12/19/13

Two Sunday’s ago, the message at church was about our comfort zone as humans, and the importance of stepping outside of it. Well, this morning I was reading an article on the Husky athletic website that emphasized that same need. This was in a slightly different context, but reiterates the same message in becoming a successful human. The link to the article is below, which describes Washington basketball’s trip to Tulane and the lessons learned from their teammate, and his family, who lived through Hurricane Katrina.

The part that caught my eye was from a post-game meal that they had at James Carville’s home. While I’m sure they had to put up with Carville rants about politics throughout the night, he did offer some insight from former President Bill Clinton. A young girl, who met Clinton, told him she would one day be the President. His response to her was, “Study hard, and meet as many people as you can who are not like you.” Put so plainly, it finally made sense. It’s not about just meeting other people. Because of our comfort zone, even when forced out to meet and spend time with others, we will gravitate to people similar to ourselves. But rather, it’s about meeting people who are NOT like ourselves. That is what stepping outside our comfort zone is about, and where the biggest impact can be made.

Signing off.

http://www.gohuskies.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209344299&DB_OEM_ID=30200

11/21/13

Gary Pinkel’s success at Missouri can be traced to Don James’ advice | College Sports | The Seattle Times

An enjoyable read.  This is a coach who traveled across the country to speak at Don James' memorial service the day after dropping their first game in OT and in primetime (Nick Saban could only put together a cheesy video message after their cupcake win that kicked off at 9:00am west coast time).  I wish more coaches had this mindset as opposed to hearing how they are underrated.  This is exactly why Sarkisian drives me nuts.  They lose to Stanford, and it falls on the overturned catch-incompletion.  Meanwhile, the game was lost on a kick-off return for a TD, 75 yard reception for TD right before half, and the inability to catch the ball on a key third down.  Once again, Dawgs lose to UCLA, and Sarkisian comes out and talks about the botched flag for "hands to the face" on a TD catch, when they fumbled on their first two possessions.  For as much as Don James was around the Husky football program years after stepping down, I wish his coaching style would've worn off.  Sarkisian needs some help as complaining to the media is not working.  The problem starts and ends with the player's performance, and that falls on the coach and no one else. 

10/27/13

For any coach, a lifelong positive impact on your player's life is all you can ask.  Listening to some of Don James' coaches, assistants, players, friends, and family speak of him today, his impact went far beyond the football field.

09/24/13

As my wife prepares a magnificent dinner tonight, I can't help but remember a past dinner. Kev, my roommate in college and wonderful friend to this day, took it upon himself to make dinner for the entire house. Extremely thoughtful. Well, when things didn't go quite as planned, the Beef Stroganoff came out with a burning garlic flavor unlike any garlic flavor I have ever consumed. And yes, tonight my wife is making beef stroganoff, and I couldn't help but think of that meal Kev prepared a handful of years ago. So this meal tonight, it's to Kev! Signing off.