What Does Whitney Houston Teach Us?
Whitney Houston (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)
What does Whitney Houston Teach Us?
I have been trying to relate Whitney Houston’s passing to something a Little League Coach can apply to a life’s lesson. Of course there is the obvious, treasure every moment, stay away from drugs, love unconditionally as often as when we can, but all of you know I like to delve deeper into an issue than the issue typically warrants. I know, it is a horrible character flaw, but I can’t make it stop.
This one for me is fairly easy. I am on my 5th time through little league and have 22 years experience coaching kids. Every time I feel I have lost my way I look only to my oldest Justin, currently 27 years young. What Whitney teaches us is that in the big scheme of things, none of this really matters! Do you really care if your kids strikes out or hits a home run? If you do, other than how it hurts to see him/her in pain, then you should get your priorities straight.
20 years from now they won’t remember what they did. They are only learning character traits from you. What kind of kids do you want? How do you want them to act? What character are you developing in your children? Are you teaching them to cower in the face of adversity or are you teaching them that when life gets tough, the tough get going? Do you teach them that when things aren’t exactly as you like, you move on to the next best thing? Are you teaching them that dedication, loyalty, and commitment go much further in life than chasing the next great thing? Or are you teaching them that they should always be chasing greener pastures when the ones they have are actually quite ripe with successes!
Ironically, I read today a facebook post from an associate who gave great detail about her “death”. Today six years ago was the day she “died”. But she didn’t die. She was hit by a car going 45mph and didn’t even break a bone! She dedicated herself to making the world a better place. In her post, she states “Through my journey I have found myself, I’m aware of the issues that plague our society and what I as an individual and a leader can do about them. Every breath I take, I can feel”.
“Every breath I take, I can feel”. WOW! So I repeat, does it really matter if Johnny strikes out or hits a home run? Does it matter if Jane walks or scores on a squeeze? A friend of mine the other day texted me, “sorry about that, sometimes I take this stuff to seriously”. Hey, I am not saying you shouldn’t be disciplined, focused, and teaching life lessons daily in your routines. Remember though, you won’t remember if your child won or lost the game, but he/she will be forever shaped by how you react to it.
“and in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love, you make.“
Related articles
- Whitney Houston Dies at 48 (popsugar.com)
- Remembering Whitney Houston With a Look Back at Her Life in Pictures (popsugar.com)
Carve Your Own Path
So, I am sitting in the parking lot after practice tonight and up pulls a kid in a little white car. I hear, “is that Mr. McBride”. After confirming my presence, a proud voice announces, “thought you would like to know that a DeBary Little League Alum just got an offer for a scholarship today”. Upon further investigation, I learned that the scholarship was from a quality mid-major school in South Florida and the scout had seen him play this last weekend in a tournament game.
He went on to tell me that he chose not to play high school baseball this year because he felt he had a better opportunity playing on a showcase tournament team than on a high school team. I don’t know, don’t really care either way, that is an argument for another time not fit for an article really, but more a four-hour debate at Mickey Finns.
What did I take from this interaction? First, the kid sought me out because he was PROUD of what he had accomplished. Second, the kid was only a junior! Third, he carved out his own path. He has no idea if he will accept this offer or if he will pursue other offers, but he knows whatever he does, it will be done on his terms, not on anyone else’s! We should all learn a life lesson from this young man!
Every day I hear “you have to do this to get on the high school team” or “you have to do that to get into college” or “you have to play on this team to get onto high school” or “if you don’t play on that team you don’t have a chance to do this or that or the other”. Know what they all are? EXCUSES!
Ever hear from someone who didn’t make a team? Those with egos that don’t allow them to be responsible for their own failures usually say something along the lines of “you have to be friends with him or her to get on the team” or “you have to have played on this team to be on that team”. All wrong. Hell, there are people in our league who say the only way to get on the DeBary Little League All-Star team is to play on the DeBary Dynamite, our tournament team! Nonsense! You really think that the coaches of the all-star, high school, or college team care who or where you played before? They want the nine best players they can get! Period! End of story!
Now, you don’t have to agree with their choices. That is the great armchair debate, but don’t tell me you have to play somewhere to end up on a particular team. That is nonsense! All-star coaches aren’t even paid, so you are going to tell me that a paid high school or college coach cares about anything other than your skills? Their job is on the line! You think they are not going to teach you how to play the game the way they want the game played? One thing any good coach knows is give him an athlete and he will teach him how to play the game. So pick a coach you think will teach you the most where you enjoy playing and stick with that team!
If you want to play high school, play high school. If you want to play tournaments, play tournaments. If you want to play college, figure out how to get in front of the coaches. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do, do what you want! Nobody can be responsible for you but YOU! Why be miserable somewhere else when you can have fun playing where you want to and STILL get to where you want to go!
So from now on, don’t tell me you have to take a certain path to success. Figure out where you want to go, figure out how you will get there, then execute your plan flawlessly! Don’t let others intimidate or bully you, do it YOUR WAY. As Frank Sinatra said, “I did it mmmmmyyyyyyyy wayyyyyyyyy”.
Related articles
- In All Likelihood, Your Kid Is Not Going To Be The Next Tim Tebow Or Cliff Lee (outsidethebeltway.com)
- Here Are The Odds That Your Kid Becomes A Professional Athlete (Hint: They’re Small) (businessinsider.com)
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The Wizards
The Wizardsof the field never cease to amaze me. The original Wizard, back flipp
The Original Wizard
ing Ozzie Smith, was amazing. Always where he was supposed to be, always finding a way to make a play, always being in the right place at the right time, earning him the moniker of “The Wizard”.
I see this every day in youth sports as well and it is something impossible to understand. Why do some kids just “get it” and react and know what they are supposed to do, while others take longer to develop the same skills? If there was a way to identify “The Wizards” in advance, it would be a great asset, but you never know, they just appear.
Some are just blessed with God given instincts I supposed, while others must work and work and work just to get to the same level as “The Wizards”. This is something we may never understand, but boy, how sweet is it to sit back and watch a Wizard perform?
My Best Memories of 2011
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Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Michael’s Home Run – The kid stands maybe 4’ on a ladder! (that’s an exaggeration but you get it) but what he lacks in stature, he makes up for with heart, hard work, and dedication. He has a near perfect swing and had a perfect hit, OVER THE FENCE home run! A memory of a lifetime.
- The look on Jake’s Face – He subbed in as a courtesy runner for the pitcher, the game was tied, top of the 8th I believe, 2nd inning of a Texas Tie breaker. He has come so far in his base running that the guy we didn’t want on the bases was now the guy we went to when we needed a runner! Fly to center, perfect tag, score, they carried him off the field. What was on his face was WAYYYY beyond a smile!
- The intentional Walk – Blake’s chance to shine!
- Our girls growing into leaders – When it came time to step up and block, take their game to the next level, or face a tough situation head on, they stepped up and made us proud!
- The Sectional Championship Game – One of the greatest games ever. 6 traditional double plays on a 60’ field and both teams leaving it all on the field.
- Spring Break Slam and Fallout Slam Softball Tournaments – that we hosted. I have to admit, mostly a blur, but OMG they were some of the best tournaments we ever played in!
- Finally getting to coach w/ Coach Sarah! – Need I say more? She is the bestest!
- “What in the world are you guys doing?” spoken in the best 50 year old southern slang by the cop on 17/92 at 2:30AM as we were plastering the town with registration signs all over the city.
Merry Christmas
It’s that time of year when we all gather with family and enjoy that unique bond that family provides. It is strange how it works, we don’t see each other for months, yet seem to pick right up where things left off. We have similar bonds, but nothing as strong as family. Teams bond, when we see our teammates years later there is definitely a special something that exists between teammates, coaches, and manager. Best friends bond as well, some for life, but blood is forever.
We drive hours to be with family. Fly across the country to get together for just a few days and create rituals repeated year after year. It’s funny how they change though. Little by little every year the rituals evolve, people move, superfluous stuff gets in the way, and stubbornness permeates our ego.
Family bonds are forever, so make sure to tell EVERYONE in your family, Merry Christmas.
MERRY CHRISTMAS MCBRIDE CLAN!
Five Things That Annoyed Me This Year
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Image by nathalie booth via Flickr
Quitters – If you commit to a team, you are there until the duration of your commitment is over. There are NO exceptions to this rule. Anything less is unacceptable because if you quit once, you are a quitter for life.
- People who don’t know the rules but act like they do – Why do people who have never opened a rulebook in their entire life feel the need to embarrass themselves publically by getting rules wrong? Even worse, they get mad when the umpire rules against them and accuse those of us who have taken the time to learn the rules of being cheaters! Nuff said.
- Guest Players – I could write a whole article on this one, but the bottom line is, be part of a team or go play an individual sport like golf. If you are in it for yourself, eventually, you will find yourself all alone. If you are committed to a team, then the team will be committed to you. Of course, a manager who brings a “guest player” on simply to win and sits one of their own players who has been committed to the team the whole time is even worse. Manager’s check your ego’s at the door.
- Gossip – A + B = D???? Yeah, in the world of gossip that’s how it works. The great part of this game is the slow pace at which it moves, that also lends itself to lots and lots of conversations. Of course, nobody really knows anything, but everyone thinks they know everything! This is where my favorite line is “keep your blinders on and stay focused on the objective at hand”. This usually leaves those running their traps in the dust!
- People who don’t step up – It is amazing how many complain yet don’t step up. In the words of the late great John Lennon, “there are no problems, only solutions”. You are part of one, you get to pick which.
Five Things That Delighted Me This Year
- Heartfelt Thank Yous – Let’s face it, humble heartfelt gratitude is what makes doing this so great!
- Being surrounded by great people – One of the great things about life is our inability to be successful without being in the company of amazing people. I am blessed in every aspect of my life to be surrounded by remarkable human beings. To them I give a heartfelt THANK YOU!
- Smiling Faces – If I said it once, I said it 100 times. Nothing tops the smile on a kid’s face when they have accomplished something they worked so hard to achieve! Nothing!
- Loyal and Courageous kids who kicked adversity’s butt! – You have two choices when things get tough, cut and run, or pull up your bootstraps and start swingin’! When a kid chooses hard work and dedication over giving up, they become our role models.
- Positive Role Model Parents – You know, it’s always the ones that you on the surface appear rough, that turn out to be the best!
Related articles
- The Littleleaguecoach.com’s Person of the Year is YOU (thelittleleaguecoach.com)
- ‘Whatever’ Is The Most Annoying Word Of The Year! (997now.radio.com)
- How do you talk to that girl without annoying her (wiki.answers.com)
The Littleleaguecoach.com’s Person of the Year is YOU
Ok, so maybe I’m getting old, but the Time Person of the Year
Image via Wikipedia
is “The Protester”? I get it and all, the protester has overturned many Governments this year and we are fast on our way to world freedom and open market exchange, blah, blah, blah, blah, but that’s BORING! Sooooooo, I decided to create my own LittleLeagueCoach.com person of the year award!
THE LITTLE LEAGUE COACH’S PERSON OF THE YEAR IS…………………………………………..YOU!!!!
Yeah, that’s right, you! You reading this right now. You the parent who rushes around after school, zips through McDonalds and picks up a happy mean, flies to the park to make it just in time for practice. You, who sits there hour upon hour at practice as your child refines their skills and learns the value of hard work and dedication knowing that when you get home an hour of homework looks you in the face. You, who is there to provide a high-five after a great victory and a hug after a tough defeat. You, who keeps everything in perspective and knows that in the end, none of this really matters in the big scheme of things even though it feels like it is the most important thing on the planet at the time. You, who year after year after year, never complains, never moans, never whines about the little things, but keeps your child focused on the overall objective, loyalty, character, and courage. You, who remains positive in the face of adversity and finds solace in the little things that are the reasons everyone is here. You, who makes sure your child knows the manager is an authority figure and is to always command respect, even when you don’t agree with him. You, the parent, who is always there for the ones that matter the most.
Is this you?
If so, then, THANK YOU for being every Little League Coach’s Person of the Year!
His Shot at Glory
Image via Wikipedia
My article about intentional walks has received quite a few comments, mostly complaints. However, I defend my position to this day, and the story I am about to tell about my player’s day of glory would never have happened had his brother not received an intentional walk.
First, let me set the scenario. The player in question was not entirely happy with me last year. Yeah, I know that’s hard to believe, but it happens occasionally 
. However, this year, his brother joined our team. His brother is a seasoned veteran, our clean up hitter, multiple home run hitter, and always in the spotlight. His brother, along w/ my own son, lead the team in strike outs last year.
Nevertheless, neither my son, nor this player, let that dissuade them. They both worked hard to make themselves better. In fact, in the game prior, my son was on 3rd, this player was on 2nd, and they had both just brought in the go ahead and inevitable winning runs. I told them straight up, “how cool is this, you have both gone from leading the team in strike outs to driving in the go ahead runs”. Those who know or play for me know you are always going to get the hard truth out of my mouth, how you deal with it is up to you.
Now for the moment of glory. This is long, but it is well worth the read. Our team was more or less and expansion team last year. We had 8 10-year olds and 4 12-year olds. We only won 3 games all season yet it was one of the most positive experiences in which I have ever been involved. The last game of our season we were scheduled to play a team who was 1 game out of first place and trying to force a play off. They still had to play the team they were trailing and needed to beat us during the week and them on Saturday. We caught them looking past our young team with only 2 victories at the time and defeated them to knock them out of the championship for good. To us, it was the world series and a perfect ending to our season.
This year, almost the same scenario unfolds. The only difference, our last game is against this same team. They must defeat us to have a chance to force a playoff game for the championship. We are better this year with a record over .500 as 11-year olds but they are all also much better as well. In fact, they had already beat us 3 times before this year. They certainly were not looking past us this time though, they respected us and knew we were capable of beating them even though overall they were the better team.
In the first inning, they jump out to a 2-0 lead on a great home run on a great pitch. One where you simply have to “tip your cap” to the hitter because he drove a great knee high pitch over the fence. Later in the game, the same batter came up with runners on second and third with two outs. We chose to pitch around him because he was pretty well protected. Once the count was 3-1, we just went ahead and walked him. He took his base without complaint, the manager and coaches of the other team understood, and the next batter came up. He ripped a 2-run single past 2nd base and scored 2 more runs. We were down 4-0 and it didn’t look good.
Somehow during the course of the game we scratched out a run, so going into the top of the 6th inning, the score was 4-1. The outlook was bleak. Our chance at a championship had ended many weeks before, so our ultimate objective was to get all of our kids as many at-bats and innings in the field as possible for the rest of the season. This meant we were batting the entire line up. Of course, we were on the 11th and 12th hitters as the baseball Gods would dictate in this situation.
We went into safety-first take a pitch mode. The first batter drew a great walk laying off some very tough pitches. The second batter, who has been struggling all year, hits into a fielders choice. Top of the order, 1 out! We got a chance! Leadoff batter walks in 4 straight pitches as you would expect from a lead-off hitter. The next batter, battles, and battles, and battles, fouling off 4 pitches before he rips one over the left fielder’s head. 4-3, tying run on 2nd, winning run up to bat. The next batter does his job with a ground out to 2nd advancing the tying run to 3rd. 2 outs, tying run on 3rd, winning run at the plate.
Who comes up? Of course, our stud clean up batter. Mr. Clutch. We got this thing right? He’s gonna jack a homer and put us up like he always does, or at least knock the runner in, he is Mr. Clutch leading our team in every offensive category there is! But no, the opposing coach calls time and walks out to talk to the pitcher. I didn’t hear this, but the batter comes over to me dejected and says “man, they are going to intentionally walk me”. Immediately, I say, “great”, much to his surprise. I go on to explain that the baseball Gods will be angry and will make them pay for this move. You NEVER put the winning run on base with an intentional walk, and this will make them pay!
They successfully walk him, he sprints past first, onto 2nd and we have 2nd and 3rd, two outs, down by 1. Now who steps into the batters box but the stud’s little brother! Yeah, the same guy who lead our team in strike outs had hit his way into the 5 spot on our team. An RBI position! It was time for his moment of glory!
First, had they not walked his brother, it is very likely he would have gotten a hit and tied the game, maybe a home run, and the family would have gone home happy celebrating his success, again, it would have been a great night. However, because they walked his older brother, his younger brother was given a shot to deliver a hit he will remember for the rest of his life. Something he will talk about forever, something that molded his very character and proved through true grit, determination, and hard work he could succeed against all odds. All because of the intentional walk! If he fails, no biggie, just another out, but what transpired was magical, to use my best friend Sarah’s terminology.
The kid steps up to bat, two outs, tying run on 3rd, go ahead run on 2nd, he looks down for his signal and I see something in his eye I have never seen from him before. Determination. There is little doubt in my mind he is about to hit the ball, it is time for his moment of glory. First pitch, a spinner in the dirt, “oh no” he swung at it! Strike one. Not a great start. He scowls and looks down again, I remind him that it’s moments like this that we play the game for, just hit the ball, but be smart, the pitcher is a little wild. The next 3 pitches, balls that he lays off of! Ones over his head that he would have swung at last year, this year he is more disciplined and lets them pass. 3-1 count, he is right where he wants to be. Foul ball, straight back, he is right on this! He has this!
He looks back at me with fury in his eyes! Slams his bat on the plate, gets right on top of the plate, refusing to strike out, just like we teach him. Just put something in play and good things happen we say a million times if not once. The pitcher winds and delivers a pitch on the outside corner, just where he is looking, he swings, contact, hard contact, a screaming ground ball by the 2nd baseman and into the gap between right field and center field. Two runs in, us in the lead and the cheers out of control! We follow that up with a couple more hits and his brother, the stud, finishes them off on the mound.
This is a moment that I will remember the rest of my life. It is a moment that his parents will cherish forever. It’s a time when he stole the spotlight from his brother who stands a foot taller and a time he will remember for the rest of his life. It was truly his, MOMENT OF GLORY! It would have been a shame for the other manager to STEAL HIS MOMENT OF GLORY by pitching to his brother instead of intentionally walking him. How can you possibly make the argument against the intentional walk? What follows brings memories that last a lifetime, without it, its just another stud with another game winning hit.
Related articles
- The Intentional Walk ….. And “Walk’r” the Chicken! (garlicfriesandbaseball.wordpress.com)
Get off Your Butts and Help
Image via Wikipedia
So our little guys had a minor machine pitch game today against a very good team. About half way through the game, I looked up and saw that the coach of the other team was operating the pitching machine, shagging the missed balls, running his batters, policing the dugout, and running the kids in the field. I asked him, “where is all your help?” figuring he was missing a few coaches. His reply, “I’m it”.
So I looked into his stands and there sat about 20 or so parents doing nothing. Could they not see he could use a hand? It was obvious to me. Maybe he is not the kind to ask for help, but if you are sitting there and a coach looks like he needs help, he does! Just ask, he or she will say, “sure, can you ……..”.
Even if you don’t know what you are doing, simply shagging the missed balls and getting them back to the machine would have been a great help to this coach, anyone could have done that. He obviously was a major benefit for their kids as they played very well. Why not repay the favor he is doing your children by giving him a hand?
By the way, at the end of the game, he packed up all his gear, cleaned up the trash after their kids, broke down the pitching machine and put it away, and carried all his gear to his car. Should we be surprised?
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