Chasing Gold & Team Chemistry

It's almost as if you have to feel the pain to fully realize the consequences. You can hear about it You can read about it. You can even preach about it.

Yet unless you endure the pain of underachieving, its a facet of the game as easily forgotten as hitting the cutoff man.

It's called team chemistry. Having it can make a good team great. Not having it can make a talented team awful.

There's little doubt that Canada's Olympic hockey team might be the most talented hockey team ever assembled - but even before heading into the Olympic games the concern among the Team Canada ranks was that only one practice wasn't a whole lot of time to foster chemistry among some players who have never played a single game together.

For Canada those concerns raised their ugly head when the pain of underachieving was attained in Sunday’s stunning 5-3 loss to the Americans in the final game of round-robin play.
The loss forced Candada to play an additional game to advance in the tournament.

In the case of Team Canada, only five skaters and two goalies are back from the 23-man roster at the 2006 Torino Olympics.

The challenge throughout the Olympic tournament has been to quickly get all these players feeling as if they've been teammates for years as opposed to days.

This ESPN article uses Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash as their prime example. As two-thirds of Canada's top line, their history together won't fill a page, let alone a scrapbook:

"We had four days in Calgary [at the summer camp], and that's it," Nash said after Tuesday's rout. "But I think we complement each other's game. Hopefully we get better with each game."

Much like the rest of their team, the Nash-Crosby pairing looked more comfortable as the game went on.

"Just playing together is the only way, that's why you have to make the most out of practice," Crosby said of developing a rapport with his linemates.

How do make up for lost time? You communicate. One could see Nash and Crosby talking to each other constantly on the bench during the game, and apparently even more so in the dressing room.

"In-between periods is big, always trying to figure each other out and ask as many questions as possible," Nash said.

In Tuesday night's 8-2 rout of Germany that punched their ticket to today's quarterfinal showdown against Russia, the Canadians finally found cohesion and consistency. The right mix of playmaking, finish and grit was there all along -- it just took longer than expected for the coaching staff to find it. And to stick with it.

Don't Underestimate Who You Are Or What You're Doing

From time to time I'm fortunate to recieve emails from my former college Coach David Kintas.

The notes are often short and direct - reflections and thoughts intended to provide encouragement and inspiration. It is something that Coach Kintas took time to do before game sessions, and now years later, he continues the tradition through our email conversations.

Competiting at a small private university presented unique obstacles that many coaches at athletes at larger institutions will never confront. From a limited staff to a minimalist budget, it made the job of being a coach and/or athlete all the more challenging. Yet, despite the additional challenges, there was always one thing I appreciated above all else in playing under the tutelage of Coach Kintas: He always took it upon himself to consistently challenge and inspire those of us who played under his guidance.

Now years later, he continues to provide notes of encouragement and inspiration. The words he shared recently were worthy of sharing here:

Do not underestimate who you are, or what you are doing..... "Keep the Faith"... "Action, supported by confidence in preparation, and completed with courage."

Always Room to Evaluate and Improve

It wasn't quite the "Miracle on Ice," but Sunday's USA Olympic hockey victory over Canada - the first such win since 1960 - ranks just a notch or two below it in the country's history in the sport.

Though the U.S. team is comprised entirely of NHL players just like Canada's squad, most observers gave them only an outside chance of making the medal round at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Almost to a man, Team USA is younger and less well-known than its neighbor to the North.

That may be changing after a dramatic 5-3 win over Canada and stellar play by USA goalie Ryan Miller. After Sunday night in vancouver, some regard him as the best goalie in the world.

Now, thanks in large part to Ryan Miller's efforts, Team USA finished the preliminary round as the No. 1 team, edging Sweden on goal differential. The top finish means USA will advance directly to Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

And while it's good to win games, USA goalie Ryan Miller said, the Americans need to keep feeling as if they aren't one of the tournament's top teams. As Team USA Coach Brian Burke insisted Tuesday, Russia, Sweden and Canada haven't yet played their best games.

Ryan Miller's comments after Sunday's victory provide great insight on how there is always time to evaluate and improve, even when things seem to be hitting on all cylinders.

"The confidence, each game it gets a little better, but we have to keep that little bit of paranoia there, too," Miller said. "It's only been three games together and we went through a tight battle with Canada and that should help us grow, but now the games count for more than just bragging rights. It's elimination time."

"We need to evaluate our game, look at it honestly and see what we need to improve on and hold on to some of that excitement and keep building," Miller said.

Always Attack, Hold Nothing Back

There are so many great stories at the Olympics of athletes who overcame injuries and returned to their sports. Sometimes that determination is rewarded with a spot on the podium, sometimes it isn’t.

Enter the story of Norway’s super-G gold medalist Aksel Lund Svindal.

In November 2007, Svindal crashed hard during a training run at Beaver Creek and, to quote his NBC bio, “suffered multiple facial fractures (caused partly by impact with his knees), injuries to his ribs and back and an 8-inch deep laceration in the abdominal region (caused by his ski)."

He was taken to the Vail Valley Medical Center where the skier underwent a four-hour emergency medical procedure. The operation involved opening him up further to ensure that his internal organs had not become infected. He lost more than 30 pounds of muscle mass during the five months it took him to return to the slopes. The next time he skied Beaver Creek, he won.

Now at the Vancouver Olympics it would seem the 27-year-old Svindal is peaking at the right time. He's taken the silver in downhill and the gold in super-G (watch), and he still has the super-combined, giant slalom, and slalom.

``It's been a lot of work getting to where I need to be for winning races,'' Svindal said, "[the] downhill result took the pressure off."

``I felt like it was the last thing I was thinking at the start gate - 'You already have a silver and it can only get better, so enjoy this and give it all you have. Don't hold anything back.'''

Svindal, starting at No. 19, eight places after Miller, trailed the American by 0.30 second at the first time split but made up the difference and had a 0.02 lead at the halfway point. He extended his lead along the bottom half of the course.

The big Norwegian was clocked at 114.8 kph (71.3 mph) at a speed check where Miller went through at 100.9 kph (62.7 mph).

“It was good but it’s hard to talk about perfect,” Svindal said, adding that he felt he had been "chasing the game this season after injury and illness".

“I made one mistake. I heard Bode was leading and Weibrecht was in third and those guys don’t slow down – they go hard. It shows you just have to attack. I’m lucky I already have silver so it can only get better, you just have to have fun, enjoy the race, always attack."

“I prepared well. I’m in top form and am just enjoying it.”

Better, Better, Best

Apolo Ohno is one of the American stars of these Vancouver Olympic Games. A short-track speedskater competing in his third Winter Olympics, Ohno just moved past Eric Heiden as the most decorated American male at the Winter Games.

With more races ahead, Ohno is poised to also pass fellow six-time medalist Bonnie Blair as the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian, male or female. As we watch these Olympic Games and marvel at the accomplishments of these athletes, this story in USA Today reflected on the greatness of Eric Heiden's Olympic moment.

In nine days in February 1980 at Lake Placid, N.Y., Eric Heiden accomplished what no Olympian had ever done -- he won five individual gold medals in a single Olympics, be it Summer or Winter.

At the Lake Placid games Heiden whirred around an outdoor track at the high school along Main Street there, wearing skates two sizes too small, hoping the lighter weight would increase his speed, powering himself with thighs so massive he needed size 38 pants even though his waist measured only 32 inches.

When it was all said and done, Heiden established five Olympic records, including one world mark. The 21-year-old took home more gold from the 1980 Winter Olympics than Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, West Germany, Italy, Canada, Hungary, Japan, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and France combined.

Heiden won everything from the 500 meters to the 10,000 meters in 1980. Perhaps even more impressive, all five gold medals were won in the span of one week.

And unlike Ohno who will compete in every short track event - typical for short-track speedskaters - since Heiden, fewer than 10 skaters have competed in all the long-track distances at an Olympics.

What does Heiden say it takes to achieve such incredible success? "You have to stay really focused, and you have to put a lot of personal goals on the back burner for years and years while you pursue your dream."

Overcoming Distractions

Lindsey Vonn lived up to expectations and won the Olympic downhill Wednesday. The accomplishment came despite a bruised shin that almost took her out of the running and threatened to sideline her Olympic games.

Hurt Feb. 2 during pre-Olympic practice in Austria, Vonn had hardly skied over the past two weeks.

The injury even made her question whether Olympic gold was meant to be...

"...It's been a really tough couple of weeks, pretty much having your Olympic dreams crushed. I felt things weren't going my way, that my whole world was kind of tumbling down. I was really depressed, sad and really just hoping that my Olympic dream was still alive. It definitely wasn't the place I wanted to be."

Yet before Wednesday's race, former U.S. Olympic skier Billy Kidd told FanHouse he could think of no athlete better prepared mentally and physically to block the excruciating pain that accompanies ski boot shin bruises and contusions -- known as "boot bang" to skiers everywhere.

Kidd said Vonn, whom he has known since she was a young racer in Vail, Colo., is accustomed to performing through extreme pain like any elite athlete. Kidd talked about how he has always been impressed with Vonn's focus during her races and he says that ability to block out everything but the run will help her overcome the discomfort she is certain to experience.

"On one hand, it makes it very difficult to perform under pressure, unlike the Super Bowl, where you can make a mistake and you've got two or three hours to make up for that mistake. In ski racing, with that one chance, you make a mistake and it's over – come back in four more years."

"But absolutely, it is a lot of work. With Michael Phelps, swimming back and forth through the pain, or long-distance runners or Mount Everest climbers – all of that is painful. But you push through the pain. Lindsey is just so good at doing that."

Now on this day, she is celebrated for her courage AND her brilliance, for producing under intense pressure, for overcoming pain that lasted three weeks and continued perilously into the downhill -- and for delivering even when so many thought she would fail.

"Americans perform well under pressure," Vonn said. "We're game-day athletes, and we don't hold anything back. I always feel like Americans come out on top. We're free-spirited and really determined people."

Unafraid of Change

After racking up 103 wins and a world championship you might think that Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman would be content to try and keep the same team together in order to make yet anther run.

In fact, the easiest thing to do after winning it all is to keep the gang together for another shot. But that would mean neglecting to address weaknesses while all the other clubs work on theirs.

This article at MLB.Fanhouse.com details many of the changes Cashman has made this off season in an effort to address specific needs. "...You try to keep up with the Joneses. Everybody else got better. So hopefully we tried to keep up with everybody else's improvements."

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi echoed the same sentiment saying once the full squad reports he will tell them to forget about 2009 and resting on any laurels. "The gist of that message," Girardi said Wednesday, "is: It all starts over. You can't rely on what we did lat year. You can pull from your experiences, yes. But it all starts over. Everyone is 0-0 going into April 4. We know what it took to do it last year and we have to work hard like we did and we have to get that feeling back."

The Risk vs Reward Ratio

Snowboarding is a comparatively young sport, debuting at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, that has some of the most daring stunts, among them the Crippler 540 and double cork. James Moeller, the chief doctor for the U.S. Olympic team says, "they're pushing the edge of what they can do. The bigger the trick, the bigger the air, the more risky it appears, the more points they'll score."

Statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission make clear just how dangerous winter sports can be and not just for Olympians: 139,332 Americans were injured while skiing in 2007 and even more, 164,002, got hurt while snowboarding that year. And when looking at all winter-sport injuries, including sledding, snowmobiling and ice skating, 10 percent involved a head injury.

Yahoo!Sports has a great article on the risk factor associated with the snowboarding events that we will watch in the Vancouvor Olympic Games.

Two years ago competition officials made the decision to raise the walls on the halfpipe from 18 to 22 feet gave riders a blank canvas. The way the world’s most famous snowboarder looked at it, the sport could go one or two ways.

One option—admittedly the safer one—was to pack more dizzying spins into a run.

Where some saw danger, Shaun White and his high-flying buddies saw possibility.

Higher walls meant bigger jumps and more air time. Why spin when you could flip and spin?

“With the other direction you’re sacrificing a certain style other snowboarders have in being creative,” said the defending Olympic gold medalist, who will go for a second gold Wednesday night on Cypress Mountain. “It’s cool to see that that’s the direction that we’re going, the creative route and kind of expressing your own strengths of snowboarding.”

Even if that creativity carries considerable risk.

“You get an injury and somebody that goes down and crashes and it just really shocks people,” White said. “I think I can speak for everyone in saying that’s just a part of what we do. We fall, get back up and we try it again. It’s the best part of our sport. You can take a crash and come back and succeed over it and it’s just the best feeling you can have.”

For a video example, here is Shaun White practicing what he calls the "Double McTwist 12"

Believe in Yourself and Realize that You’ve Done the Work

The last time an American man won Olympic figure skating gold, Evan Lysacek was a toddler. That was in 1988 when Brian Boitano edged Canadian Brian Orser in the Battle of the Brians on Orser's home turf in Calgary. Twenty-two years later, the Winter Olympics are back in Canada, and Lysacek, the defending world champion, is seen as the one who can end the U.S. drought.

This article from the NY Times details his akward beginnings and eventual rise to the top of the world standings. Yet now at his second Olympics, Lysacek, 24, is still looking for his first Olympic medal.

At the 2006 Turin Games Lysacek finished fourth, coming back from a 10th-place finish in the short program while battling a stomach virus.

“I remember how I felt at the last Olympics, and this time, I’m not going to have any regrets,” Lysacek said. “Back then, I was overwhelmed by everything, the opening ceremony and the other athletes and just everything about the Olympics. Now, it’s all business.”

This time around when Evan Lysacek begins his bid for gold in the men’s singles figure skating competition Tuesday night, he is more focused and understands what's most important to his chances:

“The biggest thing is going to be the mentality. It is important to know what it involves to be a winner, and my experiences and preparations have equipped me for that.”

“You have to believe in yourself and realize that you’ve done the work; I think about that a lot,” Lysacek said. “I let it all sink in after a practice where no one is cheering, no one is watching. It’s just me in a cold, stinky locker room, all by myself, exhausted.”

A Shot at Redemption

Now 32, American ski legend Bode Miller is preparing for his fourth Olympics.

He is the all-time American leader in World Cup wins with 32. At the 2002 Salt Lake Games he won double silver, but failed to medal four years ago in Turin, leaving Italy as a skiing scourge.

Miller went 0 for 5 at the 2006 Turin Games, a performance that was viewed from the outside as a spectacular failure. Not only did Bode leave Turin without an Olympic medal, he concluded the games with a serious image problem because he was frequently photographed bar-hopping late into the night, hours before he had to race

Yet Miller seems to have entered the Vancouver Games with a renewed attitude after rejoining the U.S. Ski Team in September. He is scheduled to race all five disciplines in Whistler.

"One of the reasons I came back this season, and one of the things that's most important to me about skiing, about my legacy, if I would call it that, that I leave behind, is racing for the pure adrenaline of racing fast. And not getting too tangled up in the results and the outcomes. Obviously, you always want to win, but you want to win by skiing a race that you're proud of."

"I think that's particularly important in the big events, in moments where you're really tested, where everyone has their expectations on you and everyone has their idea of what you should and shouldn't be doing. At that point it's really important to exercise your right as an individual, and the right that you've earned by training your whole life, and execute the plan that you want to do rather than what you think everyone else tells you to do."

Putting Yourself In Their Shoes

The gold medal Mark Johnson won as the leading scorer on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team is sitting somewhere in the computer room of his home in Madison, Wis. "I couldn't tell you exactly where," he said, smiling.

Now 30 years after the Miracle on Ice, Mark Johnson returns to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver playing a different role. This time as coach of the U.S. women's hockey team.

"Coaching is a lot more challenging than being a player, so the experience this time around compared to what I went through 30 years ago is much different and certainly a bigger responsibility on my part." Johnson said.

In LA Times article, Coach Johnson talks about how his prior experiences as a player help him as the coach of this Olympic squad:

"The big thing is I played a long time. I played in a lot of different areas, whether it was the captain of a team, the fourth line of a team, playing for a championship, not making the playoffs. The one thing I think I utilize quite a bit is putting myself in my players' shoes. So where we're at, what type of experience we're going through, I can reflect back on similar situations and say, hey, what's the best thing to do today at practice? Is it to push them? Is it to challenge them? Is it to back off? Is it to make it fun? Is it to enjoy it? That's what you try to do, and hopefully at the end of the day I've become my own coach."

The Importance of Consistent Intensity

On Wednesday night the North Carolina Tar Heels put forth a valiant effort for 30 minutes on their home floor against their rivals from eight miles down the road, Duke.

In the end it wasn't enough as the eighth ranked Duke pulled away in the final minutes to beat North Carolina 64-54.

Even with seven McDonald's All-Americans on the roster North Carolina has now lost four straight after Wednesday night's loss to their arch rival.

For the first 30 minutes it was a hard fought passionate match. When the teams emerged from the 8-minute media timeout, the score was tied at 45 . Of course the problem for the Tar Heels is that it's a 40 minute game. So in the end what was the difference?

A level of consistent intensity. After the game North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said:

"I thought we had the intensity the first 30 minutes that we needed and should have had the whole season. After that... they seemed hungrier to get [to the boards] and we just didn't do a good job of boxing out or chasing the ball."

The Need for Brave Conversations

As I've been working on the blog, I was reminded of an older post on Eric Musselman's blog page about "brave conversation."

In reflecting on a conversation Musselman had with a fellow coaching friend, the topic of "brave conversations" arose. The term referred to the difficult conversations that are sometimes necessary in coaching and in life. It was a post worth noting:

Patrick Lencioni, has written a lot about our fear of conflict. According to Lencioni, "many of us are taught to avoid conflict at work at almost any cost. It's as though one of the unstated goals of doing business is to avoid uncomfortable interpersonal situations.

"The problem is, "avoiding productive conflict leads to two of the most poisonous elements of organizational life: politics and mediocrity. Avoiding constructive conflict around an issue breeds destructive conflict around people."

Lencioni contends that when we don't express our feelings about sticky issues, we tend to "get frustrated and those concerns leak out emotionally." Of course, it takes the kind of brave conversations that my friend was talking about to resolve these issues.

These kinds of conversations can be really uncomfortable, but they're absolutely necessary, whether you're talking about a husband-wife, father-son, or coach-player.Instead of ignoring problems or "elephants in the room," Lencioni believes that "leaders need to mine for conflict. They need to probe for areas of disagreement." In his words:

Conflict is an essential building component of a high-performing organization.
While it can be uncomfortable at times, productive conflict is a competitive
advantage that any team should desire, even if it comes at the expense of a
little temporary interpersonal discomfort.

Be The Athlete You Know How To Be

Like almost every athlete competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics Katie Uhlaender is a tough competitor and incredible athlete.

The difference between Katie and the other Winter Olympians is that she heads into the Vancouver Games on the wake of four knee surgeries since April and her father's death last year.

Wednesday's article in the LA Times, covered her amazing story, the special connection with her father, and the way that relationship still shapes the way she competes even after he passed away:

Even as he was dying of cancer 18 months ago, Ted Uhlaender was coaching his daughter, Katie, on life and on giving the sport of skeleton her all...

The former major league outfielder who played for three teams, "had a Gran Torino way of looking at things, where actions mean more than words," said Katie, 25, referring to the Clint Eastwood movie. "I'm trying to live up to that."

For the longest time, Ted Uhlaender was always there, at Katie's track meets in junior and senior high school in Colorado and as she began working her way into the elite level of skeleton.

He urged her to fight her fears, recalling his own first at-bat in Yankee Stadium, his knees shaking, Mickey Mantle in the outfield, 60,000 spectators in the stands.

"There's only one thing you can do. Hit the ball," he counseled his daughter...

Then in 2008, Ted was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Stem cell transplants and chemotherapy followed.

Katie made plans to quit the U.S. team before the 2008-09 season to care for him, but Ted wouldn't hear of it.

"Why aren't you winning?" Katie said her father asked.

"I miss you. I don't want to be here. You're dying and I want to be with you," Katie said she replied.

"He said, 'You need to get that out of your head and do what you need to do because it's your responsibility as the No. 1 athlete in the country to compete.' "

Her toughness was tested again in April, when Katie shattered her right kneecap in a snowmobile accident. The injury required four surgeries and months of rehabilitation. She was unable to practice the explosive starts needed to compete at the highest level.

Once again she relied on the lesson's taught by her father:

"When I shattered my kneecap it forced me to get my priorities back in order. I think that was my dad's subtle way to give me a two by four to the knee to snap out of it.

"That's what my dad taught me. Never give up. Be the athlete you know how to be and suck it up. So I'm not going to make excuses and I'm not going to complain. I'm going to do the best I can and try to represent my country and my family and do what I know how to do."

The Reward of Bold Decisions

After the Super Bowl, Peter King penned this great article detailing the rebuilding of the Saints franchise.

Going back to the 2006 draft, King shows how Sean Payton and Saints front office rebuilt the New Orleans team with bold, risky decisions which eventually led them to the ultimate prize: A Super Bowl Championship.

"... the Saints, when Payton took over four years ago -- was a team that didn't have a chance. Post-Katrina, we didn't know if the Saints would last another two years...

...They rebuilt a team in a city that was braced to lose it, somehow convincing enough good players and coaches that the team was worth building in such a fluid environment. There's a moral in there for so many teams in so many other cities. Hire smart people. Trust them to make bold decisions. Back them, even when the tide of public opinion rushes against you."

Leadership Involves Taking Risks

Play to win. It is an easy thing to say; the words flow naturally enough. It is a harder thing to do, though — harder and harder as the pages of the NFL calendar turn, and the games get bigger, and the regular season melts into the playoffs, and the playoffs finish in the Super Bowl.

But as they often say, 'fortune favors the bold.'

On Sunday, it was Sean Payton, the coach once stripped of his play-calling duties while he was the Giants’ offensive coordinator, whose game plan kept the ball away from quarterback Peyton Manning and the Colts’ productive offense. At the big game, it was Payton, not Peyton, whose team produced 31 of the final 38 points, matching the biggest deficit overcome in Super Bowl history.

For the New Orleans Saints’ the decision that ultimately turned Super Bowl XLIV in the Saints' favor came before the game even started. Prior to kickoff Sean Payton told the Saints team that they would go for an onside kick in the second or third quarter.

At halftime, with the Saints trailing the Indianapolis Colts 10-6, Payton made the call.

Saints Coach Sean Payton understood that if he wanted to reap the greatest reward, he needed to take some risks.

Statesman.com did a good job of putting the call into perspective:

To call an onside kicks in that situation is to risk disaster — and, worse, in today's world, it is to risk ridicule. There is a reason people go by the book — because, if it all blows up on you, you can shrug and say, "I went by the book."

Sean Payton? He called the onside kick — and it worked. And as he said afterward, "At halftime, I just told those guys, 'You've got to make me look right here.'"

In the end, leadership is the act or bringing about positive change. This requires leaders to initiate, to blaze new trails, to venture into the unknown and unexplored terrain. All of this entails risk. Kouzes and Posner in their bestselling book, “The Leadership Challenge” describes it this way:

“Leaders are pioneers – people who are willing to step out into the unknown.
They are people who are willing to take risks, to innovate and experiment in
order to find new an better ways of doing things.”

Leaders take these risk because they have a vision, they see a future and a new world that inspires action and makes the risk worthwhile. Leaders are pioneers… not settlers. Great leaders take risk. They push past the edge of their current reality. Striving to bring their vision into today.

Sean Payton did just that. He dared to be great - he pushed the envelope because he saw his team as a Champion and took the risks necessary to get them there.

Moving Past Your Frustrations

This morning I came across this story regarding this weekends Ireland v. Italy rugby match in the 2010 Six Nations Championship.

The Six Nations is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. This years competition is currently underway in southwest London.

One year ago the Irish Team won the Emerald Isle its first Grand Slam (beating all other five teams) since 1948. At this year's 2010 Championships they are looking for a repeat crown. Coming into the competition the Irish were the heavy favorites having gone an entire year undefeated.

At the other end of the spectrum was Ireland's first round opponent, a lack luster Italian team simply trying to avoid a fifth wooden spoon in six years.

While the Irish pulled out a victory, local papers reported that the game lacked both inspiration and urgency. After the match Irish coach Declan Kidney discussed the Italians impressive defense and made the following remarks:

"It was a big pressure game and they did play tough. You can run yourself into walls. So we know there are an awful lot of things still to do. There was a small bit of rustiness out there but at the end, we are delighted with the win...

"Are we overly excited with our performance? No. But if you allow yourself to get frustrated every time, you will never be satisfied."

The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running. ~Author unknown

Make Perfection the Goal

On Saturday, Randy Couture became the oldest fighter to win a bout in the UFC. At 46 years young, Couture is a former five-time champion and nothing less than a living legend in his sport.

Out of the 28 professional fights he has under his belt, 16 of them have been championship fights, either at heavyweight or light heavyweight.

Now fighting for the third time in five months, Couture submitted fellow UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, 45, in the second round of their light-heavyweight showdown in the main event of UFC 109 on Saturday night.

After the bout, the former champ noted "I'm having a blast, I feel like I'm improving each and every time I get out here." At the age of 46, Couture claims to be in some of the best conditioned shape of his life and is proving that he can still improve in what be the most physically demanding sport of our day.

Former UCLA Coach John Wooden had a philosophy on conditioning: Improve a little every day and make perfection the goal. His method for improving conditioning included one painful demand -- each player, when reaching the point of exhaustion, was to push himself beyond. When this is done every day, top conditioning will be attained over time.

In order to see what you're capable of, you must be willing to push yourself to the limit and beyond - taking yourself outside of your comfort zone. Like Couture notes, the reward is feeling yourself improve each and every day.

Believing in a process

I was inspired to begin this new venture when I read an old post from the Emuss blog. The post was on Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha on what he values as a coach:

"What you need to do is let these players know what is important to you. Playing good, fundamental baseball is important to me. Going out there and grinding it out every day is important to me. Putting a good day's work in every day and trying to get yourself improved is important to me.

I believe in process. You've got to think what you're going to do every day to get yourself better and go out and follow that process. If you follow that process over the course of the whole year, you're going to see results. You go out and play hard and prepare yourself properly and you're going to get the most out of what you have."

The Purpose...

Despite being a late coming to Eric Musselman's Basketball Notebook, I always found it as a great inspiration. The blog's headline described it as "Notes, observations, and commentary on basketball and coaching."

But it was a great deal more. Through the posting of various articles, stories and reviews, the blog shared items that people from all walks of life might find meaningful, worthy or constructive.

Often times I would spend chunks of time scrolling through the old online posts, searching for bits of insight or motivation to assist me in my own coaching career. Other times I would hunt through the old postings for bits of inspiration to share with others.

Sadly, Coach Musselman is no longer posting to the blog. So this is my version of picking up in the tradition started by Musselman's blog.

No matter what role you play in life - whether you are a player, a coach, a retail manager with 6 sales associates, or a father with children - leadership plays a big part in our lives. Understanding how to get the best out of your team and yourself is crucial for success in many of our endeavors.

It is my hope that you will find inspiration and encouragement in the words on this post as well. At the same time if you find an article or story worthy of note, pass it along so that we might share it with a broader audience.