The World Cup

Church on the Ball from CatholicStudio on Vimeo.

The World Cup Starts Today. I thought some general information would help.

This is the 19th World Cup. The first was in Uruguay in 1930. Since then only 7 Countries have won the Cup. 9 victories from Europe and 9 from South America.

Brazil 5  (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Italy 4  (1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006)
Germany 3  (1954, 1974*, 1990)
Argentina 2  (1978*, 1986)
Uruguay 2  (1930*, 1950)
France 1  (1998*)
England 1  (1966*)

List of qualified teams
The following 32 teams qualified for the final tournament.

FAR EAST (5)

• Australia
• Japan
• Korea DPR
• Korea Republic
• New Zealand

AFRICA (6)

• Algeria
• Cameroon
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Ghana
• Nigeria
• South Africa (hosts)

NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA (3)

• Honduras
• Mexico
• United States

SOUTH AMERICA (5)

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• Paraguay
• Uruguay

EUROPE (13)

• Denmark
• England
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Switzerland

Host Nation South Africa

This is the first time the continent of Africa has hosted the World Cup.

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. 

Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory.

South Africa is ethnically diverse. About 79.5% of the South African population is of black African ancestry. There are 11 official languages recognised in the constitution.It also contains the largest European, Indian, and racially mixed communities in Africa. 

25% of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US $1.25 a day. (This equals about 12,500,000 people, approximately the population of Pennsylvania)

Population: 49,320,000 (approximately California and Ohio put together)

Size: 471,000 square miles (approximately the size of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona put together)

The month-long finals are actually the climax of a three-year competition which began in August 2007 when New Caledonia beat Tahiti 1-0. More than 200 FIFA member states -- it's an organization with more members than the United Nations -- have taken part, playing more than 850 qualifying matches.

The World Cup final is the closest thing the planet has to a collective viewing experience. Hundreds of millions will watch the final on July 11, while world governing body FIFA predicts a cumulative audience for the tournament of 26.29 billion viewers.

26.29 billion total viewers - interesting - knowing that the world population has less than 7 billion people.

As of 10 June 2010, the human population of the world is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 6,826,300,000.

http://www.churchontheball.com

Soccer World Cup prayer

Almighty God,
creator of all, as people from
every nation gather with excitement
and enthusiasm for the 2010 World Soccer
Cup may South Africans be good hosts, our
visitors welcomed guests and the players from
every team be blessed with good sportsmanship
and health. May your Spirit of fairness, justice and
peace prevail amongst players and all involved. May
each contribute in his own positive ways to prevent,
control and fight crime and corruption, hooliganism of
any kind and exploitation and abuse, especially of
those most vulnerable. May those far away from
home and those in their families find much joy
in this occasion to celebrate the beautiful
game of soccer and the beautiful
game of life according to Your
plan for the common good
of all. Amen

Win, Lose, Learn

By Randy Traeger

Head Football Coach Oregon

“Winning is a great deodorant. When you win, you smell great and everybody loves you. When you lose, you stink and people don’t want to be around you.”

     So you are probably going to go 0-9 this season? Sure, you are planning on keeping things positive for the kids and you have shined up your “it’s a building season” lines, but is there anything else you can do to ease the pain of a losing season?  Or, are you just going to sit back and become a victim of circumstances when your team is blessed with few players and little athletic talent?  

     Sports is not just about winning and losing.  We need to look at sports from a third angle. Learning.

You can win, you can lose, you can learn.   Let’s explore some ways that you can lose on the scoreboard week in and week out, and still come out winners at the end of the season by “learning”.

1. Educate your players, parents, administrators and fans that you are teaching these young men or women

    about being formed in the fire of affliction.  About how tribulations produce perseverance, and how 

    perseverance produces character. That everything you do this season will be towards the goal of using 

    the impending athletic struggle to build the character of your players.

2. Your team probably isn’t going to get their pictures in the paper for winning a lot of games. There are  

    other ways to get their picture in the paper. How about creating alternative success opportunities in the  

    community rather than on the athletic field ?  How about seeking news worthy “virtue” victories?

   

     a. Take on a really challenging community service or charitable works project. What if you spent more

         time working on the charity project than you did practicing? Heck, you are probably going to get

         butts handed to you on Friday night anyhow, why not spend some time doing some good for people

         instead of wasting time trying to turn a pigs ear into a silk purse!

     b. Have your players focus on doing deliberate acts of virtue and random acts of kindness throughout

         the school, at home, and in the community. Recognize and reward these behaviors by players. 

     c. Focus on your team’s scholastic achievement. Finish in the top ten scholastically in your  

         classification.  Hold study halls, give out weekly academic team awards to players. 

   

     d. Invite teachers to your weekly team awards ceremony and give teachers a small award to going 

         above and beyond the call of duty in helping a player with his academic studies. 

3.  Have coaches set a great example of how to handle losing. How do they act during and after a    

     humiliating loss? Remember, the kids are watching you closely to learn how to handle defeat.

4.  Don’t abandon your core values. Re-visit them often and hold your coaches and players accountable.

     Make sure that player behavior standards are held high, don’t let this slip out of control.

5.  Help your coaches and players control their emotions in the face of defeat.

6.  Stay positive and be energetic. Don’t let losing get you down. Remember, they are watching you.

7.  Adjust your goals. Set realistic game goals than can be met. Reward the team for making these goals.

     (i.e. hold the opponent to under 25 points, give up less than 200 yards rushing, no penalties, etc.)

8.  Take your communication with players, parents, and administrators to an all time high.  The more

     communication the better in a season full of losses.

9.  Use each loss as a learning opportunity. Analyze each defeat to make positive improvements to 

     individual and team play. Seize the teachable moments of each loss and capitalize on them.

10. Remember that with losing seasons, you will have some fair weather players quit. Don’t take this

     personally. Be prepared for it, and re-group quickly.

11. Do more team building outside activities than you normally would. Swimming, bowling, movies, 

      BBQ’s, you name it.  Spend time having fun together. Kids are going to remember bowling night

      10 years from now, more than they are going to remember that 49-0 defeat.

12. Start younger players of equal talent to Seniors. It will pay off in the long run. Yes, this is a political

      bomb, but try and diffuse the explosion by having the Senior mentor that younger player and take him

      on as a legacy to his position. Give the Senior another role and convince him that it is in his best

      interest. 

13. Make practices fun and engaging. Use “Fun Drills” every night to keep things light. 

     Finally, remember that during losing seasons, it is natural for coaches to want to communicate less than usual, retreat into their caves, surround themselves with loved ones, and avoid contact with parents, fans, and administrators. You have got to fight this urge. Don’t retreat, get more aggressive with

those “off the field” victories. You will earn a new level of respect from parents, teachers, fans, and 

administrators and your players will “win” in the long run.

Provoke Resolve, Provoke Life

         Standing at my kitchen counter on a nice spring evening the stunned radio announcer told the local audience that I would be the new head coach over some more “accomplished” candidates. I immediately called out of work for the next day, woke up with little sleep, and pounced the new hallways with a visitor sticker on my shirt.

         As the new head coach at Central Regional High School in Bayville New Jersey I had to be aggressive in getting kids to come out for a program that was the joke of the school, but mind you in just three exhausting step-on-the-toes-of-anyone-in-my-way seasons we would be in the state finals. 

              Brian was a skinny sophomore receiver with spidery arms and legs and loads of athleticism, but his ability to run and catch was suffering under the inhibitions of a severe lack of confidence and indecision about his future as a football player. The last thing that Brian wanted to do was continue to play high school football after a dismal freshman season.

       One day I saw Brian in the back of what I thought was an empty classroom, I waved and he reluctantly waved back, so I poked my head in to see that in the front of the room was the cross country coach recruiting him. The cozy pastels of the woods of the upcoming sophomore fall cross country waltz would fit his comfort zone quite nicely. 

       Brian squirmed when I asked the coach about talking to a football player. The coach told me that he felt that Brian had a future in the sport, so I smiled and politely said “Ok coach, see you soon Brian”. Comfort zones are for boys, not men.

        I approached Brian a day later and told him that I would be his biggest cross country fan ever after he gave football a chance, just until the first scrimmage next fall. He agreed timidly and I doubted him. I had asked him to resolve to at least that, as difficult as it was, and that the difficulty would result in some level of triumph, in fact the degree of the difficulty would be commensurate with the exhilaration, this seemed to intrigue him.

       If there is one major deficiency in our youth today it is a lack of “Resolve”. It is the gas in the tank. Without it no matter how sleek and whatever the potential of a machine or athlete, where there is no fuel, there is no action. “Resolve” is inside all of us.

        As coaches I think we can ALL relate that our athletes live in a culture that is less competitive, is complacent, and is far more likely to lay down excuses and explanations for their “shortcomings” if in fact they are even seen as such.

       The pre-season began with my posting and presenting what would become a great tradition for us over the next thirteen years, the famous hand painted “WE WILL” sign.    The players would tap it every time they walked through the locker room door, in or out. I recall a player driving back to school after remembering that he “forgot” to tap it. The message was that our resolve would “will us” great things. We found it “inside”.

      In our first scrimmage, Brian’s possible farewell to football, I put the young sophomore in at wide receiver against a bunch of stud athletes up in Teaneck, 60 miles away near the New York border. I called for a streak pattern to him and prayed hard. He caught his varsity pass in the end zone. I never had to say another word to him.

      Two years later in his senior all star season, Brian gave us a conference championship with a circus catch that would put us into the state final, one of the best football games in the history of the state.

       He is the track coach at Monmouth University now. He gave me a T-shirt recently. On the back in bold letters it says “WE WILL”. He is living a life of resolve. He is living.

By Dan Duddy

Head Football Coach NJ

Courageous Synopsis

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect.

As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their partners are confident and focused. They willingly stand up to the worst the world can offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.

While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they're quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark.

They know that God desires to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, but their children are beginning to drift further and further away from them. Will they be able to find a way to serve and protect those that are most dear to them?

When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children?

Courageous is the fourth release of Sherwood Pictures, the moviemaking ministry of Sherwood Church in Albany, Georgia. Their first release since FIREPROOF, the No. 1 independent film of 2008, Courageous joins Facing the Giants and Flywheel in touching and impacting lives through heartfelt stories of faith and hope.

Moviegoers will again find themselves crying, laughing, and cheering—sometimes simultaneously—as they are inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children.

Protecting the streets is second nature to these law enforcement officers. Raising their children? That will take courage.

Courageous ... honor begins at home. IN THEATERS 2011


http://www.courageousthemovie.com/index.php

John Wooden - What Made him Unique?

To: The Sportsleader family

From: Steve Frommeyer – Principal and Head Football Coach at Eminence High School

John Wooden passed away this week at the age of 99! He was a tremendous coach and an even greater human being. I heard him speak on the campus of EKU when I was in college, and I still remember his pyramid to success. He certainly epitomized what Sportsleader is all about!

As I listened to all the heartfelt testimonials on ESPN from many of his former players and colleagues, I was struck with conflicting emotions. At the same time, I was both inspired by what everyone said and also somewhat depressed. 

Inspired because of the huge impact he made on so many people’s lives and also somewhat depressed by the thought that there really are not many other coaches that have reached the level he achieved. 

What made him unique - the 10 national championships or the man that he was? Was it the unique combination of the two? 

I contend that there are many other great human beings in the big time coaching ranks. However, unfortunately few have achieved at the professional and personal level that John Wooden achieved. 

He is arguably the greatest coach of all-time but would we have known about him had he not won 10 national titles? His life and coaching is worth taking another look! 

Virtue Camp with Eastern Hancock

Last week we hosted our first team virtue camp of the summer - Eastern Hancock HS Football. They are a 1A high school from Indiana and they returned from having had their first experience of Virtue Camp last year.

Virtue Camp is a mixture of team building, physical challenge, mental challenge, bonfire and goal setting with some good ole fashioned fun. I think every team at every level should do this. It is an experience your players and coaches will never forget.

EH brought 32 players, 6 coaches and 4 Dads - many of the coaches and dads are former EH players.

What we did different this year was they brought 9 leaders early, 7 seniors and 2 juniors, so they could be more involved in making this virtue camp their own. It was outstanding. What impressive young men!

Another interesting element to their camp was they brought 3 new graduate assistant coaches. The transformation these men went through was inspiring and you could tell that the current players were hanging on their every word whenever they addressed the team.

Here is a video of them answering one of the questions about perseverance.



Do you have former players involved in your program? You should.

If you would like more info on virtue camp - let me know

The Art of Sacrifice

SportsLeader has a new season of virtues that is ready to go - SEASON II - Sacrifice, Respect and Perseverance. This is a great introduction.

More to come. Attached is a photo of our new commitment card.

From: http://www.beat-the-streets.org/blog/post/show/id/274-The-Art-of-Sacrifice-by-Jim-Gruenwald

By Jim Gruenwald - a 2x US Olympian in Grego-Roman Wrestling and is the Head Wrestling Coach at Wheaton College

The concept in the title is most times associated with Chess. The stereotypical image of two nerdy looking individuals intently studying a board or a couple of old-timers enjoying a casual game in the park may come to mind. Not that I have anything against chess, for I enjoy the game/competition and value the lessons it can teach many wrestlers. Furthermore, I have many times referred to wrestling as a chess match where one’s pulse is between 180 – 210 bpm. Strategy, tempo, anticipation, and more importantly, for this article, sacrifice is an immensely valuable concept that every wrestler needs as a part of his repertoire of skills. 

        
With that said the idea of sacrifice is that at some point in the chess game a player sacrifices a piece for greater gain and potential victory of the match. What is the application to wrestling?  The sacrifice of parts of our personal life for the potential of greater gain or possible Olympic Gold in our wrestling careers must be weighed. The question is what are you willing to sacrifice in your life to become a better wrestler? Please note, I said better wrestler.  I am making no promises of greatness or victory. Sacrifice, like many other aspects of the sport, cannot guarantee greatness. Flexibility, strength, technique, conditioning, etc. can make you a better wrestler but will not make you a great wrestler. 

The difference being that the sacrifice requires you to lose some part of your personal life whereas the other qualities offer measurable or tangible benefits. If I stretch, I get more flexible and am less likely to become injured and will be stronger over a greater range of motion. If I lift weights, I become more powerful. If I train more intensely and push for longer periods of time, my conditioning improves.   If I take what coaches demonstrate and make the technique my own, my skills improve. But again, none of this guarantees greatness. So why do it? The answer is obvious, because if I get better, and combine it with certain inner qualities such as an iron will, I have a chance at greatness – at that Olympic or World Gold - to be the best. Despite the loss rather than gain, the same is true for sacrifice.

At this point let me preface the remainder of the article by clarifying intent. It is not my intent to give a lesson in morality. This is a lesson in human physiology which includes understanding the body and the mind. After observing the habits and choices of many wrestlers over the last 30 years, I have noticed that more often than not what we do outside of training and competition inhibits or disqualifies our ability to maximize our potential. I am not about to list all sacrifices, negative effects, or positive replacements, part of getting better is self correcting, being a self-learner, and knowing your own body. So role the ugliness - What are you suggesting we give up? 

Sacrifice #1: Junk Food. Refined sugars and processed foods are low in nutritive content, and high in empty calories. A few of the negative effects include a suppressed immune system, inhibited vitamin and mineral absorption, and a decreased ability to recover from training or competition. Each person is unique, so find high quality foods and beverages that will build your machine. Learn not only what to eat and drink, but when and how.

Sacrifice #2: Late night movies, gaming, or partying. Staying up late and suffering from sleep deprivation prevents recovery. Athletes require 8-10 for optimum body revitalization. Cheat sleep and you cheat your body's ability to recover. This can affect the way you think, your mood, and your ability to train at best levels. Poor sleep affects agility and coordination negatively. Poor sleep can also depress body's ability to fight and recover from sickness. Poor sleep habits also contribute to weight abnormalities. Get to bed early, just because you can operate on 6 hours or less of sleep does not mean you will be operating at your best.

Sacrifice #3: The Buzz or High. ‘Recreational’ drug use is illegal and drinking is illegal depending on your age. I am not opposed to a person sitting down and having a beer or glass of wine to relax, but as an athlete getting to the point of a buzz means you have replaced necessary fluids in your body with alcohol. This state inhibits your ability to recover, provides empty calories, and does not do much for other decision making processes. I am not going to provide a list of athletes who have self-destructed and wasted talent or missed opportunities, but I have observed this from high school to the Elite level. 

Sacrifice #4: Bad Relationships. Who we associate with affects our outlook. Surround yourself with people who have an entitlement attitude, are negative, irresponsible, undisciplined, etc. and you will most likely adopt those same qualities to varying degrees. Surround yourself with self-correcting, motivated, responsible, disciplined individuals, etc and you will most likely develop those qualities. Evaluate all relationships, dating, family, friends, teammate, coaches, etc. to determine how they are influencing your attitude and career. 

Granted, we have all heard the stories of the occasional superstar who has been able to win despite a less than disciplined training regimen or lifestyle choices. Most of them are freakishly gifted, and even they suffer the consequences at times. However, for most of us, we have to do everything as near to perfect as possible to achieve the ultimate goal. Most of us have to scratch and claw our way to the top, so trying to emulate a lifestyle that is adopted by a genetic superstar is counterproductive at best and is a first class ticket to failure at worst.

When I speak to groups I often encourage them to evaluate decisions on how it will affect them and those they represent. Ask the questions, Will it make me a better person, friend, son or daughter, employee, spouse, student, athlete? In the end the correct choice is ours to make. What is the value of an Olympic Gold Medal, or the value to even have a chance at one? What are you willing to sacrifice? In the end, is making any of the suggested changes a sacrifice at all or just a smart move? 

A real sacrifice is leaving wife and kids, family and friends, missing class and having to make up work so you can travel for a tournament or training camp. A real sacrifice is going into debt or redoing a budget to pay for one more wrestling trip to get in extra competition. A real sacrifice is staying for the entire USAW training camp regime rather than leaving early or coming late to make extra money at other camps.   Giving up junk, late nights, binges, and bad relationships is hardly a sacrifice. There is pain in sacrifice, but pain fades on the podium.

ESPNU, Ricky Williams and Fatherhood

"Then all the assemby shouted loudly and blessed God, who saves those who hope in him." Daniel 13: 60


I was watching ESPNU the other night and saw a documentary on Ricky Williams the NFL running back.  Evidently it's a documentary by ESPN called Run, Ricky, Run and a primary theme is Ricky's life growing up.  When Ricky was a young boy, his father was charged with some sort of abuse towards Ricky.  The program went into depth about the incident and growing up and his mother, etc...  It was very interesting to say the least.  I am sure many of you are familiar with the trials and tribulations of Ricky Williams but I checked on Wikipedia and was amazed with the twists and turns of his life.  I suggest you find the documentary or read up on Ricky Williams, I think his life is a tragic example of a poor upbringing.

At one point in the interview Ricky says, "Somewhere in the Bible it says that in every thousand fathers there is one good one."  I'm no Bible expert, but I don't remember this in the Bible(supposedly Ricky Williams is a Hindu, currently.)  Evidently, Ricky was trying to rationalize why he got such a bad father, I don't know.  What I do know, is if we only have 1 good father out of 1000 we are in a heap of trouble!  I wrote last week about how we are trying to father fatherless boys at Winton Woods.  How we are called to father our own children but to father other fatherless boys as well.  I guess the question that comes to mind is how do you do this?  What makes a good father?  What makes a great father?  What makes a father that is a hero to his children?  Because that is the father I want to be.

First of all, let me point out that I am no expert on fatherhood.  These are just some observations and thoughts.  Feel free to disagree or add.  Secondly, I can never be so proud to think I can raise a child all by myself.  A village raises a child(a topic reserved for another blog), a community of men raises a boy, God intervenes, mothers and aunts and grandmothers have a primary role.  But a father must play a vital role, period.

1.  A man/father must possess self-control and be able to teach his son self control.  I hope none of us have experienced what Ricky Williams experienced growing up from his father.  How sinister and tragic rolled into one!  But in all aspects we are called to be able to control our appetities, whether it's over-eating, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, pornography, sleeping in until noon, over working, whatever.  We must be able to say no.  Your example is vital!  But your example is not enough, because there are so many examples not demonstrating self-control(999 bad fathers!)  You must instruct and mentor your boy in the ways of self-control.  When your son plays video games for 5 hours straight, take the time to instruct him.  This behavior is dangerous!  Treat it as a teaching moment, grow closer through the experience and look for improvement in the days and weeks to come.

2.  A man/father loves and treats with respect his son's mother.  Whether you are still married to your son's mother( I can only hope and pray that woman is your wife.) or you've seperated; for your own good, for that woman's good, for your son's good and for countless other young women's good treat his mother RIGHT.  The two of you made a child, God intervened and created a miracle through the two of you.  Yet, this incredible thing is treated as trivial.  That is wrong.  Husbands you should show your son you love your wife.  Let him know that you are in love with her.  Treat her like a queen, show him how to treat girls that he likes.  We live in a society where women are used and valued on what they look like, not for their true beauty.  YOU have a chance to change that.  And if you aren't with your son's mother, you still can treat her right. You can treat her with respect, you can talk to your boy about the mistakes and problems that led to the end of his parents relationship, you can guide him so the same doesn't happen to him.  You can still love his mother although you are no longer together.  What an example to give to your son.  What humility!

3.  A father rewards and disciplines with consequences.  So many of my boys do things without thinking....just like I did when I was their age.  But I had a dad that always gave consequences.  Did I do more stupid behavior?  Of course!  But I always knew right from wrong and that if caught, I'd be in trouble.  So many of my kids do things wrong and don't get punished.  Or so many adult's punishment is to say, "don't do that again or else"  in a loud voice.  And that's it!  Or worse still, they ignore the behavior!? Wow!  Be ready for misbehavior by boys, people, but be strong enough to give and follow through on a punishment.  And the same for rewards, celebrate great behavior!

4.  A father gives quality and quantity time with his children.  Be there for your kids, get to know them, let them know you, do things together.  This is quality time.  But also, make kids your priority, be around, give them access to you.  There is way to much ME time for dads.  Once your child was born, your life changed.  You have a mission and it is not, to watch TV doing nothing, hanging out with other dads/men doing nothing, surfing the web doing nothing, getting a facebook page(are you serious?!) doing nothing, talking how great you were when you were that age......doing nothing.  Invest, invest, invest!

5.  A father gets help from God our Father.  The greatest legacy my father gave me was not his size 16 feet, not his love for history, not his strictness(2 hours of homework every night in high school), not his trying to cook(took at least 10 tries to make homemade pizza well), not his love of his wife and family, not his attempts at physical fitness(golf and bike riding to SVSU)....it was his love of God.  Dad taught me that loving God was central in your life.  Trying to love everybody and being good was the goal. Trying to do things right because it was the right thing to do was the goal.  And whenever there were troubles..... to turn to God, because He created you and He always takes care of you.  Be a man of God, men.  Pray and ask for help and your prayers will be answered.  Give God and chance to save you.  If you do, I promise you'll be happy you did.  Correct that, that's not quite right; If you do, I promise you and your children will be happy you did.   I know I am.

Go Father the fatherless this week!

Coach Willertz
Winton Woods Wrestling: "Our toughest matches are not on the wrestling mat!  Because wrestling is not just a sport, it's a life!"

"Failure" is Purposeful

By Fritz Knapp

Lacrosse Coach Virginia and Author of "The Book of Sports Virtues"

Appreciation:  “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”

Sports require an expenditure of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual energy. Those who participate in sports appropriate these energies and their God-given talents to the highest degree possible. Many times even their best effort doesn’t produce great results. The measure of true greatness, in sport as in other important life activities, is how adeptly one views the outcome through the lens of long-term perspective: what did I learn, how did my effort impact others, and in the heat of the battle, did I keep my wits and provide leadership to my teammates?

The bulk of my life since age 25 has been a wild ride of raising children (three boys), multiple career changes, overwhelming joy in the familial sense, but more than a mild psychological discomfort eventually diagnosed in my early 30’s as chronic depression. Battling this inherited condition on all fronts, but most importantly through prayer, has required more energy of my loving and patient wife, sons, and me than at times any of us thought we had to fathom. Failure, though evident at times in my career, was not an option when it came to personal and familial sanity. On more than one occasion, I realize now, I was on the brink of losing everything God had so graciously given me. Faith, family and a few close friends lovingly sustained me through those darkest moments.

It’s important to remember that “failure” is purposeful. Inner strength, not just the outpouring of physical energy, is required to keep going in the face of disappointment and heartache. Taking stock of the greatest gifts in life is necessary at all times, but most importantly when the chips are down. I do this daily in an “appreciation prayer” every morning. I give thanks for all life’s blessings, especially the ones I might otherwise overlook: health, family and my students. It keeps me focused on the awesome goodness of God, and helps me keep the frustrations that arise every single day in proper perspective.

Groundball Bacon, Approach-Angle Asparagus: Duke Lacrosse National Champs

When teams win - there is always more beneath the surface ... Virtue.

Lighter, looser Blue Devils avenge three straight Final Four losses

John Jiloty May 31st, 20102

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2010/05/31/lighter-looser-blue-devils-avenge-three-straight-final-four-losses

The bus ride home from this year’s ACC Tournament at College Park, Md., was a productive one for Duke. Fresh off a disappointing 16-12 loss to Virginia, a group of Blue Devil seniors got together to talk and plant the seeds for their playoff run.

With two weeks before their last regular-season game (May 9 against Sacred Heart), the seniors knew that stretch would define their postseason. The next week, fifth-year senior Mike Catalino, who has dealt with a host of hip and knee injuries so bad that he nearly didn’t return to the team this year, basically looked like Rudy Ruettiger in practice — flying around and going so hard he actually had to sit one day out to recover.

That carried over to his message to the Devils the night before the Sacred Heart game, when every player got up in front of the team to speak about what needed to happen the rest of the way for Duke to be successful. Catalino went more big-picture with his speech than the players that spoke before him.

“I said ‘Tonight I’m going to sleep like a champion and tomorrow I’m going to wake up like a champion, and eat breakfast like a champion, and dress like a champion,’” he said. “We needed to take that same motto to everything we do, we do it like a champion. Excellence in being, not excellence in doing. We said that every single improvement over the next two weeks needed to be physical and mental.”

Duke blew out Sacred Heart 19-7 the next day, before getting a difficult — but apropos — draw in the NCAA Tournament, which ultimately set them up to avenge losses to Johns Hopkins (2008 NCAA Final, ’09 NCAA Semifinal), North Carolina (March 10), Virginia (April 23) and Notre Dame (11-7) and erase the doubts many lacrosse fans had in the Devils’ ability to win it all.

This year’s group of fifth-year seniors (Catalino, Tom Clute, Ned Crotty, Jon Livadas, Sam Payton, Steve Schoeffel and Dan Theodoridis) has undergone an amazingly mercurial ride at Duke. They went through the shortened season and false rape allegations in 2006, the coaching transition to John Danowski from Mike Pressler, the offensive transition from Matt Danowski and Zack Greer to Ned Crotty and Max Quinzani and the disappointment of losing in three straight Final Fours.

They also went through a brutal 2-3 start to 2010 after coming into the season as the favorite to win it all. Payton said Sunday that part of that was the Devils bought into the hype and didn’t fully realize the hard work that needed to go into a championship season. That was a big theme in May after the ACC Tournament, when the team really came together.

Duke was playing good lacrosse down the stretch, but it also didn’t come into the NCAA Tournament with the hype, or pressure, of the previous three years. As a result, most players say they played looser and lighter.

On the field after Duke’s overtime win in the NCAA Final Monday, Danowski said the main difference this year was that the team was more focused, with less distractions, than in the previous three championship weekends. The first two years were wrought with “emotional baggage” that proved unmanageable. And last year, Danowski said the team was “in awe of being there,” since they didn’t expect to make it.

This year, they were the No. 5 seed. And even the fifth-year issue got lost amid all the focus on Virginia and the death of Yeardley Love.

“I’m so happy for Duke Lacrosse. This doesn’t happen overnight,” Danowski said. “Sometimes you have to lose first. These guys have enjoyed the ride and enjoyed each other.”

A perfect example is the team menu announcements that became tradition late this season. Catalino said it started with him sending a random text message to Parker McKee that he was eating “groundball bacon”; from there Danowski picked it up and had Catalino do it before all team meals, including the all-important pregame lunch before the championship.

Catalino said he’s been running out of material lately, so he stayed up late Sunday night after consulting with the waitress on the menu. Ultimately, the Devils dined Monday on a feast that included “catch-and-shoot fruit”, “approach-angle asparagus”, “championship chicken”, “shoot-to-score spaghetti” and “groundball garlic bread”.   

Not sure what was on the menu for dinner Monday night, but it's safe to say the Devils ate like champions.

The Buried Life

By Randy Traeger

Head Football Coach Oregon

One of my favorite sayings is that as coaches and leaders, we must “Pierce the World’s Veil of Fear and Speak to the Soul of every Man”.  This saying speaks to the fact that we believe most men and women of our post modern relative, technology driven society, have constructed elaborate barriers to protect and hide their souls from others. We wear masks and disguise our true nature from each other. We live in fear and these disguises help hide our fear. 

These barriers make ministering to young souls very difficult.  You could easily spend all your time dancing on the surface and never getting down to the buried life. You have got to pierce the world’s veil of fear and get to the soul. Our relative society has gotten pretty good at dressing things up and we usually go around placating each other. I’m okay…your okay.  We shine each others windows and walk away feeling pretty good about ourselves, but in reality, it’s just a joke. What’s inside the store never gets attended to.

So what do we coaches do about it? First, we get skilled at piercing the worlds veil of fear.  The old coaches axiom holds true here.  The kids don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.  Talk to them, person to person, face to face with great empathy. Ask questions and then shut up and listen. Really listen. 

Find out what they like, what they don’t like. We are not talking about a lot of time here, maybe 10 minutes. Get a great sense for when something is bugging them and give them the opportunity to talk about it. Open the door, let them walk through it.  What kind of music do you like? What songs? How is your family? Do you have any brothers and sisters? How many? What ages? Who are your buddies? What are your favorite subjects in school? What are your least favorite subjects? Getting to know them helps break down those barriers. Simply by keeping the door open you can tear holes in that veil of fear. Love rips off whole bolts. 

 Finally, The Buried Life also hits home with me on a personal level. Having gone through my own personal crisis of limitations and glimpsing my own finality, I have discovered that when it comes to dealing with other adults, I really don’t have time to play emotional or egotistical shell games with them.  I don’t want to talk to their “mask”, I want to talk to their “soul”. I want to communicate with their “buried” “hidden” self, the real person behind that charade. 

Coaches, we only have a short time left to snatch young souls back from the devil. I say, leave the small talk for someone else. Let’s minister to the “Buried Lives” of our players.

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Excerpts from “The Buried Life” by Matt Arnold (1852)

Light flows our war of mocking words, and yet, behold, with tears mine eyes are wet! I feel a nameless sadness o'er me roll. Yes, yes, we know that we can jest, we know, we know that we can smile! But there's a something in this breast, to which thy light words bring no rest, and thy gay smiles no anodyne. Give me thy hand, and hush awhile, and turn those limpid eyes on mine, and let me read there thy inmost soul.

I knew the mass of men concealed. Their thoughts, for fear that if revealed, they would by other men be met with blank indifference, or with blame reproved; I knew they lived and moved tricked in disguises, alien to the rest of men, and alien to themselves--and yet the same heart beats in every human breast!

Fate, which foresaw how frivolous a baby man would be-- By what distractions he would be possessed, how he would pour himself in every strife, and well-nigh change his own identity--That it might keep from his capricious play.

But often, in the world's most crowded streets, But often, in the din of strife, There rises an unspeakable desire
after the knowledge of our buried life; A thirst to spend our fire and restless force in tracking out our true, original course; a longing to inquire into the mystery of this heart which beats so wild, so deep in us--to know
whence our lives come and where they go. And many a man in his own breast then delves, but deep enough, alas! None ever mines.

And we have been on many thousand lines, and we have shown, on each, spirit and power; but hardly have we, for one little hour, been on our own line, have we been ourselves--hardly had skill to utter one of all the nameless feelings that course through our breast, but they course on for ever unexpressed. And long we try in vain to speak and act our hidden self, and what we say and do.

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Ahead of his time, Matt Arnold’s poem richly conveys the feelings behind the false satisfactions of the technological and living standard preeminence of the modern United States. We suffer from an anxious sense of something lost, a sense of being displaced persons in a society where our human members are alien to one another due to technological advances which have been exploited too quickly for the adaptive powers of our human psyche. We have lost each other.  Our kids have a better relationship with their electronic devices than they do with each other. They hide behind their text messages, emails, face book pages, I Pods, and websites. Using modern technology, they have created even stronger more elaborate barriers to each others souls than their parents.