Archive for Sports
Another Good One from Reilly
Posted by: | CommentsRick Reilly writes about the Hueytown (Ala.) High School baseball team and their coach, Rick Patterson. Humbling story that should obviously put sports in their proper perspective.
Simmons on Woods
Posted by: | CommentsI think Bill Simmons is right on about Tiger Woods in his usual forthright style. Regardless of Tiger’s weakness of character, he has a command on the golf course that no one else really has. It is certainly a gift and I would love to see him utilizing it in God’s strength to God’s glory. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy watching him play golf.
Also worth noting are the last few paragraphs of Simmons’ short piece where he talks briefly about athlete’s as role models. Check it out. Though I certainly wish there were more men of character out on the field/course/or court, I agree that it is still good to enjoy watching greatness and teaching your children to enjoy the same.
Rory McIlroy and the Deepest Sports Psychology
Posted by: | CommentsI am guest-blogging over at Vitamin Z this week. This was my post today.
I’m not sure how many of you watched the final round of the Master’s Golf Tournament yesterday, but if you saw any of it you know that the young man who went into the final round with a four shot lead, Rory McIlroy, played some of the worst golf of his life on the last nine holes. When all was said and done, he shot a final round of 80 and lost the tournament by 10 strokes.
In case you don’t know, a final round of 80 is like a round of 100 or 125 for you or I. Or worse, depending upon your golf game. So while I watched him fall apart yesterday I did a few things. First, I prayed that CBS would stop showing his shots live. I couldn’t take much more (thankfully, the Lord answered that prayer rather promptly). Second, I thought about the basics of sports psychology. A few thoughts came to mind.
1) The basics of sports psychology are easy to know and difficult to apply.
2) The basics of sports psychology don’t go deep enough.
I trust no one will be surprised by the first point. After all, no matter what our field of expertise may be, we know that reading about something and gaining a general understanding of something is much different than a full application of what we learn. Experiential embodiment is much different than a basic knowledge of facts or theories. The college student getting straight A’s in Mechanical Engineering is not equal to the 20 year veteran. The young theology student might have his facts straight, but he is not equal to the seasoned pastor who has faithfully applied those theological realities to countless real-life situations throughout the years. Knowledge is good, but it is not enough. And so it is in sports.
Rory McIlroy is 21 years-old. And yesterday he found himself on the biggest stage of professional golf, with the highest of expectations. I could be wrong, but I am almost certain he could explain to you the basic facts and theories of sports psychology. Stay relaxed. Don’t get overly concerned about the result. Get lost in the game. Etc. Etc. But guess what, when push came to shove, he melted. His knowledge might have been right on, but when the heat was on, he was forced to see that he really didn’t know what he knew. He needed more experience. And I, for one, am hoping his experience yesterday serves to make him better the next time.
Regarding point #2, I have to say up front that I have no idea what McIlroy’s beliefs are. And really it doesn’t matter for this point. For as I sat in my living room last night watching McIlroy’s fall, I could not help but reflect upon the inadequacy of normal sports psychology for moments such as the final round of the Master’s. For here you are on the biggest stage, with an opportunity to fulfill your dream of winning a Major Championship, with the hopes of many placed upon you, and the years of work coming to fruition…and you want to relax and be free from the fear of failure and/or free from the absolute need to make the coveted Green Jacket your own?
Come on. You can’t just will yourself into such thinking. Sure, some consistent training and more experience can help. I grant that. But in the end, it’s not enough. In order to really be at your best in those moments, in order to really be free, you have to know Jesus Christ and believe what God says about you when you are in Him. There is just no getting around it. The freedom you want from the need to prove yourself or from the fear of failure can only be found when you really know, deep down in the innermost part of your being, that you do not really need the championship at all. Sure you want it, but you don’t need it. For if you win it, it still doesn’t define you and in the end, it really isn’t about you, but instead, about joyfully honoring the Lord with the gifts and opportunity He has graciously given you.
Of course, to experience the freedom that is positionally your own in Christ, you still have to train. But the good part about this kind of psychology is that this kind of training is the same training prescribed for every single Christian. Believing the gospel is the basic Christian way of life. And though it may not seem so obvious to most, it is, in reality, the deepest and best sports psychology of all.
Still Voting?
Posted by: | CommentsThere has to be some legitimacy to the notion that various media outlets make up stories in order to justify their existence. Though I have followed college basketball for years, I never realized that there was a final poll taken to rank the various teams. Apparently, one coach out of 31 didn’t vote for UCONN for the top spot. And though you might not think this is a big deal, it is a headline on ESPN.com and interviews were necessary.
Is this for real? If it had come out on April 1st, I would have thought is was an April Fool’s joke or something. But no, it is completely legitimate. Which led me to thinking…
1) The Coaches who voted for UCONN were not really thinking through the matter, but are just marking them down, so that they would not have to do any ridiculous interviews with ESPN in order to justify voting for a more worthy team. For if the vote is really for the best team in the nation, did every single coach who voted really believed that UCONN proved themselves to be the best team this season? No way. They were just marking a real formality, which leads me to wonder why there is a vote at all (except that it serves as a news story).?
2) Is it not obvious to everyone that the NCAA tournament does not determine the best team in the nation?
The NBA playoff system usually does lead to determining the year’s best team. Or at least is usually quite close. For when you play best of 5 or best of 7 series, more times than not, you will find out who is really the best team. Opportunities for adjustments are made and the stronger team usually wins out.
But in a ‘one and done’ format like the NCAA tournament, that is by no means the case. Winning the championship does not by any means prove you were the best team in the nation. For oftentimes, in order to win the championship, you don’t even have to beat the best teams in the nation (as I would argue UCONN proved this year). A thousand variables are outside your control. The best team in the nation might get the worse match-up possible for the way they like to play. Or they may have an injury. Or they may just have an off night against an up-start squad that makes 50% of their threes. And they lose without a chance to make an adjustment and prove themselves the stronger team over the course of an extended series.
That is not to take away from UCONN’s accomplishment. To win the National Championship is no easy task and you have to play great to do so. But winning it doesn’t even come close to proving you were the year’s best team. The entire season must be considered in making that decision.
Of course, maybe that is why they have the final vote. Or maybe not. Maybe it is just to make a headline, because they know it will stir up attention and lead knuckleheads like me to blog about it. That being said, I am done commenting on such a non-story…at least for now.
Good for Him
Posted by: | CommentsHead Basketball Coach Shaka Smart chooses to remain at VCU…for now at least. The fact that his new contract apparently pays him over 1 million dollars per year marks yet another example of so-called mid-majors boosting their basketball budget in order to hold onto a solid Head Coach. Brad Stevens at Butler and Mark Few at Gonzaga stand out as the best examples.
Of course, the thing that is most interesting about his decision to remain at VCU is the simple fact that he has decided to remain at VCU. For in doing so, he passed up the opportunity to coach at bigger schools, like NC State (who apparently were very interested in him). Though I am sure his contract has various clauses built into it provided he would want to make that step in the future, it just goes to show that some successful Head Coaches are wising up, recognizing that the grass is not always greener on the other side. A high-level salary at a smaller institution may be more desirable than a little more money and the various headaches and pressures involved with big school expectations and competition. Not to mention, who you recruit and are expected to coach at the smaller schools may be preferred to the recruiting circus many big-time coaches find themselves involved in. And, as you can tell from this year’s NCAA tournament, the talent pool for college coaches to pull from may be a bit wider than most people normally believe.
It will be interesting to see how VCU does the next few years and, particularly if they do very well, if they could hold onto Smart for the length of his new deal. It’s a different sort of era in college basketball. You never know, 15 years from now, we might think it is normal for VCU and Butler to make the Elite Eight or the Final Four. Or maybe not. Only time will tell. I, for one, will certainly be watching.
