2007 Reflection

As we look back on last year, I would like to thank my friends and clients who have made this year so special. What started as a dream in 2003 finally culminated this year as the business is now my ONLY full-time job (prior to August 2006 I had multiple full-time jobs! Yes, it's possible!).

My family and I moved into our second home, and first one in the Charleston area. Our house in Irmo sold three years to the date from when we bought it, and after our apartment lease ran out, we purchased our beautiful home here in Goose Creek.

Our son started school last year, and is a typical five-year old male: he's scatterbrained, he doesn't pay attention to detail, and all he thinks about is playing. Oh yeah, he's pretty smart too and loves to read, and seems to be artistically inclined. No telling what he is going to be when he grows up, as his interests change on what seems like a weekly basis.

My father died in 2007. It wasn't like we didn't see it coming, but nothing really prepared me to see my father's lifeless body in a hospital bed or in the casket. I can see it clearer today than I did back in July ... at the time everything was like a movie to which I was half-paying attention. I dream about my dad in those circumstances, and I seriously wish I could have just one dream where we're playing catch with ball and gloves or going fishing down at Pete Smith's pond or just sitting in the living room watching The Dukes of Hazzard (the show; yes, I'm that old to remember it new). I never wish for my dad to come back; why would I want him to return to a body that had heart disease, total kidney failure, smoke-damaged lungs, high blood pressure, near-total blindness, and leukemia? But I sure want to go to where he is. I want to "shed the sins and sorrows I have carried all these years." (Brad Paisley, When I Get Where I'm Going) As my body ages and starts to wear out, Heaven is a sweeter and sweeter reality. Eternal fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ... and all the ones who accepted the Lord and preceded me in death ... in addition to all the things that a new, perfect body will bring. And there are a lot of things I have to do before I go -- but you know, I really don't have to do them.

Rain and sunshine in 2007. More of both predicted for 2008. I'll try to do a better job of keeping the blogosphere informed as it happens instead of putting it all in one batch in my January 2009 posting. :)

This post was originally begun the day after Christmas on my notebook in a hotel room with a spotty wireless network. I ended up getting a few autosaves, but never got to post. It probably seems weird to do a "Year in Review" piece halfway into January, but I like to finish what I start.

Winning and Losing

Someone has surely written a book on the subject of the psychology behind winning and losing. One day I intend to find that book and read it. Today I want to talk from personal experience.

I like to win, but I hate losing.

I did not say "I love to win and hate to lose". Love and hate can come in varying degrees, but without any other quantifier, you'd place love and hate at opposite ends of the spectrum, or as counteracting forces. Like vs. Hate is no contest. Hate overwhelms Like in a hurry. Only Love can combat Hate on an equal footing.

Maybe every coach feels this way, or maybe it's just me. I think the idea initially came to mind after hearing an excerpt of a speech from some top college b-ball coach among the caliber of Kryzyzewski, Knight, Pitino et al. It wasn't Wooden or Dean Smith, but I can't put my finger on who it was. Regardless, the unidentified coach shared the sentiment. A loss is a lower valley than a win is a pinnacle.

I suppose one coach in each division of basketball feels differently: the national champion, state champion, conference champion ... that coach that wins the final game of his postseason, the game at the end of the schedule where no further possibility of advancement exists. Once you win that big one, you hit the pinnacle. But you don't live there. If you continue to coach, you will lose again, and you'll be back in the cycle.

This creates the existentialist's question: why do it if it ultimately leads to more sorrow than joy? For me, the answer is that I love the game. Yes, love. I love to see players develop. I love to see joy in their faces after a hard-fought two-point win like we had last night, or after the overtime win last Friday night.

And ultimately, I end up caring for the players. As the season starts, I see players as chess pieces that, once aligned in the proper position and each using her skills and strengths at a high level of proficiency, give us an excellent chance of being successful. Then you see what motivates them, what makes them cry, what makes them fail, and you realize you're working with more than machines: these are carbon-based life forms that believe, and feel, and fatigue, and make mistakes, and sometimes perform better than you knew possible. And then you care for them as people. And ultimately, one day you can count these players among those that call you a friend.

But enough with all that: right now I see a team that is finding its identity and that is getting better in every practice and every game. I'm starting to think about a run in the state playoffs. And dare I say that the possibility of that pinnacle described above--winning the final game for which a team is eligible to play, a state title in this context--is becoming something that I'm willing to believe in.

Tonight, we took a step toward that pinnacle with a tough road win over what could be the toughest competition we'll see short of a state semifinal game. I've seen the other two contenders in our region play, and I think we can take them. We must now play without letdowns and continue to improve on ... what am I doing with all this coaching talk in here?!? I should save it for the locker room!

Champions Again!

"One for the thumb" could almost be the rally cry for the Adams State University women's cross country program after winning its fifth straight national championship. I say almost because none of the harriers would actually own five team championship rings, as they would have exhausted their eligibility after four seasons. It's entirely possible that one of them obtained a medical hardship waiver (AKA redshirt) and was still awarded a ring ... ahh, you know what I'm getting at!!! Not only did these Grizzlies run away with (pun intended) another title, their male counterparts finished tied for second nationally. These runners certainly are in "rare air" up there at 7,000+ feet above sea level.

The Sunshine State Conference calls itself the conference of national champions, and it can add one more notch to the belt after last Saturday night. The team doing the notching was the University of Tampa women's soccer program. Congratulations Spartans! It is with somewhat mixed feelings that I offer praise, because Tampa did knock off Columbus State, another client, in the Elite Eight during its championship run.

On the men's side of the draw, Midwestern State University dropped its national semifinal game to Franklin Pierce in penalty kicks. Praise is still in order for the Mustangs who were ranked as high as #7 nationally during the regular season.

After winning last year's national crown, Tampa volleyball will have to settle for an Elite Eight appearance this year. The Spartan netters fell to Washburn in the quarterfinal and finished the year ranked #4 by the AVCA.

Two national titles, one runner-up, one semifinal appearance, and two quarterfinal appearances by ATHLETICSITE.COM client schools. Not too shabby at all. :)