RUGator

Consider the following “hypothetical:”

-how much incentive is there for reporters to investigate “fishy” incidents involving celebrity athletes if the networks they work for are subsidized by companies who sponsor the athletes they cover?

Said differently,

-if company “X” is paying “X” athlete “X” dollars to use their products and that same company pays “X” network “X” advertising dollars, how motivated will that network be to uncover “inconvenient truths” about “X” athlete?

Say what you will about public figures and private lives. There is a price to be paid. And silly questions from an accidental observer.

Insightful article in the New York Times regarding the current state of affairs of the University of Michigan football team.

Please go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/sports/ncaafootball/20michigan.html?_r=1&hp#

I got fired today. Was sort of cool.

Awaiting my loop today, Mr. Trump rode by. It IS his course, you know.

So I “pointed” to him. His response?

You got it.

I got “fired” as he pointed right back at me.

I loved it.

I loved it because he always makes time to give the caddies a friendly greeting. And to give us some good-natured teasing too.

Can’t make it up.

“Recognition is the greatest motivator.”

Gerard C. Eakdale

Reading about Penn State’s iconic coach, Joe Paterno, I learned of the “experiment” he put into place early on in his career.

That high academic standards and athletic achievement were not mutually exclusive.

Paterno himself played football as an undergraduate at Brown. His parents wanted him to go to law school. He had other plans.

And so I borrowed an idea from him.

Perhaps I could demand high achievement from my students. But how would I do this? I didn’t have the athletic fields to reinforce any classroom ideas I might try out on them.

So I stumbled upon something else.

As a first year classroom survival technique, I got to know my kids. What made them tick? Where were they from? Who were their parents? What if I put them (the kids) first and not the “material?” It’s all I had. I didn’t know any better.

Show them that you love and respect them and they’ll run through walls for you. That popped into my head. I was on the look out for ways to recognize them.

Nicknames, likes, friends, aptitudes, eye-contact, accountability, one on one conversations, listening more than speaking.

In short: THEM.

Simple.

Not easy.

But, it works.

Can you do that?

Put others first. Listen more than you speak. Build others up. Hard work. Persistence. A positive attitude.

It never ends. Isn’t easy. Preaching to myself. Constant reminding.

It keeps me up at night.

And gets me up in the morning.

From today’s front page on Yahoo Sports comes this article by Dan Wetzel regarding John Calipari. What a “shocker.”

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=AnSFRwZ_xVqIcWIx2P5syT85nYcB?slug=dw-calipari052809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

While on the range awaiting my loop, I spotted the Ping representative setting up for a “demo day.” I offered to help him bring his equipment (bags filled with clubs) from his van to the driving range.

“Hey, I know you,” I called out.

And I did.

At least I remembered him.

Many years ago, he worked for Top-Flite Golf. I introduced myself to him one day while he was stocking the pro shop at another club. I sort of felt sorry for him because not many players were using Top-Flite golf balls. I did because I’ve always been a contrarian.

He gave me a dozen of my favorite golf balls. He told me that his job working for Spalding (which was on the verge of bankruptcy) was very stressful. He was hoping to find another position in the golf business for a more profitable company. The prospects didn’t seem too promising.

As a thank you, I sent him a copy of “Leadership for Leaders,” a book generously passed on to me from one of my mentors (Homer Rice, the book’s author). The book had helped me find my way.

Today he reminded me, “You sent me the book. You’re a teacher, right?”

And I left the golf course later with a brand new Ping hat.

Just finished reading a biography of Walt Disney called, “Walt Disney, An American Original” by Bob Thomas.

Highly recommended.

Here’s one terrific excerpt (I’m paraphrasing):

Walt Disney was afraid he would die before he was “finished.” A fortune teller once told him he’d die at a young age. Upon making it past the time which he considered an “early death,” he told his long-time secretary (and trusted confidant, Hazel), “I’d hate to die and look down and see this studio in disarray.”

To which she replied, “How do you know you won’t be using a periscope?”

“Smart ass,” said Walt in return.

Eat your heart out, Harvey Korman!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/business/27geithner.html?_r=1&hp

I read somewhere that when a plane is in flight, it’s basically off course most of time. But its radar system, knowing its destination, continually makes the proper adjustments to get it back on track and ultimately to where it’s going.

And with us too?

In December of 1994, I was that plane.

In a bookstore, I happened upon “Coaching Football” by Tom Flores and Bob O’Connor. I was going somewhere yet nowhere. In chapter 2, entitled “Why We Play the Game,” there’s a section devoted to an overview of how Homer C. Rice (former Georgia Tech athletic director and college and professional coach) talks about how he went from dirt poverty to those lofty postions. I was intrigued. He discussed the role that football played in his success, how the game taught him to overcome adversity, and how to set goals. I was motivated to reach out to him, so I wrote him a letter.

He responded by sending me a very personal letter and a book that he had written called “The Attitude Technique.” This book became my “radar system” as I, with blind faith, implemented the practices that he used to successfully transform his life. He also mentioned another book which his father had given to him when he was a young boy. That book was called “I Dare You,” by William Danforth (the founder of The Ralston Purina Company). “I Dare You” is about how to live the “Four Square Life” (and if you ever buy any product made by Purina, you’ll notice that the company’s logo is the “four square checkerboard.”) That checkerboard is based on Danforth’s “four square” philosophy for living. After more letter writing to other coaches, I was astonished to discover that many of these same coaches had used Rice’s “Attitude Technique” as part of their team’s overall football program.

Both books and the subsequent correspondence I had with Homer Rice, literally changed my life. Since then, I have purchased multiple copies of “I Dare You” which I give to my students to read on a rotating basis. Every student gets one week to read the book, sign and date it upon completion, and return it to me to pass along to the next pair of students to read.

So “I Dare You.” If not now, when. Remember this: all can, some will, but most won’t. Which group are you in?