50/50...

 

Back home!

Where did the week go?  Time just seems to keep passing faster and faster.  Perhaps a sign of getting older or something.  In any case, we are back in NY.  Certainly nice to rest in my own bed and see my family.  Not to mention a nice serving of porridge at matrix this morning. 

We concluded the trip with a 3-1 record.  Not a shabby start considering the competition and the adjustment to the out of doors.  We were able to sweep #33 Flagler 9-0 on Thursday.  It is never easy to win 9-0 but we actually needed to.  If you want to be among the best in the country, you must win in impressive fashion and not let dangerous teams hang around and sneak points out here and there.  The good news is that our scores were perhaps even more impressive vs. Flagler than some of the teams that are ranked ahead of us by the ITA.  We will get our chance later in the season to play some of these teams and we simply must cash in these opportunities to move up.

Friday was a big one for us.  We played #1 Armstrong Atlantic, the defending NCAA D2 champions and as I have said before, the best program in the country in my opinion.  I suppose that I knew that this would be a tall order for us at this point in the season but I also knew that I would learn something if not many things.  I was not thinking that this was a David vs. Goliath situation this year but it turned out so.  This time, however, David was outmatched 8-1.  One could enjoy the symbolism in the parking lot as we arrived for the match in our rental vans to see AASU's mode of transportation, or as I like to call it, the Bags of Cash Mobile...

 

On this day AASU would demonstrate why they are what they are.  They always seem to play very well against us and I like to think of that as a compliment.  It would be very easy for them to take us lightly and let us hang around in the match but they didn't.  They start fast, they play hard, and they don't stop until the match is over.  It was good for our guys to see this.  I have been preaching this for a long time but it never seems to make sense to the players until they see it.  We need to follow the approach of this team and play more like this team.  We have the talent to be successful.  I am so tempted to refer to what has been done wrong but our efforts are better placed so as to move forward with what is right.  I suppose that we could have been better at this point if we had bought into the work from day one but a stronger commitment at this point will only help us to get closer to our potential.  I will take responsibility for what we are at this point.  I am going to make sure that this team plays to its potential this year and every year going forward.  I really like my team!  I know that they are capable of great things.  I hope that they believe so too.  I think they do.  Of course, talk is cheap...actions are not. 

 

We now have a slate of matches versus local and conference opponents.  This is an opportunity to work on our weaknesses.  Certainly the competition is not as strong locally as it is when we travel but this does not mean we can take the competition lightly.  We absolutely will not.  We need to play at 100% if we want to improve otherwise these matches will actually hurt us and prevent progress.  I look forward to implementing new strategies and getting better.  We will get another chance to prove ourselves when we travel to West Florida at the end of the month.

 

Thanks to the players and Coach Neil for the enjoyable trip.  3-1 is a successful trip with wins over strong teams and a good start to the season.  I am excited for the rest of the season.

 

I was certainly pleased that we missed the NY snow storm and that the snow mostly melted by the time we arrived home.  Also, I was sad to have missed UK's big upset over the Florida Gators yesterday as we were flying the friendly skies.  It has been a tough season defending the championship for my Cats but this certainly made for a happy day!  Go Big Blue! #BBN.

 

Nuff said...



Whatever

A few years ago I remember witnessing a young person making a gesture of the letter "W" with her fingers and uttering "whatever" to the person she was speaking with.  She was clearly dismissing the other person's position and adding a bit of mockery to go with it.

Over the years, while involved with tennis, I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with some very fine coaches and players.  Of course, there are many reasons for participating in intercollegiate and professional athletics but two of the main reasons are for the love of competition and challenging oneself to be the best.

What, however, determines success?  There seem to be so many contributing factors.  There is talent, work ethic, desire, luck, health, support, money and the list can go on and on.  One common theme that stands out for me when I examine the top programs in the country is that of dedication. Dedication is so important to the success of the student athlete and also the coaching staff as they are asked to do many things and to achieve excellence in every one of them.  Not an easy task for sure...

On the player's plate they have their academics; attending classes, studying and so forth...socialization, physical fitness training, significant others and of course, tennis and probably even more.  That's a lot to manage for any person, not just of college age, considering that we all need to sleep a little here and there as well.  Coaches have certain other challenges.  Many positions are part-time and low paying and thus many have other jobs so as to make a living.  We have families and all the stresses and wonderment that go along with that, and yes, we need sleep too.  Often it is so easy to forget how much we are all doing and that we very well need to respect each other's contributions.

It would certainly be very easy in this climate nowadays to commit to doing the bare minimum; simply enough to get by (feel-free to insert your own political joke here).  I am pretty sure, and not to sound cocky/conceded as I respect our competition and what they bring to the table, that we could be quite successful doing far less than we currently do.  Perhaps our talent alone is enough to bring home a conference championship and rank among the nation's top 50 or so teams.  Is that enough? Should we be satisfied with that?  If so, it's time to quit or transfer.  I know that I am not ready to quit just yet and I am pretty sure that upon some reflection, our players believe in adhering to the "self actualization principle" of being all that they can be.  Honestly, if we don't push ourselves, we will never know what we are capable of.  Therefore, we do not subscribe to that "bare minimum" theory here in Clipperville.

Now, there can only be one National Champion!   So we have to do more.  If we want to display the trophy in our case, we simply have to do more.  There are many obstacles for our program to negotiate.  We are not blessed with outdoor tennis appropriate weather until mid-March and thus have less preparatory time to adapt to the elements.  We have to play the nation's best teams very early in our season on their home courts mostly.  Let's not even discuss the scholarship limitations as compared to the others at the top.  Just as I said, to compete and succeed, we simply have to do more!

Essentially, there is a choice.  Will we make the "W" gesture and say "whatever" and take the easy road or will we rather practice "WHATEVER IT TAKES" to achieve our goals?

"One who wants to do something, will find a way; one who doesn't, will find an excuse."
- Confucius

Nuff said...