Scene 1: We're playing a completely overmatched Eden Prairie team (man, the 4 words overmatched, eden, prairie and team sound so nice together by the way) last Friday. Prior to the game, the other team's coach is giving a speech to the kids about having "fun" (which is code in sports for make sure you smile when you get beat), blah, blah, blah.
Scene 2: Next day we are playing an undefeated team from Minneapolis (note: our Bloomington team is .500). These guys are hitting our best pitcher all over the park, they are running the bases with reckless abandon, delayed double steals, etc all with a comfortable 10 run lead. Blah, blah, blah, blah.
So which is it? Do you preach "let's have fun" or do you preach "beat them until they bleed"? Obviously it is somewhere in between. As a coach in scene 1, we did everything in our power to make the game enjoyable for our kids as well as theirs without running roughshod over them. In scene 2, we did everything in our power to tell the kids.."the best way to stop that play is to defend it" and maintain your dignity while the other team is rubbing your face in it. Plain as day the other team whipped us, we gotta get better.
You guys got any food for thought?
4 comments:
Passolt says (a perfect quandary)...
I heard this story from a mom who coached her daughter's 7th grade girls softball team last year. They were in the championship game and it was the bottom of the 7th (final inning) with them trailing by 1 run. They had two base runners and only one out. As coach she decided to put in a DH in place of a "special needs" girl in an effort to pull out the victory. The DH got a big hit and they won...after the game the father of the special needs player pulled the coaches aside and voiced his disappointment.
To me, having fun was directly related to winning. I dont know where that got lost over the years. Winning means that you are reaping the rewards of your practice and you have executed. It is something to be proud of. I cant remember who said it but the quote goes something like this, "show me a good loser and I will show you a loser". I think the message is that this attitude can get embedded into people and they get indifferent about losing. This is fairly indicative of our society today whether it is business, government, little league, you name it. It's pretty sad.
CMonty
To me the fun was winning. It was the result of practice and execution. But this idea has been lost over the years. Accepting the idea of losing makes you immune to its consequences, which doesn't translate well to adult life and specifically business. And that's where our society sits today. I can't remember who said it but the quote goes something like this, "Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser."
CMonty
Carl,
Agree on all accounts.
I remember just hating to to lose when I was a kid. I (or we in some cases) would practice and grind at whatever it was and just loved the games.
Highlight: We played this team at Martin Luther King, and to this day I can see their coach just working me on the mound...."this kid can't get it over today, he just can't do it" meanwhile my coach just stood there and let me get hammered by this guy...."man, this kid left his stuff at home or somethin"....all the while I'm walking guys en route to my worst performance on the hill ever. I remember going back to practice both at team practice and sandlot just grinding toward the next time we played them. Not only did we beat them, I hit for the cycle, pitched well....and did I let that guy have it after the game as good as an 11 year old Z could.
Lowlight: we grinded all winter long in hockey one year. We won the city, we won our section and made it regions. In the region semi we played Hopkins Lindbergh and beat Dave Snuggerud's team to make it to the region final vs. Mtka. Chorske scored the first goal in the first minute. From that point on the route was on....they scored 12 unanswered and they beat us 16-4 (that was before the "running time" rule).
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