It's been said that those that can't play, coach. It does seem to be the case a great deal of the time. At least it seems that way with head coaches. Retired players are often position coaches or skill coaches. You can coach without having played because you know the fundamentals, the rules of the game, and the best course of action to take in response to others actions. Certainly you won't always win, but you can coach with integrity. Aren't they the most admired coaches of all? Those coaches which genuinely care for their players and for the game. Sure in the short term we all want a winner but in the long term, we want respect. Respect is earned through hard work, dedication and unwavering devotion.
I would say that is true in life as well. There are those that can coach although they don't play very well. We are, after all, mere mortal men. We have failures in our lives despite knowledge to the contrary. We can't always practice what we preach. Isn't that what a coach does? He preaches to the players, hoping to guide them to success. The reward for the coach is that he shares in their success. And that is all he wants, just to have directed others in a positive way. Yes, the coach often has to absorb much abuse, abuse from the fans, abuse from the players and abuse from whomever owns the team. Still a good coach will persevere. He will be judged on the actions of others. If the team loses, who is to blame? The coach. But I would suggest that perhaps the players weren't listening. It's that way in life as well.
How often do we blame the coach for our shortcomings? I'd say we do it all the time and the trend is only growing. Many have abandoned the original coach and his playbook in favor of less restrictive play. We have decided we can bend the rules, make exceptions and justifications for cheating just a bit. We'll call it progressive temperance. We have to allow the breaking of the rules in order to follow the rules! If we don't, we are not being fair. After all, everyone has a different view and a different definition of right and wrong. In our progressive temperance we must embrace them all! It's a no judgement zone, only an acceptance zone.
Of course the issue with that is there is no one to blame. Well no coach to blame anyway, so we have to blame the other players. The problem with that is, every player is using a different play book. There is no unity, only division. With no one to turn to for guidance, we turn on each other. Don't judge me! Who do you think you are? You're not the coach! And the real question in all of this is what is the object of the game? I mean, to what end are we playing this game? How do we define a winner?
From the coaches point of view it is a team, not an individual. And that is where we are losing our way. We have begun to believe that winning is an individual thing! It is not. We are only here for a short time. Our job is to move our heritage forward. Without a common heritage, that becomes somewhat of an impossibility. That, to me, defines the American dream, a common heritage. All were invited to participate, all are welcome to share in that heritage. But you have to play for the team, the American team, and have no allegiance to any other. We kept the coach off the field from the beginning, but we took his direction. Seems to me some have fired the coach altogether. A progressive temperance? I say, bring back the coach.
I would say that is true in life as well. There are those that can coach although they don't play very well. We are, after all, mere mortal men. We have failures in our lives despite knowledge to the contrary. We can't always practice what we preach. Isn't that what a coach does? He preaches to the players, hoping to guide them to success. The reward for the coach is that he shares in their success. And that is all he wants, just to have directed others in a positive way. Yes, the coach often has to absorb much abuse, abuse from the fans, abuse from the players and abuse from whomever owns the team. Still a good coach will persevere. He will be judged on the actions of others. If the team loses, who is to blame? The coach. But I would suggest that perhaps the players weren't listening. It's that way in life as well.
How often do we blame the coach for our shortcomings? I'd say we do it all the time and the trend is only growing. Many have abandoned the original coach and his playbook in favor of less restrictive play. We have decided we can bend the rules, make exceptions and justifications for cheating just a bit. We'll call it progressive temperance. We have to allow the breaking of the rules in order to follow the rules! If we don't, we are not being fair. After all, everyone has a different view and a different definition of right and wrong. In our progressive temperance we must embrace them all! It's a no judgement zone, only an acceptance zone.
Of course the issue with that is there is no one to blame. Well no coach to blame anyway, so we have to blame the other players. The problem with that is, every player is using a different play book. There is no unity, only division. With no one to turn to for guidance, we turn on each other. Don't judge me! Who do you think you are? You're not the coach! And the real question in all of this is what is the object of the game? I mean, to what end are we playing this game? How do we define a winner?
From the coaches point of view it is a team, not an individual. And that is where we are losing our way. We have begun to believe that winning is an individual thing! It is not. We are only here for a short time. Our job is to move our heritage forward. Without a common heritage, that becomes somewhat of an impossibility. That, to me, defines the American dream, a common heritage. All were invited to participate, all are welcome to share in that heritage. But you have to play for the team, the American team, and have no allegiance to any other. We kept the coach off the field from the beginning, but we took his direction. Seems to me some have fired the coach altogether. A progressive temperance? I say, bring back the coach.
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