"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."
-John Wooden
John Wooden would start out each and every pre-season with teaching his player's how to tie their shoes. He said this quote concerning such things as tying shoes. He knew that if his player's did not tie their shoes right they not only would have to retie them, but their focus would be deterred from playing.
During my pre-season at Indiana University Coach Jerry Yeagley would say to us all the time to stop walking barefoot. He said, "Your feet are like surgeons hands, you cannot afford to mess them up with a little piece of glass on the ground". It was so true, but as young adults we thought it was silly. He was right and he taught us many other things along those lines.
Good coaches teach their kids the things they can control. They teach them how to tie their shoes, to not walk around without shoes/sandals, to eat breakfast in the morning, to eat all three meals, to address pain when it arises, to stretch properly, to train hard and then leave everything out on the field, and to be a good team mate.
John Wooden focused on the little details and in doing that his player's controlled the things they could control and the things they could not control they left out on the court everyday. Be a teacher of the game and through your lessons your player's will use those fundamentals of success for not only on the court/pitch/field but in their life after sports.
A coach is a lot like a Father and for some, like in my case, more of a Father than some have ever known.
Oh Maddie girl. When we have a child one day you are going to be so much fun with them. This past April 17th Maddies had her first birthday. We bough her a big rope ball that she found a way to tear up in a day and this big rubber ball that has holes in it. We love the rubber ball because it is easy to grab with our toes or fingers and play with her. But, this is our most favorite thing to watch Maddie do. She loves to get two different toys in her mouth at a time. Specifically a bone and a ball. Watch as she tries to pick up her ball while having the bone in her mouth. She absolutely loves doing this. While she tries to get the ball though she kicks it around like a soccer player. Yes, she is Daddy's girl.
"Trials become a university where we learn early on where to best place our physical, intellectual and spiritual resources."
-Barry C. Black, Chaplain of the United States Senate and former Rear Admiral Chaplain for the Navy, Marines, and Coast.
I love this quote. It is simple, but there is so much to it. Imagine being a chaplain for men who had the potential of dying. What do you tell them that would be encouraging but still relevant to their lives?
I feel the same goes for coaches in a way. You have to balance what to say to your player's that not only motivates and encourages them, but is relevant to what they are going through.
There are things we Must learn through experience. If we constantly tell our player's the answer, then there are certain things that will not stick with them. Also, they will rely on people and coaches to give them the answers all the time. Good coaches know the right coaching moments.
Use trials to encourage growth in your players. They must realize that each trial/problem they come in contact with is a chance to learn. The great part about being a coach, is that a lesson like this will help that player for the rest of their lives. Do not see yourself as just a coach that needs results in a game. Realize that as a coach you are able to and obligated to help teach and grow a person. You can be a catalyst to not only make them a better player, but to build up their character. See yourself as the professor in the university of trials. Not only will your player's be tested on the field, but they will be tested in real life. Take pride when your player's pass tests in games, but take more pride when they make the right decisions off the field and pass those tests.
I encourage coaches to right things down during a game. Then at halftime to go over the points with the assistant coaches. The players not only get a chance to get a breath but you also can take a breath. You can gather your words and the important topics that need to be said and then present them. Another reason this idea works is that it helps to filter out the things that do not need to be said. Sometimes there can be too much information and the player's will not remember it or they will start to zone out.
Encourage growth, but do not let them focus on mistakes too long. Where battles are lost in the mind is when a player thinks about mistakes too long. Help train your player's to learn that lesson and move on and think about what is next.
QOTW: Would you be a dog or cat and why?
I would be a dog. The things that hold me back from being a dog is: rolling in poop or dead things for fun, licking their butts and their man/woman businesses, licking feet (unless it really does taste that good), and well that is all I have for right now.
We just put up more merch on the auction. We put up personally signed jersey's of: Steve Lenhart, Adam Moffat, Eddie Gaven, and Will Hesmer. Now, how many of you out there have a personally signed Will Hesmer jersey? I know I do not. Also, remember those guys have matching shorts out there on the auction that are signed.
We also put up a team signed scarf and a old school Columbus Crew roster poster, from 2004. It has Brian Mcbride's, Brian Maisonneave, Edson buddle, and our coach and then player Robert Warzycha's signatures.
Thank you all so much for your support. I am so excited with how well this is going. Next year I already have the works in to get a Jim Tressel signed ball and other OSU players merch. Also, other guys in the league's jerseys that will be signed.
Check out the auction here: Mission Fish
So, my niece was with me and my wife on Easter. I love asking children questions. So, I started asking her about life and she replied with the cutest answers. Oh, how genuine, innocent, and amazing is a child's mind and love.
The auction is up and running. Check it out here http://bit.ly/9qZ0Sf . Hopefully everyone enjoys the merch on there. This is our first annual auction. We will definitely do it again. The shorts that are up for auction were worn in our championship season 2008 and signed personally by guys. Same as the ball and the book were signed by the championship team. Enjoy and all proceeds are tax deductible and go to a good cause. Check out our new website at www.filleo.org . Also, become a fan of what we are about on facebook http://bit.ly/b3s3P1 . Also, if you want to join our community on http://www.change .org/filleo .
"Confidence comes from not always being right-but not fearing to be wrong."
-Anonymous
I love this quote so much. I always tell kids that,"practice does not make perfect, practice makes you better". We have this false sense of identity placed in our kids that they can achieve perfection. No one can ever achieve that in anything. We will never be perfect in anything we do. But, we can always get better at things. When the kids don't achieve perfection, their self-esteem is hit because they feel either less of a man or less of a woman. Which they are not, they are just human.
I grew up with a very strict coach that encouraged us to be perfect. Many coaches you come into contact with get on every little mistake that is made by their player's. It took a long time before a coach helped me realize that I was only human and that I would make mistakes. He picked me up when I was down and spurned my drive and passion. The more I remember that I will make mistakes and I am only human, helps me to be more focused and alert. Because since I know I can make a mistake at any time, I need to pay close attention to detail and repetition. (Confusing, understand? It truly works and is logical though)
Again, as the Butler men's head basketball coach and I would say; player's must not be afraid to make mistakes. If they are not afraid they will be confident. If they are confident they will keep on trying and trying and trying. Player's will learn and yes you should get on them here and there if the mistake is done over and over. But, cultivating an arena for player's to love playing and going to practice is priceless. I have been with many coaches that make player's feel uneasy when playing, because they are afraid to mess up. You want them to be comfortable and relaxed, but focused at all times.
A good coach understands the balance of when to speak up and when not to. When the coach speaks up it should also help gain confidence in some one. If you spurn their creativity and work ethic they should come out on the right side.
I recently watched the movie, "Glory Road". In this movie the coach is adamant at playing his style with the african american player's. Through the season the player's help him realize that what is holding them back is his fundamental game plan. The one player says to the coach, "Cut us loose coach, cut us loose". The coach says. "Alright you play your game, but play mine also". The player's go out there and play comfortable basketball. They dominate team's all through the year and go on to win their first NCAA Division 1 National title. Why? Those player's went from being scared to play the coaches game, to playing a game plan they were not afraid of making a mistake with.
Remember, everyone comes from different backgrounds. Different game plans meld well with different player's. A good coach finds the talent who can compliment each other. A great coach teaches his game plan to those player's, but creates an environment of not fearing to be wrong...just disliking it...haha.
So, as usual I am writing again about Maddie. I love my dog and think animals are so interesting. I think so much about what they are thinking and why they do the things they do. That is why I love those animation movies like "Up", "How to Train Your Dragon", and many others that portray dogs and what they think and do.
On that note, Maddie recently decided her paw was aggravating her and wanted to put it in it's place. She decided to fight her paws and teach them who the boss is, check it out...
And thank you for those consoling words that my dog is not the only one who rolls in crazy stuff, especially dead snakes (now that is funky and nasty). All of us dog owners now can commiserate with each other. Also, thank you for who ever said that it may be a hunting instinct thing. Makes it that much more funny actually. haha
Question of the Week: What one food would you eat for an entire year on an island if you could choose?
Mine: Avocado, great fatty ingredients and nutrients and it tastes awesome.
Dude, this dog will make me go crazy one day. One question and please someone help me. Why do dogs do that sniff the ground thing and then roll all around in that smell?
So, I was outside enjoying the nice day playing fetch with Maddie today. I was talking to one of my good buddies that I played college ball with. I was giving Maddie the sweet privilege to enjoy nature and run around as freely as she wanted. She is a great dog in listening and not needing a leash. But, I turned my back one sec and there she was sniffing a little dead grass pile. I told Maddie to get her butt over to me, but she was not listening. I knew that she wanted to rub her whole body in something. She sniffs one more time and hits the deck rolling all around in the dead grass pile. I yelled at her stop and after two rolls the damage was done. She had brown all over here. I looked and she was rolling in poop. The smell almost made me throw up.
Now, here is the question, what the flip is going on in a dog's mind when they decide to roll in poop, I mean come on? I will give it a try.
Maddie: oh my gosh, what is that amazing smell? oh my gosh is that another dog's poop. Ohhhhhh that dog's poop smells so good. It must be Brad Pitt bull. I mean I have to have this smell, I adore Brad Pitt bull. I am gonna roll all in it so I can smell like his poop all day and everyday.
Ha, I seriously wonder what the dog's are thinking. I actually wonder this a lot. Whenever Maddie turns her head to the side and stares at you or she slaps her paws on the ground ready to play I wonder what she is saying in her head. It makes me laugh.
Getting back to the story. So, I do not touch Maddie. Thankfully she did not get it on her paws. I coerce her upstairs and next to the bath tub very smoothly. She realizes what is going to happen so I grab her and put her in the tub. I tell her to stay and she does; great dog. For the next 20 minutes I am rubbing the poo out of her curly poodle coat. The best part is when she got all wet, so she had wet poo coat and shook it all over the shower and me. Ugggggghhhhhh.
I am done drying her off and now she is running around the house as if the dogs won some amazing victory over all the cats in the world...I can breathe now. Those with dogs you know what I mean. Those without go and see the movie "How to train your dragon" awesome movie by the way.
So, we are starting the auction next week. We will be holding it on Ebay's non profit auction site called "Mission Fish". This is so fun, haha. I am getting so excited because more and more things are happening with Filleo. This online auction will be held each year and hopefully we will have bigger and better items. For this year we will be having a jersey of mine signed by the whole team, a personally signed jersey of mine, training kit signed by whole team, player's game worn shorts and signed by them, and many more.
We hope to see you all there. All money will go to children in need. Yes, that is 100% will go to children in need. The cool part about it also is that we are holding a Filleo Project in August in Columbus, Ohio and the money from this will partly go towards those kids.
On another note I am chilling here in Columbus. The team flew out to Dallas today and they play tomorrow. Looking forward to our first 2-0 start ever. I just finished season 8 of one of my favorite shows "Smallville". If you think about how much I love talking about super powers and super humans you could get a clue at how much I love Smallville. I mean some people say I look like Clark Kent. Well, to be honest I think I just may say it; hoping that I do.
Maddie is sleeping next to me. This week I am going to endeavour in buzzing Maddie's fur. I picked up a hair clipper yesterday and I am going to try it. I think paying $50 on a haircut for an animal is way too much money. I may not do it that well, but I will do it good enough. If any of you want a cheap haircut for your pups, let me know. We will see how I do with Maddie in a week. Yes, I will put up pics. It may just be one big travesty. Talk to ya soon.
My girl Maddie loves to play so much. When we go to Cinncy to visit family she loves to hang out with our my brother-in-law's dog, Tank. This Yorkie is a character of a dog. Not only does he have huge separation anxiety problems, but when he plays with other dogs he growls like a car engine. I finally videotaped these two playing. The best part is that they are tug-o-warring. Maddie has a big booty so she usually sits back and Tank has to pull her body weight. We call Maddie "Big Booty Judy"...haha. But, it is so funny to see Maddies give up the toy and then not know what to do. She looks at me if it is okay to get after it again and she boxes her way in. She does this left hook when she plays with other dogs that is so fun. So, not only is Maddie a loving, sweet, and loves to play dog, but she is a boxer. Check it out...turn your volume up a little, it is great.
"It’s mostly the comportment of the coach on the sideline that caught Wooden’s eye. Brad Stevens is a calm, collected presence on the bench, a guy who strives for positive interaction with his players and projecting an image of confidence amid the storm."
-In a yahoo article
What an amazing NCAA tournament this has been. I do not think we have seen so many number one teams fall to such lower seeded teams. There have been so many games that I was just in awe with the intensity and how they came down to the wire. Sorry to everyone and how there have been so many bracket busters. But, it has been a pleasure to see Butler beat so many teams and do so well. It has also been very cool to hear and see Brad Stevens coach his Butler Bulldogs. The night before his final four debut against Michigan State he held a fundraiser for coaches against cancer. Brad is just a good guy to put it plainly.
I think it is so cool to see John Wooden come out and say that Brad is someone he reminds himself of. A man that demonstrates positive thinking and encouragement amongst his player's. The coolest part of all is how the player's love him and play so passionately. Those kids buy into his whole system and they do whatever it takes to get the job done. He has had his team out play, out work, and he has out coached all the other teams.
It is cool to see all this happen while he breaks the mold of most basketball coaches in college. Brad sits back says some things here and there, but ultimately just let's his player's play. When stuff happens he positively reinforces the kids and brings back their confidence.
“If you’ve done your job as a coach, you shouldn’t have to jump up and down and work for all that attention,” Wooden said Friday. “If you’re the teacher, the game is the test and you never see teachers running around the classroom during the test. They shouldn’t have to.”
His assistant coach says that he does get into player's , but in a different way, "He’s not above getting after a player on occasion, but even then, “it’s positive reinforcement, just at a little louder decibel,” joked Butler assistant coach Matthew Graves.
Now, as I have said the past two weeks. These are the coaches that player's love playing for and will do anything for. Be this type of coach and not only will you be remembered as a good coach, a success, but a person that is well loved by his team mates for a lifetime.
Question of the Week: If you could have one of your senses magnified ten times then what it already is, what would it be and Why?
Thank you to everyone for the help with Filleo. Very soon, like a week or so, we are doing an online fundraiser. We will be signed jerseys from a bunch of the guys on the Columbus Crew up on e-bay. We will have signed posters also. I need your help to spread the word when I post next week when they are up. The more money we raise, the more money for children in need. Again through us 98% of ALL money coming in will go to children in need. No one on our staff gets paid and we do not have any monthly bills. The other 2% will go towards posters, packaging, postards, etc...
Secondly, I want to thank our newest member of the Filleo team, Greg. We appreciate your support with Filleo. Greg took his shirt to Belize on a recent trip. Greg has been working very hard to help Filleo in his free time. When we either have interns or volunteers we send welcome packages to them. Greg thank you so much for your effort and help.
If you have purchased Filleo shirts in the past send us a picture of you in it. Take the picture in a cool place and we will put it up on the blog no matter if you are an intern/volunteer or not.
We are moving along. I have some great things to announce for Filleo., thanks to www.foxoverdog.com. We are coming out with a whole new and redesigned website for the summer. We should have a homepage up around a week or two. On our website we will have stories of our past projects, a live news feed to stay up to date with Filleo, also what we do.
We have a couple trips coming up. We are having one big project in downtown Columbus the second or third week of August. Then January 7-13, 2011 we are traveling to Monterrey, Mexico for a week long project. We are so excited for both. We are extra excited for Mexico as it will be our first trip out of country. We are filling up spots quick, but if you want to come just email us at jedi@filleo.com. Each person coming will be given all information and send out support letters to raise the money to go. Also, you will receive a fan page of your own on www.change.org where you can raise support very easily.
Change.org is a non profit website for social networking. Join us at the link on the top of the blog and help build our community. As a partner in our community you are able to create your own fan page and raise money for Filleo and help raise awareness. Also, as I said you can raise money for the trips we go on.
We are still accepting a couple more volunteers/interns for this summer of 2010. If you are willing to join the fun email us and we will get the final approval.
Lastly, we will be holding a car washathon this summer to raise awareness and raise money for kiddies. We will have fellow Crew player's helping out and many other volunteers. I will keep everyone up to date for when we will do this. Again email us if you want to help out.
Well, we love you guys and look forward to seeing more of the Filleo community. One Cause. One Love.
