Tryouts Tonight!
We had our first round of tryouts tonight and everything went great! One thing I noticed was how well schooled the kids were. We have been blessed with very good coaching across the board and it shows in the mid-range age 8-11 year old players. There were no kids, other than the brand new ones, that weren’t fairly fundamentally sound.
The other part of the equation was that they actually performed those fundamentals properly! This just goes to show that they are learning them and capable of performing them when “in the spotlight”. It is important to make sure they understand they are in the spotlight every time they field a ball be it practice, a game, or in the back yard. Fundamentally sound players will excel more often than not.
Travel practice tomorrow, then final round of tryouts on Thursday!
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Time flies, but does it?
Every day it seems that life goes by faster and faster, but does it really? How often do you take the time to just sit back and reflect on everything that has taken place over the last year? The last 5 years? The last 10 years? It is amazing how much occurs in those short time spans.
Look back over any period of your life a year or more and it is amazing what you have accomplished. We need to remember this, especially in down times like this. Ten years in my life are pretty major. Ten years ago it was 1998. I was five years into my voice/data company and on the verge of huge success!
The .com revolution was about to begin and we were positions perfectly to capitalize on it. It was a wave that we surfed for about 4 years. Those were some good times! I am still paying the tax man to this day because of the boon we had then!
We had a thriving business, a boat, a condo on the lake, a condo in Myrtle Beach, brand new cars, and 50 employees. It truly was a license to print money. But just as fast as the good times came, they came crashing down as well. I was fortunate enough to be based just outside of Washington, DC and the growth there was exponential. But so was the demise.
During the boon times, we would get calls every day begging us to send fiber technicians out at $125/hour. There were not enough workers to meet the demands. People were building and building and we were installing miles and miles of cable and the electronics to support them. Again, it was out of control. All good things must come to an end.
First it was MCI going bankrupt, they set up there headquarters right in our backyard, they were a huge source of business for everyone in the area, then AOL left town. It was not pretty. The subsequent effect caused many businesses to go bankrupt and we were shorted over $200K in receivables. Could we have survived? Probably, but we would have had to completely reinvent the company, there was no longer much need for wiring, everything was going wireless and we were in no position to compete w/ those companies.
I tell this story not to depress you during the times we find ourselves in, nor to pity myself, but to show you how much can change in that short time. Ten years ago I was on the verge of huge success, why can’t I be now? Why can’t you be now? Look back at your life ten years ago, hell, I only had 3 kids and two babies then! Now I have 3 kids playing ball and another that will start next fall!
Now do this, it is truly a great exercise, look back 10 years, see yourself, where you were, what you were wearing, who your friends were, where you were hanging out, what city you lived it, who your girlfriend or wife was, what job did you have? Then take all that change that has happened in the last ten years and project it forward! Do the same exercise.
-See yourself
-Where do you want to be?
-Were will you be hanging out?
-What city will you live in?
-Who will be your girlfriend/wife?
-What job will you have?
-What career path will you take?
The only thing I know for sure is, wherever life takes you, you control that path. You make those decisions. As Yogi says, “When you come to a fork in the road take it”. One of my favorite sayings back in the good old days of my company was, “the only bad decision is no decision”. Failure to act results in no results. Even if we make bad decisions, we still learn from them and that is a positive. If baseball and softball teach of nothing at all, it is that we need not dwell on our failures, but learn from them and make our successes that much better. For a failure only means we are one step closer to success.
Where will you be in 10 years?
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Water Under the Bridge
Two weeks ago we had a major incident in a game that involved a team and a league with which I have very much respect. They are our closest friends, as far as competitive leagues go, and we often help each other out. It was an unfortunate and disturbing situation that could have festered and grown into a long-term feud.
Today we had to play the same team again. Our coaching staff and team made a conscious decision to “let bygones be bygones” and just show up, play our best, and allow the kids to have fun no matter what the circumstances. It seems their team did the same and, even though we lost the game, we had a fantastic time at their park.
Again Ms. Peevie, both teams truly had a choice. I will repeat again what one of my old girlfriends used to say quoting her mother, “If you are looking for trouble, you will find it.” This is so true. I would translate that to this situation as “If you are looking for a fight, you will find it.” Had either team shown up “looking for a fight” they probably would have found it somewhere.
But that’s not what happened. What happened is all the adults involved took the high road and taught the kids on both teams how to put our differences aside, focus on the objective at hand, and just go out there and play the game. This was obvious from the time warm ups started and I am proud to say that I was part of it.
How many times in your life have you had a dispute, argument, disagreement, or outright fight with another person, only to end up being best friends? Why is it that this happens? So often we look to that person next to us and say to ourselves, “How did I ever end up teaming up w/ this guy?” My assistant coach during the spring is a guy I have the utmost respect for, but when we were on different teams we were always at odds. Now together, we are very powerful.
Who was it that said, “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?” So what happens when our enemies become our friends? What human dynamic causes this to occur so often? Passion is an emotion from which we derive so much pleasure, but it is also a major cause of dispute. This is prevalent throughout all societies.
My first Real Estate instructor was the most colorful instructor I ever studied under. He used to take the boring legal parts of the real estate game and paint them with passion so vivid that his students would get lost in the particular dispute he was discussing. He would always end every one with one or the other parties saying, “it’s the principal of the thing.” At this point he suggested we pack our stuff up, walk out of the room, and let the attorneys figure it out since they were the only ones who were going to get paid now anyway.
Coaches are passionate about their teams, parents are passionate about their kids, kids are passionate about the game, this is a recipe for conflict. If we recognize and understand this, we can overcome anything that occurs “on the field.”
I preach to my kids every game, “what is the most important pitch?”. The next one of course. We can’t change the one before it no matter what the outcome. Therefore, if we as the adults put prior “pitches” behind us and focus on “the next pitch”, we are certainly better off. If we hold on to hostilities, no matter how justified, we are simply “looking for trouble”. Do we really want trouble? Is this what we want to teach our kids? Do we tell our kids as they go off to school, “go get in trouble today honey.” Of course not, we say “have a nice day”, or some other semblance of good wishes.
So why do we so often show up at games “looking for trouble”? Don’t we know we are certain to find it? Today anyway, everyone involved decided to put our troubles behind us and let the kids enjoy the game. I am proud to say I was a small part of this situation and know in the future, our relationship with this particular league remains in tact, as it should.
Who is your best friend right now that you fought with initially? Please tell us the story, we would love to hear it!
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Congratulations Michael Phelps!
As a former Washingtonian I am proud to say that I knew of this phenom early in his career. Local sports analysts like George Michael featured him and he was a local star long before the world heard of him four years ago. Now, he is a phenomenon. Absolutely amazing.
Rain, Rain go away! Games in the Little League World Series getting rained out. Pool games are good, but the elimination rounds are nail biting!
First fall registration tomorrow! Time to start all over again! I can’t wait!
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