New France vs Canada

It’s a long way from  the comment by former Gulf War Hero, General Norman Schwarzkopf, who when asked if the US should be worried that France had decided not to participate in the second Gulf War, he said

“Going to war without France is like going to war without a violin”

We may need to re-think that now. Hmm.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/canada-suffers-shocking-shootout-loss-to-france-at-hockey-worlds/article18582916/#dashboard/follows/

 

Baseball Been Very Good to Me

Decided to do some channeling of the baseball player character made famous by Saturday Night Live’s Garrett Morris.

Whenever I head out to the baseball diamond or field to see my son Richie play , I always think back to one of the best coaches I ever had. I must have played a hundredfold more hockey than organized Ball yet it was the learning I gained as a 10 & 11-year-old from my coach that most guides me today in my coaching efforts. He improved us in so many ways — technically as ball players, as competitors, but the thing he did best was the way he made us FEEL. To this day I remember the central tenet of his coaching philosophy which was instilling confidence in us – telling us that we were as good as anyone else.

How else do you explain his success in moving the team forward over two seasons, the first in which we were 1-19, the next which we were 19-1. We won the last game of our first season, and were undefeated until the 18th game of the following season. We learned how to bunt, how to protect the bunt, how to be one ‘play’ ahead…..knowing what to do with the ball before it ever got to us in the field.

Sadly, I don’t remember his name. But I remember him exactly. His signal to bunt was to remove his cap with his left hand and run his right hand over his head like he was sweating. And I will remember what he told us before every game. It’s the same message delivered to SuperBowl winning quarterback Russell Wilson by his dad when he was young.

“Russell, why not you?”

‘These kids put on their uniforms the same way you do. They put their pants and socks and shirts on the same way you do. Our team is as good as they are. We can do it’

“Why not US!” has now become the central theme of many professional sports teams. I guess my teammates I were just lucky to get this message from our coach 40 years ago on a baseball field in Edmonton. I have to thank him for that and hope that in my coaching  career,  some years from now, the kids that I coach, while they may not remember my name, will at the very least know how I made them feel.