Fact less and Feckless...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVMP0LqFzTk

While not being a fan of sports talk, finding it self serving and rarely steeped in truth and fact based opinion, the above clip made it's way to my e mail from a coaching friend.

The argument that started this was that the last 7 NBA Most Valuable Players have been NON Americans. This began the vapid diatribe you can watch in its entirety at the link above.

Normally, this blog would stay away from the self exploitive bloviations that is seen above, but it's important to know a few FACTS before people begin to think the United States sports system is collapsing like these four panelists fragile credibility.

First, yes, it's the last seven years but we are only talking about four players, two of whom have won the MVP multiple times: Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

Another FACT to know is that none of the four panelists have ever coached, but it's nice to see they delight in defiling those in the profession. They suggest without any thought or foresight that it's because sports have become monetized, that personal brands rule the sports landscape and that even 'cancel culture' has crept in and kept Americans from winning the NBA's top individual prize.

The number of international players in the NBA has tripled in the last 30 years. The FACTS are there are now more great International players which might suggest that they have a better chance at the MVP now that there are more of them. (Why would an NBA team bring a mediocre International player overseas to play?)

Trends in sports are always pored over by pundits who claim to have reasons for them all, usually making their arguments, like you can see above, with little to no FACTS and marinated in personal opinion and a small sample size of experiences they muster into their hustle.

Let's try this on for size. Currently the network that produces this bastion for personal narrative and, yes, branding, is complicit in the following:

Middle schoolers in the Little League World Series are made into media fodder as is their coaches. Please read the first two words again in the above sentence: MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.

This network shows high school basketball games and again makes and breaks these athletes AND coaches with each win and loss, with each good and not so good performance. Again, just to reiterate, HIGH SCHOOLERS!

Sacrificing and spit roasting coaches is a daily habit for shows like these and not so shockingly, several coaching legends in many sports have decided not to wake up to Monday morning calls for their dismissal and the abuse and doubt that surrounds their job security daily and resigned. Children are affected, families are affected, and these panelists sit in their air conditioned studio making a shade under $30m a year for the four of them passing judgement on something they know little to nothing about.

College coaches have had to redefine their entire job description in the past few years with the advent of the NIL and the infusion of mega money into collegiate AND high school sports. They are learning on the fly as the rules change faster than the hourly wardrobes by these four hypocrites.

Molly, Michael, Jay and Stephen, shame on you. For a fact less, feckless insult to coaches working to do their jobs. It would be interesting to see ESPN put a coaching show on the docket that criticized the talking shrunken heads who find self satisfaction in taking down hard working coaches and athletes. 

Like the bloviation nation whose noise invades our consciousness by the minute, Coaches want to be the best they can be. Athletes want to be the best they can be. We all make mistakes, we all (hopefully) learn from our mistakes. You calling them out on every downturn might be spirited fodder for your morning ego-thon, but it's not all us.

Look in the mirror!

A Day in the Life....

 May 21st.

The Indiana Pacers erase a 14 point deficit in the NBA's Eastern Conference Championship and tie the game at the buzzer on this Tyrese Haliburton jump shot...

Hard to imagine that at practice the day before, Haliburton worked on this shot- running into the lane and then running back out, turning on one foot and firing up a toe-on-the-line 3 pointer. 

While this event happened earlier in the year, social media snared this video and ran with it. What you see is Grand Sumo wrestler Ura fighting a much bigger Takayasu...

The move Ura performs at the end of the match, according to sources,  has been implemented just 6 times in the last 25 years AND has a .02% effectiveness rate. Is it conceivable that Ura was practicing this move, knowing the slim chance it had of success or did it maybe just "come to him in the moment?"

Four climbers from the United Kingdom made history  yesterday. Climbing Mount Everest is usually a multi week process requiring climbers to move from one elevation to a higher one, acclimating to the thin air with each higher camp until they summit and descend. This group left London on May 16th, was at base camp on May 17th and summited yesterday, May 21st.

Five total days! It is the fastest ascent of Everest in history.

Using science of xenon gas breathing treatments and hypoxic chambers, they defeated tradition and have now put the Everest expeditionary world on it's heels. 

In one day, three examples of thinking outside the box, of looking away from text book solutions and using the solutions allotted them, created successful solutions to overcoming problems.

It's what we ask of our athletes but sometimes, as coaches, we don't give them the tools.

Let them learn to adapt, to solve problems, to explore and refine.

Let them overcome obstacles.

"A Very Special Place"

 The very first think you notice is the painted logo on the side of the wall on the cement courts  outside.

In a poor section of Casablanca, the main city of 7 million in Morocco, a hand painted logo proudly calls out Association Moustakbal Deb Sultan,  (AMDS), the volleyball club for the area. 

 It is run by a gentleman named Saad Mifdal, a lawyer during the day and at 4p every day, comes to open his gym. He has always had an interest in youth sports being a soccer player in his youth. In the early 2000's, he started a soccer club, then tennis, then back to soccer before he settled on and fell in love with volleyball. He gives time, money and the energy to making AMDS, despite its humble surroundings and facilities, one of the premiere training sites in all of Morocco.

 

Much like the Outrigger club in Hawaii who has accounted for 15 Olympians,  AMDS accounts for roughly half the Moroccan National Teams, both men's and women's and several of the Junior National Teams. This despite working with athletes in the Derb Sultan area which is very poor, crime riddled and a place where cell phones are hidden even on the shortest of walks.

 

During a tour of the club, it was obvious why there was a HUGE difference between this club and the others that continue to be coached and trained by Moroccan coaches like it's still 1967.

 

First, the practices see the balls coming from over the net.

 

Second, even the players that are off to the side, not involved in practice, are playing pepper but with a setter and they are taking full controlled swings, not roll shots. 

 

Third and most important, they have a "short court," roughly 15' by 30', 450 sq. ft. v. the normal 900 sq ft of a full volleyball half court.

 

During the tour, a bunch of the boys from the practice that just ended sprinted outside, grabbed the net and set up the short court. (The club is under some renovation and while it is normally up all the time, it has to be put up and taken down for the next month or so).

 

The small court rules are as follows: 2 v. 2. If there are players waiting, games are to 6. The third contact can NOT be a set over or a push over, full swings or cut shots are encouraged. If not, you lose the point. If your team doesn't get three touches, you lose the point.

 

As I was there, a men's National team player that played at AMDS strolled in and began to pepper with some of the younger players. About 20 minutes later, another libero playing on a professional team at the moment, grabbed a ball and began to work and pepper with a couple of other young players. A third Men's National team player came in a little after that. All are from around the area, all coming back "home" for a couple of hours.

 

The kids weren't being lectured, they weren't bored and they were all working with a ball, attacking, setting, digging. 

 

Outdoor cement courts, one beach court, an indoor gym with a floor that should have been refinished 10 years ago, and yet National Team level players are flowing out of AMDS. 

One such player, middle blocker Kabira Najim, begin her volleyball career at AMDS. "I joined this team at the late age of 16. It is a very wonderful experience and the head of the team is very wonderful and takes care of the children. I took training from him for two years after which I went to the Royal Army (club)." Kabira is now a professional player and is a regular on the Moroccan women's National Teams during competitions.

"What I like about the club is the team spirit and the way the President treats the children," Kabira adds. "It was not a team but it was a school that taught us how to play and the spirit of brotherhood."  

"It was a successful start for me, with this team, and the confidence that I got. The culture of the team was that I could be better." She adds.

The day after the tour, the U14 team travelled 90 minutes  to south to El Jadida for the Moroccan Girl's Club Championships. The U14 team, made up of 12 and 13 year olds, looked 16, taking big swings, big serves and playing solid defense. 

AMDS won the Country wide Club Championship in straight sets against the home team, El Jadida.

It's not a secret. The 2 v 2 games that the young athletes start with gives them more and valuable touches in the training sessions, instilling habits they will use their entire careers. The drills are game like and link perception and action. Even off the court, the pepper includes a setter and big swings and digs.

Most of all, in this neighborhood, it is an escape, a release. It's an oasis of fun, adventure, exploration and competition for young boys and girls who must learn the ideas of team, brotherhood, culture and competitiveness in a less than optimal environment.

Kabira puts it succinctly. "It is a very special place." 

Everybody Hurts...

A New York High School basketball coach was fired after this egregious violation of one of his players. His name was Jim Zullo and he was fired the day after this was filmed.

No doubt, Zullo, who has been coaching basketball for 30 years and was in the High School Hall of Fame in New York, has preached to his players about staying poised and in control during stressful times on the court.

( Beware, inappropriate language in the above video, not suitable for children) Univeristy of Connecticut head basketball coach Dan Hurley, who coached the men's Husky's to back to back NCAA National Championships in 2023 and 2024, here shouts to the oncoming team that he hopes the officials don't do to them what Hurley proposes they did to him and his team.

It's a rude, offensive and callous remark caught on video, one of several Hurley made this past 2025 season that did not live up to the expectations placed upon him and his team.

No doubt, Hurley, who comes from a well known but fiery basketball family, has worked with his players on focusing on the controllables, not using blame and taking responsibility for his players actions.

In a clip from last year, Illinois head basketball coach Brad Underwood is shown unloading on his players, one in particular. Some media called him exceptional for "holding his players accountable."

In a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit, coach "Sheila Kelly" at "Middle Delaware State" is called out on her coaching behavior and giving her reasoning for her ridiculous over the top behavior. 

Sport is a volatile atmosphere. Winning, losing, pressure, ego: it's an amalgam of potential disruptive and certainly at times, negative behavior and consequences. It's not the purview of this blog to chastise these coaches for their lack of self control caught by a cell phone lens, but it is a reminder to us all.

Like it or not, we, as coaches, ARE role models for our athletes. Hold them to a standard of behavior you cannot sustain, and you will lose their respect and the locker room. Show them you cannot withstand the heat, and they will soon follow. Complain and blame and you will create athletes in your image. Telling them to now worry about the uncontrollables and then bring them up in every post match lecture, they will zone out. 

These are examples of coaches having regretful moments of losing control. Why is subjective to the coach and the moment: ego? A costly mistake in crunch time? Lack of faith in a player? The reasons are plentiful.

But the one lesson from all of these moments, and the many YOU have seen and consciously collected in your coaching memory is stark.

They hurt.

Ultra what???

 Ultracrepidarianism.

Nineteen letters in one word that is more and more, describing the landscape of which we all inhabit.

For the record, ultracrepidarianism is defined as "opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge."

As the murky waters of social media, journalism and the truth continue to swirl together, we can all expect more and more of this in our futures.

We have a government currently operating with nominees and appointees not nearly qualified for the positions they have been given.

We have media and influencers giving opinions on things they know little to nothing about. Just this week, a bloviator on a major sports network signed a contract for $100 million dollars DESPITE the facts that his reporting has been suspect since the day he started with the network. Time and time again he has talked about sports he knows little about, offering opinions on teams and players despite not having any contact with them. 

A former comedian hosts the biggest podcast in the country where he espouses claims about medical treatments, social fixes and conspiracies. He also announces MMA fights and trains as well, but continues to give medical advice on things he is not educated on. 

Many influencers can fall back on their position that they are simple "entertainment" and they shouldn't be held to such high standards.

But there is a cost.

For example, all of those "experts" who will tell you where to put your betting money day in and day out, and many have as much knowledge about what they are urging you to be on as you do. 

Parents who stride confidently into an AD's office demanding that their son's coach be fired because they didn't draw up the right play last Friday night. Or they didn't play their daughter so they screwed up the lineup, despite not having attended one practice the entire season. 

Coaches and athletes who dwell on social media channels with influencers telling them exactly what is wrong with them and how to fix it- as if everybody is exactly the same. 

These influencers who are looking for likes and hearts but bypass simple motor learning theory and efficient and game like practice design for something that looks "cool" on an iPhone in the hands of a lazy coach or parent.

We are forced to be better consumers of information despite the fact that the tsunami that is currently the information overload we are all gasping for air to crawl out from under shows no signs of receding. 

If you aren't knowledgeable on a subject you want to talk about, learn! Get educated. Help teach others. Use reliable, science based facts that are not in a political arena or being championed by someone making a profit off of his opinions. 

Let's flip the switch on these ultracreptidarianists and give them their due as "entertainers" but shy away from the medical, social and life lessons they want us all to take in.

Who we get...

The podcast guest said it again...

"We get the athletes we deserve."

He was a renowned sports psychologist and had worked with high level teams most of his career. He spoke candidly about his past experiences but this phrase stuck.

"We get the athletes we deserve?"

You could look at this through a philosophical lens, or as an idea of revenge or payback for past actions coaching and recruiting your teams. 

Maybe he was referring to physicality. Bring in a slew of big, strong athletes and watch games get more physical? 

Or maybe he just meant that if we coach at a high level, we will get high level athletes.

Maybe he meant engage your athletes throughout your two a week practices- EVERY practice- and get the most out of them mentally and physically.

Maybe he was referring to the idea that transactional coaching, monetizing athletes for what they can do for your career and ego and showing them the darker side of athletics will haunt the potential of the team?

Perhaps coaching with empathy, treating athletes as individuals-that are part of something bigger than themselves will return athletes humbled and grateful for their experiences they will transfer into life.

It certainly isn't quid pro quo. You can't expect to recruit the best outside hitter from another club and expect them to lead you in kills every game. Sports doesn't operate at the junction of want and result.

Maybe he just meant what we put into our athletes emotionally, mentally and physically is what we can expect to get from them. Infuse positive, athlete centered, engaging transformational coaching into your team and while it isn't a guarantee, perhaps reap athletes (and maybe parents) who are appreciative, intelligent and emotionally secure.

Depending upon the coach you are is maybe who we get...  

Big Rocks under us...

Sometimes social media CAN provide us with inspiration, education and reflection that isn't callous, misguided or banal. This week, under the stars of some big sports happenings, we got lucky.

Fred Duncan, a licensed speed coach for the NHL, NFL and Olympians showed his disgust with the current training regimens of youth athletes at a seminar he was presenting at.

The big rock? "You see so many training youth athletes like they're pros!" Youth athletes are NOT small adults, they are children: with the physiology of a growing body. They need to be treated as such.

Madison Keys overcome obstacle after obstacle until she stood alone at the podium of the Australian Open. She defeated the #2 seed in the semifinal and the #1 seed in the final, despite being the #19 seed- an upset for the tennis ages.

Here Madison talks about the mental chains she unlocked going into the tournament.

The big rock? "I think I've done a lot of work to no longer need this, I really wanted this but it was no longer the thing that was going to bind me, and letting go of that burden."

How often are our athletes defining themselves by winning and losing? How often are our parents feeding that narrative by social media posts ONLY when the team wins but nothing when they lose? 

Winning and losing is random in sport: ask the #1 and #2 seeds at the Australian Open this year. Support your athlete, win OR lose, for competing, working hard and doing their best. 

Finally, Nebraska's head volleyball coach John Cook retired this week. In a tearful news conference, he told the story of the new Nebraska coach, Dani Busboom Kelly who used to play for Cook.

The big rock? "She was going to do everything possible to help that team. Whatever role she was asked to do, she would do."

For the good of the team, Busboom put aside what she wanted, did what the team needed and they won a National Championship on her back. 

These stories become more rare with each sunrise. Players trained and convinced to do one thing on the court, liberos and middles tagged at 10 and 11 years old because of their size THEN and not learning the rest of the game because they are locked into those positional cages. 

As coaches we need to teach the game. Not just one position but the whole game. Give middles the chance to get better at serve receive. Teach your setters to block and your libs to attack. Give them the tools to succeed like Dani Busboom was able to do.

Big rocks make a mountain, the ones Coaches and athletes climb everyday. Here's hoping these big rocks make a difference in your climb.