immorality and pride in our lives that puts distance between us and God.
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