Syracuse basketball and the Zen

I want to write about the Syracuse Orangemen’s loss to Dayton last night. This really is not about the loss, but the journey that led to the loss. Although he has won far more games than me at the college level, here it comes from me, a small time college hockey coach taking umbrage with the great hall of fame coach Jim Boeheim and his teaching and modeling of young men.

First I want to say that college coaching is 80% recruiting. I believe that if Lew Alcindor had not decided to travel 3,000 miles across the country to play at UCLA, we probably would not have heard of John Wooden, and that would have been a shame, as he taught and modeled way more than he coached.

Secondly, I want to write this blog because many high school and youth coaches see what these coaches do at the collegiate and pro level and try to emulate them, in all sports. The amount of problems it creates on and off the field, court, or rink, far outweighs and single victory or championship.

 I repeat the following mantra over and over everywhere I speak. There is no correlation to what Division 1 and Professional coaches do, how they do it, and why they do, to any high school and youth sports coach.

Now for the part that really explains what we are all about at Frozen Shorts. Back in the fall Syracuse traveled to Canada to play some meaningless games. As you know by now, I am not a believer in playing off season, or the new term, “non-traditional season” in your chosen sport. I believe, and we have the scientific data to back this up, that athletes perform better when they are given time off from their sport. Well, while watching one game, I noticed that they substituted very little, even when they were up a bunch.

Now I ask you why would anyone practice hard year round knowing they would not get a chance to play. The mantra that “they know their role is simply false.

They are athletes, they want to compete.

Now I am not saying that this practice was in any way invented by Syracuse or is exclusive to them. Gosh, it surely is not. But what I have seen, after watching well over 300 hundred youth and high school games, is that this practice is being imitated and repeated by these youth and high school coaches to the detriment of the players on the team. No one gets better sitting on the bench.

Of course the more you play one kid over another in a meaningless or important game, the better the one kid will get, and the less the other will want to play. You can argue that one kid doesn’t deserve to play for various reasons but since kids don’t develop full y until 23,24, 25, how do you know who is going to be the best unless you keep giving chances to all.

When you go buy a car don’t you go to a, lot with a lot of cars not just a few? Exclusion over inclusion is the new norm. There is a benefit to a few at the expanse of many and we talk to kids and parents every day who have bad experiences to tell us.

But my last comment is about the ZEN. After the Duke game the Syracuse coach joked about his on court antics. He had a chance to tell every youth and high school coach in the country that they shouldn’t do what he did, because they will never be in that situation. But he didn’t.  Im not saying that this was the only reason, but………..

What was their record after that?

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

A while back Bill Clinton said on national television: “it all depends on what your definition of is, is.” Fast forward to 2014 and I am now hearing “It all depends on what your definition of fun is.” A simple definition of fun is enjoyment or pleasure. Jeez, just about every kid in America knows what is fun and how to have fun. But what is behind this desire to redefine a word that most everyone uses on a weekly basis to describe an enjoyable activity?

The last two times I heard people question what the word fun means, they were both making money off of families by providing a service for children that was adult orientated. One was to get kids to go to a personal trainer, and the other was to promote a program that stresses structure. They wanted children to redefine fun so that they could provide a new service that describes fun as a goal orientated adult supervised activity.

 They now say because a child is doing an activity year round and they enjoy doing it, the fun they are having can have side effects that include, overuse injuries, fatigue, frustration, rehabilitation, and of course and end game financial result.

 In the never ending “ I must keep up with the other guy or fall behind” ( in a race that does not exist) people are being led down a path in youth and high school sports that is not supported by science, psychology, or data. The idea that you must play a sport year round to get good at it, must involve some kind of sacrifice, therefore to justify that new mantra fun must be redefined to fit that criteria.

 Fun has been and always will be to me, something that brings a smile to my face and fond memories later when recalled. When I watch children free play on a playground or just horsing around with their friends in a pickup game, I am struck by how free they are in their play. Without a coach or parent yelling at them they are having a great time.

 Children learn to share, they enjoy being active, and they learn and grow all on their own. They are having fun. The joy of having fun puts them in a place where they are free to try new things and not have to worry about getting yelled at if they fail or make a mistake. Just play on.

 There is no control and therefore a need for self importance by adults in what is supposed to be learning and growing experience of joy and pleasure for children.  Having fun and playing is an integral part of being a child. When you take it away, or try to redefine it for personal gain, there are consequences and we see these consequences every day a Frozen Shorts.

Maybe that is the real reason behind the desire to redefine a word that children and adults know so well. As an adult, if I dictate what fun is, I can then justify the control and entitlement issues without feeling guilty.