My definition of a hero

We talk a lot about heroes in this country.  We have entire movie franchises dedicated to "super heroes" and our entertainment and sports heroes become idols.  Compared to these ideals of what a hero is, I have always had a different definition.  Of course, like most, I consider those who protect our freedoms and who are willing to sacrifice everything for their fellow Americans to be heroes, but my personal heroes are much closer to the heart for me.  Four men in particular come to mind when I consider my definition of a hero.  I'm thinking of this today, because one of them passed away this morning.  I'd love to have you read on and find out who these men are and why I look up to them.

First, was my mom's father.  My Grandpa Cummings was an incredible human being who died in 2008.  He loved his grandkids and would never have thought twice about giving us something - even if it meant he had to go without.  I loved hanging out with him and frankly he has as much to do with my love of sports as anyone.  I mean, I have always been a Spartan fan, but for years I went to U of M football games with him, yes so I could watch the game, but mostly because it meant I got to be around my grandfather for eight hours on a Saturday.  He loved God, his wife, his kids, and as I mentioned, his grandkids.  He taught us a lot about what it meant to be a man and how we should honor women.  A World War II veteran, I never tired of hearing his stories - even if I'd heard them 100 times before and they became maybe a bit more embellished every time.

Next is my Grandpa Salsbury who passed away this morning.  As I write this, I'm not sure his death has fully sunk in.  Maybe I feel a great sense of peace because I know he had a tremendous relationship with the Lord and I am 100% sure he is with his Savior right now.  My grandfather went through nearly a year of hell on earth as a prisoner of the Germans during World War II.  And because of this, he never wanted to delve into his experiences in the war.  However, he amazed me by always being willing to talk about his time as a POW if it was for a project at school - I know it pained him tremendously to relive it, but we were his grandkids and he was going to help us get that grade.  I will always appreciate the fact that my grandfather wasn't afraid to discipline us kids.  Yes it hurt us both emotionally at the time, but I wouldn't be the man I am today if he didn't.  And his love for my grandmother was second to none.  I know I will be a successful husband if I love Vicki the way he loved my grandma.

Now, on to my father.  There is so much to say about him that I could write an entire book.  My dad means the world to me and has become one of the best friends I could ever have.  At the same time, he is and always will be a steady and guiding voice in my life.  He was not "my friend" when I was growing up, as so many parents are today.  He was my dad and I knew that he was going to let me know right from wrong.  There were times as a teenager I thought he had no clue what he was talking about and wished he would just leave me alone.  Thank God I had a father who held me to an extremely high standard and didn't allow my disobedience to slide.  I know he doesn't think he is hero material, but this is a man who VOLUNTEERED to go to Vietnam and feels guilty to this day that he didn't, even while some of our now former Presidents did everything they could to stay home and hide.  Dad - I want you to know that you never have to feel guilty, as you did serve your country and showed your kids that you must be willing to give everything to do the right thing.  And, as a grandfather to our kids, and a father-in-law to our spouses - he is incredible.  I have never seen a man who treats his children's spouses as if they were his own flesh and blood like my dad does.

Finally, and I know some of you will roll your eyes or stop reading now, is my Living Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is the ultimate Hero and the Man to whom all my other heroes aspire(d).  A man who knew I could never live up to His standards, but would have died for me, and only me, if it had been necessary.  Fortunately, He died for everyone who will so much as accept Him as their Lord and Savior.  A miracle worker now as he was when he physically walked the earth.  I have seen Him pull dark, seemingly lifeless hearts from the pit of everlasting despair.  When people say He was just a "good man" or a "fool", I am floored.  How could someone, whose closest followers wrote amazing things about His accomplishments and His resurrection, have been nothing more than a normal human being.  Lest you think those closest to him were deluded, consider that every last one of them, and a man who had once tried to rid the world of those very followers, was willing to, and often did, die for His name - even many years later.  I can also attest that Jesus, my ultimate Hero, spoke directly into my heart when my cousin should have died with a leaky aorta a number of years ago.  I'll never forget the morning when I received a call that my cousin was not going to make it, but could I please pray for him.  Immediately I hit my knees and started talking to Jesus.  I was amazed when I heard Him tell me not to worry, because my cousin, in his late 30's as I was at the time, would be perfectly fine and even more amazed later that day (though I shouldn't have been) when I got the call that the doctors said it was an absolute miracle, but my cousin would make it.  Thankfully, my cousin Jeff is still alive today and I know Who I have to thank for that.

The greatest compliment I can ever receive is that I turned out like my grandfathers and/or my father.  I know I'm far from the man I'd like to be, but God is working on me every day.  At the same time, I take great joy in knowing that one day, I will be together with all four of these men, and many of my family and friends, for eternity simply because of the legacy they each have left and are leaving behind.  I am truly grateful that they all took the time to pour their lives into mine.

Late game coaching post 1

Coach Bert DeSalvo has posted a number of blogs this year on late game situations.  Reading his posts got me to thinking specifically about how coaches handle late game situations both from an X's and O's standpoint and from an emotional standpoint.  In the last few weeks, I've paid close attention while watching games.

In one game, a girl's HS district championship game that I attended in Michigan, I watched what almost didn't even qualify for this post until there were .5 seconds left.  Team 1 led nearly the entire game and had a 13 point lead late in the 3rd before Team 2 came back and tied early in the 4th.  Team 1 went back up and looked to salt the game away with a four point lead and less than 10 seconds left.  However, a turnover and foul with .5 remaining sent Team 2 to the line.  The shooter stepped up and calmly knocked the first shot down.  At this point the coach for Team 2 called timeout.  Immediately I realized what this coach was going to do.  He was panicking and going to ask his player to miss the shot, which is exactly how things played out.  To compound matters, the young lady fired a brick off the backboard that didn't draw rim and her team didn't have a chance to rebound.  One more mistake this coach made, he had his players drop back beyond halfcourt and allowed Team 1 to inbound and end the game.

It was going to be very tough for Team 2 to win or tie with only .5 left no matter what happened.  However, missing the FT intentionally was the last thing he should have had the young lady do.  It was going to take an absolute miraculous miss that bounced to the arc to allow a make that would tie.  If the young lady had made the FT, they would have at least had a chance to steal and tie with a two at the buzzer.  Also, by falling back behind half court after the miss, they didn't even have a chance for a steal and a shot at the buzzer.  Remember, Team 1 had just fouled with .5 left.  Who is to say they wouldn't have done the same at the buzzer.

Would love to hear the thoughts of others on this and the upcoming posts.

Will Run-n-Gun work at the DI level?

Last week my friend and coaching colleague, Bert DeSalvo, sent me an intriguing text.  His question, will the system Andy Hoaglin and I ran at JCC, work at the highest levels of the game.  I thought it was a great question and one that deserves more than the answer I gave him in my text message, where I simply said that I do believe it will work.

First of all, I believe that any system can work at any level.  However, that doesn't mean that a particular system/style of play will work at every level.  In my opinion, there are so many factors that determine the success of a system.

• Is the coach completely in - if a coach does not have 100% confidence in their system, they will waffle and it will never work.
• Do the players fit the system 
• Obviously this is different in high school and below compared to the college level or the pros.  Below the college level, a system can be started with feeder programs.  That way, by the time kids get to the HS level, they have been brought up in the varsity program's system.  I have also heard of some coaches at the HS level switching systems year to year, and having success, based on their current personnel.  To me, any coach who is able to do that is an incredibly gifted visionary and teacher.
• At the college or pro level, you will recruit, draft, or sign players who fit your coaching philosophy.  There will always be tweaks based on your personnel in any given season, but in general, you will stick with what you believe in and have done all along.
• Does your administration buy in - this may be the biggest key to any system.  Because of our success playing the run-n-gun, we had at least lukewarm administrative support.  However, our system was far enough outside of the box that when our athletic administration changed, we did not have any allies above us for playing something so unique.
• Do your players, especially your leaders, buy in - at least initially, you will need to sell your system to you leaders.  In our case, we would need to explain that a bit less playing time would benefit the program in terms of wins and losses and in many cases, would even benefit those who are seeing the floor a bit less with better statistical output.  Once you have proven success, this becomes easier every year.

So what specifically leads me to believe our particular style of run-n-gun would be successful at the DI level.  I believe it starts with Coach Hoaglin and me.  I don't mean to sound conceited, but I am absolutely confident that we have been blessed with a passion and ability to teach the run-n-gun.  I also believe that we have an eye for exactly the type of talent needed to have success playing the run-n-gun, which in some cases is not the same as the type of player needed to succeed in a traditional system.  I also believe that the fire that we bring to the table and the way we treat our players as part of our family, has allowed and will continue to allow us to have an extremely high success rate in recruiting. 

I am not saying that it is necessary that the two of us coach together.  What I am saying is that if either one of us was brought in as a head coach or assistant, at any level, we would help any program have success playing the run-n-gun.  We know the ins and outs of this system and have spent a ton of time thinking through the tweaks that would need to be made to improve upon it at the next level.

One concern I want to address before I close this blog.  Many people look at what we did at JCC and believe it is nothing more than a circus side show.  Especially in light of some of the things that have been done at Grinnell (see Jack Taylor).  And while our system is essentially what is run by Coach Arsenault at Grinnell, we are 100% focused on playing the game to win.  Coach Arsenault has a slightly different set of circumstances and I love how he gets things done.  He has an extremely successful program, but in order to get his kids a bit of the limelight, which they deserve, he sometimes has to do something unique - especially in games he knows may be a blowout in his favor.  The way Coach Hoaglin and I are wired, winning comes first.  I simply can't change who I am in that regard and at the DI, or DII level for that matter, wouldn't feel the need to do so.  Don't get me wrong, what we do is unique and will bring fans in simply for that, but there is a clear method to the madness.

So Coach DeSalvo, my more long winded answer to your question, is still yes, our run-n-gun can be successful at the highest level with the right people in place.  As Coach Arsenault closed our chapter in his book 'System Successes', "To Andy and everyone associated with the Jackson CC Women's Basketball program, I would just like to say that after watching that film, I now not only have a better appreciation for your level of play, but also for the level of coaching being done within your ranks."

The irresponsible media in the internet age

With all the news coming out about the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito scandal last week, it got me thinking about the lack of professional journalism in this day and age.  Interestingly word came out, as some suspected, that Martin and Incognito had exchanged a number of texts where they "ripped" each other and said what, when taken as individual texts, some pretty awful things.  The problem is, you can't take one text on it's own unless it was truly a stand alone text.  In this case, you see a pattern of back and forth banter between friends and after Martin left the team, true concern from his buddy Incognito.  Unfortunately, when Martin came out and said that he had been "bullied", a buzzword in this day and age, "journalists" around the country jumped to conclusions and labeled Incognito a bully, racist, and thug.

I'm not here to defend Richie Incognito, as he has a history of missteps and maybe has been allowed to get away with a bit too much on and off the field.  I'm also not trying to downplay the effect of true bullying.  As someone who was held up at knifepoint as a fourth grader, I know all to well the real impact bullies can have.  I simply wish the media would have taken a deep breath and looked at all sides of the story before jumping to the conclusion that Martin must be right and Incognito was the guy "sticking Martin's head in the toilet and flushing."

I have always enjoyed Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio and felt that Mike Greenberg was a true professional who wouldn't report a story without knowing the facts.  But when I heard him discussing this scandal last week and the Martin side of the texts, I was stunned that he said that "we all just assumed that Martin had been bullied."  Are you kidding me, "we assumed".  Since when should journalists assume anything?  What happened to investigative journalism.  I truly believe that with the internet, and everyone having the ability to provide their "expert opinion" as soon as they hear a rumor, the media has devolved into a gossip machine which in many cases is no better than 'The National Enquirer".  This all in the name of being the first to report a story, whether you have any facts or not.

I think this should be cause for concern for all of us, especially coaches.  Anytime you have a disgruntled player, parent, or fan, they can start an online rumor that can quickly get out of control and lead to major issues.  Unfortunately, I have personal experience with a local journalist not investigating, then printing a story about my former program with little basis in fact.  Because of that, I may forever have to answer for this individual's article and try to explain away something that did not in fact happen even close to the way it was reported, but was printed as truth in our local paper.

Here's hoping that next time someone makes an accusation that can completely change another person's life, the media will show some discretion.  Unfortunately, I won't be holding my breath.  In the meantime, I have texts from family and friends that I'd like to report!

The Purpose of a Coach

On occasion I hear stories that make me wonder what some coaches are doing and why they got into coaching in the first place.  I understand that coaches are human and prone to mistakes.  Trust me, I've made more than my share - whether it be getting called for a deserved technical and putting my team in a bad spot, chewing out the wrong kid, or breaking into a dance at a team dinner at Pizza Hut (I did apologize to my team and my family for embarrassing them after that).  What I don't understand is the coach who quits on their kids, curses a blue streak at one of their players, or tells everyone around how much they hate coaching.

I have a unique perspective on what it means to work with kids.  I grew up in a family who has been involved in the education process in nearly every way.  My grandmothers both worked at Jackson (MI) Public Schools, while one grandfather drove a bus for the same district and another coached his kids and their friends when they were young.  An uncle coached football and baseball while he taught at Birch Run (MI) High School.  And my parents have been involved in a bit of everything.  From my mom working as a teacher's assistant at Jackson Public and now as a teacher at a local pre-school, to my dad serving on the school board at East Jackson Schools and the Jackson County ISD, to hosting numerous foreign exchange students, it was always ingrained in us that education and doing what's right for others is the right thing to do.  Now in my generation, I married a young lady with a teaching degree, my brother is a coach, my sister and her husband both work in special education and she has coached cross country.

With that background and my Christian faith, I've always believed that there is a greater purpose to coaching than the wins and losses.  Don't get me wrong, I have an ego and want to win as bad as anyone (see the aforementioned technicals and yes there have been a number of them).  I simply see my players as much more than a means to that end.  When kids play for teams I'm involved with, they are part of the family and are treated with the same love and respect as I treat my own kids (I'm happy to say it has been the same with the head coaches I've worked for).  See, I want to receive the texts like I received yesterday when one of my former players let me know she is going to compete in track nationals or be invited to the wedding of one of my players as she got married last fall.  And at the end of the day, I want my players to be successful whatever direction life takes them.

So when I heard last weekend that a coach in her first year at a program left her team two hours before they tipped off for a game, I was absolutely stunned and saddened.  I don't know all of the details and can sense that there were issues throughout the athletic program.  For the life of me though, I can't understand why you can't stick with your players through the end of the season.  Those young ladies practice every day, go to class, and bust their backsides for that program and the coach.  To leave them before things are done, is essentially inexcusable.  Frankly I'm sick of coaches talking about loyalty and toughness and then showing neither when push comes to shove.

Fortunately most coaches are in it for the kids, but I would beg those who don't have the passion anymore to think about doing something else after this season is over.  There are plenty of other folks out there willing to step in and take your spot.  I know, I'm one of them and have talked to many others as well.

I'm interested to know the thoughts of other coaches out there as well.

The era of outsized expectations

Tomorrow at 3:00, two of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL will matchup in the AFC Championship Game.  It may well be the last time we see Tom Brady and Peyton Manning play against each other, much less in a game of such importance.  I have no idea who will win this game, though I personally prefer Manning.  What I do know is that these two men will bring it.  Yet someone has to win and the other has to lose.  Unfortunately, many fans and talking heads will take the chance after the game to bemoan the fact that either Brady and Belichik have not won a Super Bowl since 2005 or that Manning only has one Super Bowl win to his credit.  This is truly unfortunate because those folks will have passed up the opportunity to simply enjoy two great careers that are nearing their end.

My question - when did it come to this?  At what point did we determine that in order to be considered truly great as a player or coach, you had to win championships or in this case, multiple championships?  Don't get me wrong, the obvious reason you play the games is to win championships.  Yet, I am always astounded by folks who don't understand that there are two teams going at it in any game and they both have the goal of winning.  Especially at the professional level, where there is such parity, it is incredibly hard to win a championship and it requires not only great talent, not just at one position, but also most of the breaks to go your way.

Trust me when I say I can appreciate what greatness looks like, even in the face of constant defeat.  I happen to be a Detroit Lions fan - Billy Sims, Barry Sanders, and Calvin Johnson anyone.  No one can say that, at least in the case of Sanders and Johnson, they are not two of the greatest players at their positions of all times.  Yet neither one of them has ever been close to winning a Super Bowl.  And I can make a list of players in every sport, at both the college and pro levels, who never won a championship.  I'll just pick one from the three major pro sports - Dan Marino, Charles Barkley, and Ted Williams.  It seems to me that these men are rightfully appreciated for what they accomplished.  So why not those who play in this day and age.

I guess, we are truly now in a what have you done for me today society.  I will choose to live outside of that philosophy and enjoy what I see today.  So for those of you who choose to watch tomorrow's game to determine which quarterback is an abject failure for not carrying his entire team to the Super Bowl, I truly feel bad for you.  As for me, I will watch that game and appreciate that I may be watching the two best to ever play quarterback.  While that is certainly open for debate, the elite level at which these two have played at for such a long time is not.

In closing this post, I did want to touch base on two things that are much more important than the games we watch, coach, and play.  Great news came out this week, as we heard that North Carolina Women's Coach, Sylvia Hatchell's leukemia is in remission.  We also heard that Nikki McCray, an Assistant for the South Carolina Women, has breast cancer.  I hope everyone will say a prayer for Coach McCray.  Knowing what it takes to coach at that level, I guarantee that Coach will battle and I believe pull through this.  And I know that my God will listen to our prayers.

Why Run-n-Gun makes sense for the Women's College Game

I had the opportunity to watch the Michigan State women play at Michigan today on the Big Ten Network.  It was a tremendous game and was exactly what a rivalry game should be.  I saw intensity on the faces of the players and coaches, physical play, tremendous athleticism, numerous ties and lead changes, and comebacks from both sides.  This was the women's game at it's finest.  The problem, there were only 4,510 people on hand (in an arena that seats over 12,000) to see a game between two teams undefeated in conference play whose schools are separated by 65 miles and enough dislike to last hundreds of lifetimes.  Compare this to an exhibition hockey game between Michigan and Waterloo (who???) on October 6 that drew 4,360.  This means that for one of the most important women's basketball games at Michigan in years, against an in-state rival no less, only 150 more people showed up than those who showed up to an exhibition hockey game against a team from Canada.  Does anyone else see the problem here?  Women's basketball is lagging significantly in fan support.

What can be done to deal with this issue?  One idea is to make the game more uptempo.  Personally, I am suggesting something drastic.  The Grinnell System created by David Arsenault and used by Andy Hoaglin and me at Jackson (MI) Community College from 2010-13 could breathe new life into a number of programs across the country and put substantially more butts in seats.  Think it can't work?  Look at the success Bunky Harkleroad is having at Sacramento State in his first year (and he was hired in October).  Though Coach Harkleroad is not running the full Grinnell System, he is running and gunning without a doubt.

If even 5-10 more schools start playing uptempo (Oregon and Paul Westhead are pushing the pace as well), there's a great chance most fans across the country would get the opportunity to see it played at some point during the season.  But why does it make sense to do this in the women's game.  Following are a couple of the reasons.

First, playing run-n-gun is low risk/high reward from a financial standpoint .  99% of the D1 women's programs are non-revenue producing.  And by the attendance at that MSU-UM game, you can see why.  Schools aren't about to cut out women's basketball.  So, it makes sense to try to bring a few more folks through the turnstiles every game.  Even if that is only a hundred more on average at say $5 bucks a pop, that is $150,000 over the course of a 15 game home schedule.  I believe 100 more a game is an extremely conservative estimate, but even $150,000 would more than pay a head coach's salary at most schools.  Now what if you add to that a few endorsement deals for averaging 100 points a game, additional apparel sales, etc.  You may never see women's basketball be a significant revenue producer, but it could sure stop hemorrhaging as much cash and allow say football and men's hoops to keep a bit more of the cash those sports bring in or spread more to other sports.

Kids want to play where they can do special things and where they can, at the least, be a contributor.  In the Grinnell System, nearly everyone sees the court every game - the system works best when wearing folks down with multiple players.  Think about this, what athlete, when being recruited thinks - "gosh I'd love to go to a place where they play in front of 500 people/game and I will have to sit most of my freshman and sophomore years".  I believe a coach who can sell playing uptempo in front of thousands of fans and have the chance to actually play, will attract progressively better recruits.

Honestly, I know run-n-gun can be successful in the win column as well and will get into that in future posts, but if players stick at an institution and that school is able to earn a few more dollars a year, I think we're already off to a great start.

Christian, husband, father, son, brother, uncle, coach, professional.  These are some of the titles that describe me.  I am nothing special, but strive to be a difference maker every day.  I am a sinner who by the grace of God and the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ is assured eternal life.  Yet, it is not only eternal life that motivates me as a Christian.  It is the joy of every day living as a child of the Most High.

I am blessed to be a husband of almost twenty years to the love of my life, Vicki.  I am also a father to three of the most amazing kids in the world.  I could not be more proud of them, as they have grown into fine teenagers (Nathan and Emily) and a tween (Allison).

My extended family, including my in-laws, are incredible people.  I have been molded and shaped by watching the examples of so many.

As a coach (currently unemployed in that profession, but looking forward to getting back at it), I am motivated to make a difference in the lives of those I am fortunate enough to teach.  I love coaching an uptempo brand of basketball that is exciting for my players and the fans.  I have developed many lifelong relationships with those I've met in the game, including my best friend and the gentleman I've coached with more than any other, Andy Hoaglin.  I've been fortunate enough to coach some awesome young women who are going to go on to great things in this world and I look forward to watching their success.

I hope you'll find this blog interesting moving forward.  I'll delve into a bit of everything, basketball (significantly), my faith (I never force it on anyone, but won't shy away from it), sports in general (I'm a junkie), my family, politics, travel, and vacation.  Who knows where this will go, but I'm looking forward to sharing with anyone whose interested in whatever ramblings I post:-)

Eric