That's ONE!

It's raining and flooding this morning. Another great day to be a duck or perhaps an alligator....definitely a fish. After yesterday's post, I thought that I would have great news about the car, but sadly.....yes....life support has been withdrawn. All that is going to be left of the car will be the parts. That's it...time to say good bye to something that lasted longer than some marriages...the car that has been my companion for 11 years. I will bravely play taps as it is taken to the great car heaven in the sky. As Bob Hope would sing: "Thanks for the memories...."

A bit maudlin, I know. But....the car has been so faithful, that I have to give it my gratitude as our time together ends.

On to other things....I have been meaning to blog about the recent steroid controversy to hit the major leagues and share what my perspective is.....here we go....

OK, by using performance enhancement drugs, these guys cheated. Yes, cheated...cheaters....prevaricators...liars....sneaks....they cut the long line to the majors by taking these drugs...then lying.....lying again and again and again. How does the MLB reward them? Well, they give them so much money that their debit cards will never be rejected again. Their weekly pay checks are greater than the the annual budgets in third world countries. They have more money to burn in their backyards than Bill Clinton.





Does cheating bother me? Uh- yeah! Back to my tennis days....sorry....but it applies here....no...no one in college took steroids or anything like that. BUT I was accused of cheating. Yes...I was called the Big "C"...a cheater. Here's the story......fade to a dream....I was playing a Friday match with my good friend Muscles....we were down 0-5...then my opponent hit the ball by my foot and it was clearly out. Since I called it 'out', it was our point. The woman on the other side of the net went nuts....."that's ONE!", she screamed at me. Huh? I was standing right here...the ball was out. Get over it.....after a few minutes, she hit another ball clearly out. I once again....called it 'out'. Going absolutely ballistic....she screamed: "Thats TWO!" and dropped her racquet. Was she going to fight me over a line call? Did I cheat? The answer to those questions are 'yes' and 'no'.  I said to her: "If I am such a great cheater...why are we losing 0-5? Obviously, I am lousy at cheating...." She continued to rant at me. This is actually the closest I ever got to being in a girl fight. Not that I was going to take a swing, but I felt that she was and I was going to have to protect myself using some of the moves that I learned growing up with 5 siblings.

Then Muscles who is 6 inches shorter than I am got angry. I'll never forget it when she said to the crazy woman: "YOU are belligerent. DO you know what belligerent means? It means 'war-like'. Well, this woman went nutso and started to scream at us. This time, I dropped my racquet and said to Muscles: "I'm out of here. She's more than belligerent, she needs some Vitamin P (i.e. prozac) and a net thrown over her head. As I collected my stuff, her partner calmed the situation and we started to play again. However, crazy girl began to hit every  ball with gusto at my head any chance that she got.

I  ducked rather than be hit in the face then I adjusted and was happy that she wanted to hit me, because I started to hit them back at her. I did not have to run or even move my racquet because she continued to hit the balls right at my left temple. I held the racquet in front of my face as the balls deflected for winners for the rest of the match. We started to gain momentum but ended the game with a loss. But while crazy lady continued her meltdown, we were able to win a few games for a respectable loss.

What did I learn from being called a cheater? Well, I did not like it at all. But looking back on it, I realize that if I needed to be in a foxhole, Muscles should be my wing man/girl. After all, this tiny bit of woman was ready to jump over the net and defend my honor....now, that's a friend. I also learned not to back down when I know that I am right, just because I am being bullied by a person who should be in a padded room or resting at some sanitarium in the mountains with guards to keep her from leaving the premises.

And what does this have to do with the MLB scandal? Hmmm...nothing really....I remembered the story and that's about it. All I can say is that these players cheated and took the place of a guy who did not and deserved to have that position. Enough said...time for me to get some work done.



Have a great day!

Leadership 101

Good morning! No news on the coaching front, but I must say that I would not like to be the coaches at this point. There is too much uncertainty although.....



After the past few years, the coaches have had ample opportunity to make a run for the NCAA title. Sadly, they have made it into the conference title tournament and have been eliminated in the first round. This year, they were in the basement of the conference with only three wins. That speaks volumes to someone's job security when they have been given a number of resources (let's say millions) in order to be a national powerhouse.

Then I see apathy at all levels and I believe that there is no passion. Let's consider this term....passion.....no not that kind....get your minds out of the gutter....

The passion that I am referring to is the feeling that a person has when they think about their lives. It is what drives them to perform. They eat, drink (and drink), and sleep their passion. They want nothing better than to hone their craft and be the best. And sadly, I did not see any passion this year. Even my own kid had his down moments and and had to process his dismay on his own or through midnight phone calls home.



Yes, passion is what was lacking in the coaching and players.

How does one inspire passion? Well, I believe that it is dormant in each of us and germinated through leadership. The coaches as team leaders are the ones to inspire, motivate, lead....this was not evident this year. I sat through 75% of the games and stopped going toward the end since they were painful. It seemed that the players and especially the coaches did not want to be there. They went through the motions robotic-ally. What's that all about? If you are passionate about baseball, you scream at the clouds and rain when games are postponed or cancelled. You count the hours until the next time that you are on the field.  And you identify yourself as a player. This is passion.

Without the passion, the game is not even a past time. I recall one game this year that they lost BUT the coaches benched the starters and the second and third string kids played. And they were awesome. No, they did not win but there was an excitement on the field that had been missing. You could see the effort and drive to be the best. I got caught up in their enthusiasm. Yes, they lost, but they made a real game out of it. They dove for balls...ran hard....and focused on their craft. It was a super game.



Then the first string emerged in the next game and the air was sucked out of the crowd. They were bland, lackluster, and no real effort. In other words, they called it in.....

How does this reflect upon the coaches? Well, as far as I am concerned, the head coach sets the tone. He either sits there and curses the players out or when they make a mistake, he helps to fix it. Also, in terms of the pitching staff, he hires a person who understands pitchers and their unique needs. With 13 pitchers surgeries in the past three years, there was an issue that was screaming to be fixed. Now that there will be new coaches (if the twitter rumors are correct), dad plans on visiting the athletic director. Yeah, I know what you are thinking...helicopter parent....maybe....BUT



He could not say anything about the training and pitching mechanics in the past for fear of reprisals. He had to lay low and pray that the ADs would pick up on the statistics re: arm injuries. With a new regime, he can walk in and discuss his concerns and not worry about the effect on his son.

Last but not least, the players have an opportunity to evaluate the coaches at the end of each season. This idea scared the guys because they thought that the coaches would read them, identify the author, and bench them or throw them off the team. As a person who is evaluated all the time, it can be an intimidating process. People will send evaluations if they are extremely pleased or extremely displeased. People in the middle who don't care never bother to send their evaluations in.

Anyway, this year Buddy sent his evaluation in and was honest in his critique, as were the rest of the guys. However, they felt that no one would pay attention to them....ahhh...but what they did not know was that evaluations are mandatory. And it is also mandated that the next administrative level reads them and acts upon them. This is a national accreditation standard. If they were ignored, the athletic department would be cited by the accreditation body for ignoring assessment figures. And so....with the dismal season, lack of passion, and poor evaluations, is it surprising that I wrote this post?