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We’ve all said it: The secret to success is practice, practice, practice. Sometimes we’ll put the word “perfect” in front of all of those “practices” to nail down an even more effective plan. We all know that without practice we’ll never reach the level of play that we desire.
When I was in high school, I trusted my coaches completely, so I practiced whatever they told me to. I desired success, which helped me to listen to them and heed their advice. In the same way, when we read that Paul urges us to “do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,” we would be wise to heed his advice. A quick scan of the context reveals some of what Paul would want us to put into practice:
Mixing faith and athletics has always been a tricky proposition. Some believe the two are inseparable, while others don’t think God has—or even cares to have—a place in the sports world.
In 2001, the folks at Catholic Supply decided to throw their opinion into the public arena by releasing a series of statuettes that depict Jesus playing various sports (baseball, golf, tennis, hockey, and so forth) with adolescents. These figurines quickly became a big hit but also took plenty of shots from the media and the entertainment world—in particular from Conan O’Brien, who regularly included them in innocuous comedy bits on his late-night talk show.
I play softball for my high school, and I love it. The game, the fans, my fellow athletes—everything about the whole experience. I love it all! Every now and then in a game I am faced with a situation in which I need to take one for the team. Whether that is allowing myself to be hit by an inside pitch to get to first base, or trying to hit a grand slam to get more runs, or sitting on the bench so that another player can play. There are many chances for me to do whatever I need to in order to help the team.
I think there are two kinds of athletes, the humble and those who will be humbled. While an athlete needs to see the correlation between preparation and achievement, one must acknowledge, “every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). This is why coaches may be more nervous coming off a big win than a tough loss. Athletes have a tendency to get an inflated view of themselves.
Why is asking so hard for some of us? Whether it’s for a ride to the airport, a few dollars for lunch, or (better yet) financial support to take some athletes to FCA camp, many of us avoid asking like the plague.
Of course, there are times when even the most self-sufficient among us is willing to swallow all pride and plead before the “throne of grace.” I have personally witnessed the amazing transformation of coaches, players and fans whose circumstances turned them into fervent prayer warriors. This phenomenon typically occurs during a game when their team is down by a point with a few ticks left on the clock and the least-talented shooter is on the free-throw line. Who among us hasn’t uttered a prayer in times such as these?
Hockey Chat: What if you were to get to spend a month with Wayne Gretzky (or Martin Brodeur for you goalies) and they spent day and night giving you tips and coaching? That would make you pretty great. But if the month was over and you went back to playing your way and forgetting everything you had been taught, losing your talents you had been just gained. It would seem foolish. Like a waste of a great opportunity.
I had the blessing of seeing 2012 Olympian-hopeful Michelle McKeehan break the national record in the 200 IM at the Indiana State Swimming High School finals. After breaking the national record with a time of 1:58:06, McKeehan received an encouraging standing ovation from every person in the packed Indianapolis natatorium, including her opponents.
In 2003, LPGA golfer Annika Sorenstam became the first woman in 58 years to compete with men in a PGA tournament. Although she missed the cut by four shots, she had a respectable tournament and finished as well as or better than several of her competitors. “I tested myself from start to finish,” she said afterward. “That’s why I was here.” Sorenstam put herself to the test to find out just how good she was.
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.
I once overheard of a group of coaches discussing what they were going to do with a certain player who had problems following the team rules. He’d had plenty of issues, but the final straw came when they found out he was caught up in drugs. Some of the coaches wanted to kick the young man off the team, but the head coach did not. He justified keeping the young man on the team by telling this story…
Trouble and being troubled are two completely different things. Trouble is being down by a run, nobody on base, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and our worst hitter coming to the plate. Being troubled is having no strategy for this scenario and not being prepared to accept the possible consequences that are about to come.
As coaches, there will be many times when we will have to declare to our team, “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.” We might even complete our short speech with the same words that Jesus did: “Believe in me.” But if we haven’t demonstrated believability to our players, these words will have absolutely no value. Without having the same credibility that Jesus had, our words will be like wisps of air.
On Monday we shared the story of Texas Rangers' All-Star Josh Hamilton, whose career was initially derailed by drug and alcohol addiction. After several stints in rehab, he was still unable to escape those vices under his own power. Looking back, he admits he didn’t realize how he was hurting those closest to him as his life revolved around satisfying his craving for more drugs and alcohol. Once he hit bottom at his grandmother’s home in 2005, his heart was opened to God’s love and how much he needed Him to overcome his addictions and heal the brokenness in his life.
Growing up with two older brothers meant I never got anything new. I was always dished secondhand items:clothes, sporting equipment, and toys. My big day came when I was eight years old and my dad bought me a new lacrosse stick. It was a glorious moment. The lacrosse stick glowed from newness. That experience marked me as a young athlete. It passed through my hands first—not second, third, or fourth!
God does not want our secondhand glory. Secondhand glory is taking credit when God should be getting the credit first. It is subtle. As athletes, it is easy to take credit because we are always getting it from teammates, coaches, and fans.
I love sports movies, but my all-time favorite is "Hoosiers." It might have something to do with my being a former Indiana high school basketball player, and the movie was filmed in the 80's when I was in college. One scene stood out in the movie to me. In one game, Hickory (the high school) was in need of a sub, and the coach didn't have anyone to put in the game except Ollie the manager. So coach put him in late in the game, and Ollie got fouled and had to go to the line for two free throws. The crowd was yelling, the opposing team was taunting, and Ollie's knees were shaking as he stepped to the line.
Tuesday is always trash day. And on some Tuesdays, there seems to be very little good about the morning. Daily tasks often can become mundane, but not this one. Every Tuesday morning I am the member of the family who deposits the trash into the proper container. This morning, as I sat back at the table lamenting the fact that I had to take the trash out to the curb, I heard a song resonating from an upstairs bedroom. “I am C. I am C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.” It was coming from my 7-year-old, who was joyfully ringing in the day.
Most of us, at some time, have found ourselves at “the end or our rope” or at the end of our own strength emotionally. Maybe we were so tired at practice that we were disrespectful to a coach, a trainer, or teammate. Most of us have been let down by someone whom we look up to because they were at the end of their rope emotionally. Maybe a friend lied, or our parents left, or our coach blew up and disrespected us.
This week, Reggie Bush became the first Heisman Trophy winner to forfeit his trophy. Amid a world of controversy surrounding reports that he had taken money from sports marketers while at USC, Bush made a move that no one had ever done before by giving his trophy—which he won in 2005—back to the Heisman Trust.
This devotion isn’t going to side one way or the other with Reggie Bush’s actions. Instead, we’re going to use the situation as an opportunity to evaluate the awards we’ve been given as athletes and coaches, and to, perhaps, think about them in ways we’ve never considered.
Duke Preston can still hear it now.
“Duke!”
His father’s deep, booming voice echoed throughout the cavernous racquetball court. Just moments earlier, assistant coach Raymond Preston had addressed his son’s freshman football team about a party that had taken place the weekend before. The unsupervised event resulted in a substantial amount of underage drinking—including participation by the younger Preston.
And with his father’s firm, beckoning call, Preston knew he was busted.
One of the Division 1 schools in my area entered its conference tournament as the number eight seed and appeared to be a long shot to win it all. The head coach for the team admitted they fell short of expectations, but that the one goal they could hold on to was winning a conference tournament championship. Despite the odds, the team achieved that goal by knocking off the first-, second- and fourth-seeded teams, earning an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament in the process. As one player said, the team put it together when it counted most.
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