October 4th Coaching Tip: Full of games.
College football was in full swing this weekend. Lots of games, but for some reason, I kept a close eye on the Baylor game. Down by a bunch, the Baylor football team scored 18 points in the fourth quarter. And on the last play of the game, Baylor blocked a 37-yard punt that allowed the Bears to win the game by one point. Not a lot of commentary was heard about this game; neither team was ranked. However, WHAT AN EFFORT. The Baylor men never gave up…all the way down to the very last play. To win the game,, they all knew they HAD to block the punt. In witnessing the replay of the blocked field goal, I noticed that not one but multiple Baylor players jumped very high into the air to try to block the punt.
Although the day was full of games, it was the extraordinary effort by Baylor that captured my attention.
October 5th Coaching Tip: Patience Worked.
The hunt for frozen blueberries took us all over Michigan today. Although we had been in Michigan for three days, we had only been to one road-side market that had fresh blueberries. As those three days crept in to the fourth day, it was time to switch our hunt to frozen blueberries. And finally, at our last orchard stop, I walked in and went directly to the freezer area and boom, there were two bags of blueberries (2 x 10 lbs). Our patience worked out, especially after we pivoted and changed our search from fresh to frozen.
Be wise. Read the signals. Patience will be rewarded. It worked.
October 6th Coaching Tip: Go See Our Senior Seniors.
Over the past few days off, we visited a 96-year-old uncle in Traverse City and another 81 year old uncle near Detroit. With all the driving, traffic, hotels, etc., was it worth it? YES. We learned so much history from the 96-year-old about times during his childhood, while he was in the Navy, his work for the Michigan department of Natural Resources, etc. He forwarded photos to us for two days after our visit. He was thrilled that we cared about HIM. And my 81 year old uncle reminded me that he was a good track and field athlete; he high jumped, ran the 440, ran cross country, and pole vaulted. He referenced 10′ 9″ multiple times, so I’m guessing that he pole vaulted that high. Amazing, that’s almost 2X’s my height.
Go see our senior seniors. I’m 61 years old and a “senior citizen” now. But I view the 60’s as the go-go decade, the 70’s as the slower-go decade, and the 80’s as the slow-go decade. The senior seniors aren’t “me”; they are older and ready to share their stories to those who care to listen. It’s only of the most intentional and kind things that one can do.