When Our Players Lift Us Up

I had an interesting conversation with a coach yesterday where he told me about a day where one of his players lifted him up.

One-on-One mentoring is an essential piece of coaching in SportsLeader. This particular coach had done an amazing job of dividing up his team amongst all his assistant coaches so each coach had a player for a "Walk-Out" and a "Walk-Back" ...

The "Walk-Out" is walking out from the locker room to the field for practice and the "Walk-Back" was the walk back to the locker room ... pretty complicated (smile). During the walk he would just talk with the young man to see how life was going and try to come to a resolution for him to work on in an area of his life to help him grow in virtue.

Well the young man in question was his "Tuesday Walk-Out". He had had a very difficult year due to circumstances within his family and he really opened up with coach over the course of the year. Coach saw him grow in confidence every week and he became a better football player because of it.

At the end of the season, this coach was hit with some pretty disappointing news and most of the school found out about it.

Coach would always arrive to school pretty early and to his surprise who was waiting for him that following morning? His "Tuesday Walk-Out".

"Coach, how are you doing? You helped me every week this season. I figured it was time to help you."

Coach talked, the young man listened ... in the process this young man lifted him up beyond words.

As we finished our phone call, Coach summed it up pretty well - "When I first started coaching, I never did the one-on-ones. I'm sure glad I do them now. They've changed MY life."

...

Do you have a similar story? Write it up so we can share it with other coaches to encourage them.

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FAW GIVE GO-AHEAD TO KEENOR COLLECTION AT WALES-ENGLAND CLASH

We’re delighted to announce that the Football Association of Wales has given the go-ahead for a bucket collection in
aid of the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal at the sell-out Wales-England clash.
David Craig, project manager of the appeal, said: “Playing England is always the biggest game for Welsh football fans, so we’re thrilled the FAW has generously given us permission to hold a bucket collection before the Euro qualifier later this month.
“With a sell-out audience, we are very hopeful of raising a
substantial sum for the appeal thanks to the support of fans at the game.
“Football supporters have been enormously generous already and the message we’re getting from them is that we want to see a statue erected in aid of Fred Keenor, who captained both Wales and Cardiff City to great success, and reached the top of the game despite being badly injured in the Battle of the Somme.
“We’re hoping that supporters, wherever they come from, will get behind the appeal by digging deep into their pockets while also cheering Wales on to a famous victory over the old enemy. That would be fantastic,” said David.
The appeal, which was launched 11 months ago, has raised more than £41,000 – almost half-way to the £85,000 cost of the permanent tribute to Fred Keenor.
The international takes place at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, March 26th, kick off 3pm.

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Panniers on Bikes with Short Chainstays

Since receiving the woven pine Fastrider pannier last summer, I have been using it as my main transportation bag. On the up side, it is enormous, waterproof, classic looking, easy to attach and detach, and secure. On the downside, it was designed for appropriately enormous Dutch bikes with long chainstays, and not for bicycles with road geometry. The pannier looks like it's ready to swallow the mixte whole, and ideally I would like something smaller. But for a bicycle with short chainstays finding the right pannier can be tricky. 

The chainstays on a bike are the skinny horizontal tubes between the crankset and the dropouts. In the picture above, it's the one with the strip of leather stuck to it. Different types of bikes have chainstays of different lengths. The more racy and aggressive the bicycle, the shorter the chainstays. The more relaxed and transport-oriented the bicycle, the longer the chainstays. For reference, the chainstays on my Bianchi roadbike are 410mm. The chainstays on my Rivendell touring bike are 445mm. And the chainstays on my Gazelle Dutch bike are 485mm. When chainstays are long, the rear wheel of the bicycle sits further away from the crankset, which means that whatever bag you've got mounted on the rear rack is a safe distance away from your heels while you pedal. That is why transport bicycles are designed with long chainstays: You can attach enormous shopper panniers to the rear rack and not worry about heel strike.

Now, my Royal H. mixte was not designed as a transportation bicycle. It was designed for light touring (not too much luggage), and it was designed to be ridden upright in hilly areas. The chainstays are 430mm, which is somewhere in between classic road and classic touring geometry and appropriate for what this bike was meant for. So in theory, all is as it should be. However, in practice I've been riding it for transportation more than I had anticipated - just because it's such a fun bike, and the dynamo lighting is so excellent.

If it were just the aesthetics alone, I'd keep using the Fastrider pannier on this bicycle and not bother looking for alternatives. I actually don't think it's that bad, though my helpful readers have suggested that it looks meh-ish on the mixte. But the real problem is that I do get borderline heel-strike with this set-up. Not enough for it to be dangerous, but once in a while my heel and the bag will not so much make contact as sense each other's presence. If the bag were just a tad further back or smaller, I'd feel more comfortable.

With this in mind, I ordered two panniers from the D'Azur line by Basil, in hopes that one of them would fit and I'd return the other. The Basil shopper pannier (above) is nearly 2" narrower than the Fastrider equivalent, which in theory should have been more than enough to eliminate any hint of heel strike. Unfortunately, the opposite was the case. Because of how the Basil attachment hooks are positioned, this bag actually sits further forward and lower than the Fastrider - resulting in an unridable degree of heel strike. If you scroll up and down between this and the previous picture, you can see how much closer the Basil bag is to the pedal, despite its slightly smaller size.

The messenger pannier did not work either. This bag is the same width as my Fastrider, but considerably shorter, so I was hoping it would sit higher up and my heel would not reach it. But again, the placement of the attachment hooks positioned it quite a bit lower than the Fastrider, as well as further forward, making the heel strike worse rather than better. And so, I will be returning both of the Basil panniers. They are well made and attractive, but I need a pannier small enough to work on this bike+rack combination. And I mention the rack, because I could solve this problem by replacing the existing VO Constructeur rack with a super long rack that would allow me to push the panniers further back... but I don't want to. I like how compact, light and elegant this bicycle is with the current rack, and after all it was not intended for commuting. There has to be a nice pannier out there somewhere that will fit a bike with 430mm chainstays and a constructeur rack, and I am determined to find it.

Well, technically I did find it: The OYB Swiss Army pannier is a perfect fit for the constructeur rack, and it goes nowhere near my heels when I pedal. Alas, it is about 1/2" too narrow to fit my laptop. I've tried stretching it, but it's just not sufficient, so I use it as a camera bag. I also tried (and returned) the Linus single Office pannier. While it did fit my laptop, the attachment system was difficult to use and did not feel secure: leather straps with snap closures.

It seems that the trick to designing panniers for bicycles with short chainstays, is to make the pannier vertical rather than horizontal, to mount the hooks lower on the bag (so that the bag itself will sit higher), and to keep the size as small as possible. But while some touring panniers are designed in this manner, I have not been able to find a suitable one for commuting - by which I mean a single pannier that attaches and detaches easily via strong and secure hooks, is large enough to fit a laptop, and looks classic, ideally made of canvas or leather in a grayish/greenish/brownish colour scheme. If you are an artisan who would like to give this a go, get in touch! And if you commute on a bicycle with short chainstays, what is your pannier solution?

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Mike Donghia on Doing Instead of Dreaming

There’s one problem with being a dreamer – it’s addictive. The shallow mental “reward” you get every time you imagine doing something great is just enough to lift your spirits and convince your mind that you’re actually doing something with your life. But you’re not. Dreaming isn’t doing. Imagining an idea doesn’t put legs to it. That takes tenacity.

Then, there comes a point when you finally realize that you’re not going anywhere – you’re running on a treadmill and watching the same view day in and day out. The dreamer instinctively resorts to safety mode – dreaming. You make these great plans and tell yourself that tomorrow you’ll take action and make changes that will influence the rest of your life. Finally, the nagging voice of action is silenced.

Forward Motion: The Minimalist Guide to Sustained, Focused Action

Mike Donghia has written an outstanding piece about being a person of action as opposed to being a mere dreamer. I especially like the part where he talks about causal and effectual reasoning. I would like to expand on what he has written.

1. Doing beats dreaming.

We all dream of things that we are going to do or would like to do. But without the follow through, it becomes a bit of a joke. It is like the smoker who is always resolving to quit right after that last pack of smokes. It isn't going to happen. You know it, and they know it. When you talk about it instead of doing something about it, you start to look really stupid. As Yoda put it, "Do or do not. There is no try."

2. Keep your dreams to yourself.

I have learned and am still learning that it is better to keep your dreams, ambitions, and plans a total secret. This will make you look less stupid and less like a loser. Plus, it keeps people from being disappointed in you. Instead, let the things you do be a pleasant surprise to people.

3. The best inspiration comes from doing.

As I commented on Mike's original article, there are two kinds of writers. The first kind waits for inspiration to strike then they start writing. The second kind go to work each day and write whether they feel like it or not. This would be Ian Fleming who wrote the James Bond novels. He got up each day and wrote just like it was a job. I have learned the same practice with blogging. It blows me away the ideas I get while in the process of writing. This is Donghia's causal versus effectual reasoning.

4. The problem is not a lack of goals but a lack of work ethic.

Most people like to make lists. Few people say, "I am going to work and see what happens." But the people in that second category are the ones who accomplish things. The self-help industry urges us to be ambitious. I think this is stupid. You should work instead and let your ambitions come to you as you labor. We focus too much on the end results and not on the process. I can say that I am going to write the Great American Novel. Or, I can say that I am simply going to write for four hours a day. Which approach will be more successful?

Nowadays, I don't tell people what I am going to do. If they ask, I am always pessimistic. Inevitably, I always say the same thing. I am going to work. That's it. There's zero ambition in that statement. Ask me anything, and I say the same thing. I AM GOING TO WORK. What are my future plans? I am going to work. Where do I want to be a year from now? Working. Do I hope to retire? Nope. I am going to work until the day I die.

This is what I was talking about in a previous article of mine about the Renaissance Man vs. the Blue Collar Man. It is the difference between the dreamer and the doer. Dreams are limitless. Actions are limited. Dreams are what we would like to do. Our work is what we actually do. If you want a contrast, compare Leonardo to Edison. Leonardo was a dreamer and quite brilliant. But he invented virtually nothing. Edison was not a dreamer. He just worked. We all know his famous saying. "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." We don't know his less famous but equally wise saying. "Great ideas originate in the muscles." This is effectual reasoning.

I keep a little black notebook that a few years ago in which I wrote down all the things I wanted to do in my life if time, money, and energy were not limiting factors. Needless to say, it was exceedingly ambitious. Then, a couple of years later, I edited that notebook. I tossed out all the destinations I wanted to visit. Then, I eliminated all the languages I wanted to learn. On and on, I cut it down to the essentials of a reading list, a writing schedule, a few bad habits I wanted to correct, a modest wish list, and a list of job skills I wanted to develop. The most ambitious part is the reading list since I don't think I will live long enough to read all those books. I keep that list, so I don't have to think about what I am going to read next. The result of that editing is that my dream book became a practical To Do list.

I can only do so much in a day, so I don't beat myself up for not getting more done. When you focus more on the process instead of the results, things go better. Edison said, "I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success." For Edison, it was all about the process. I'm sure some work led to blind alleys and failures. But it was all good for him.

I'm with Donghia. Stop dreaming and start doing. I will add that it helps to tamp down your ambitions and ramp up your work ethic. Modest goals achieved trump magnificent goals dreamed. If you just work each day, you will feel fine with yourself, and you will surprise yourself with what you actually get done.

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The Fall of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg

The German defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, has resigned following the exposure of plagiarism on a massive scale in his PhD dissertation.  The figure above shows the results of a page-by-page Wiki effort to "audit" his dissertation.  The black and red colors indicate text that was directly (black) or partially (red) copied from other sources.  The white parts were judged OK and the blue represents the front and back matter.

Guttenberg's defense of his actions, which were supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel, sought to focus attention on those critiquing him in an effort to downplay the significance of the academic misconduct:

[Guttenberg's] first line of defense, however, appeared to be his repeated insistence that the problems with his dissertation had no bearing on his position at the head of the Defense Ministry -- an effort that Merkel herself had supported, saying last week that she had chosen Guttenberg to head the Defense Ministry and not "as a research assistant."

In his brief statement on Tuesday, Guttenberg once again seemed to blame his critics and the German media for focusing so intently on his dissertation. "If, as has been the case in recent weeks," Guttenberg said in his Tuesday statement, "the attention of the public and the media is almost exclusively focused on the person of Guttenberg and his dissertation instead of, for example, the death and injury of 13 soldiers (eds. note: three German soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last week), then it ... harms the institution I have been tasked with leading."

But in the end, it appears that the presures brought to bear from Germany's substantial academic community made continuation for Guttenberg impossible:

But on Monday it became clear that academia is furious with the way the chancellor has handled the affair. In an open letter to the chancellor, some 20,000 academics from Germany and around Europe said Merkel's support of Guttenberg was a "mockery" of all those who "contribute to scientific advancement in an honest manner."

"If the protection of ideas is no longer an important value in our society, then we are gambling away our future," the statement reads. "We do not expect gratitude for our scientific work, but we do demand ... respect. The scientific community is suffering as a result of the treatment of the Guttenberg case as a trivial offense. As is Germany's credibility."

Even so, I expect that we will again see Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg in German politics, and Germany will then re-engage a debate over science, politics, trust and legitimacy.

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NFLPA Decertification -- Impact on Agents

With NFLPA decertification a strong possibility before the March 3rd deadline, most of our attention to the ramifications of this labor impasse has been directed towards owners and players. However, there is another segment of union representatives who also will be affected—agents. Under the current (but not for long) CBA, the NFLPA is recognized as “the sole and exclusive bargaining representative of present and future employees players in the NFL.” Thus, while unions are vested with the legal right to negotiate on behalf of their members, the NFLPA—along with the NBPA, MLBPA, and NHLPA—grant those rights to individual agents.

The NFLPA has developed regulations that govern all contract advisors which include certification, conduct, agreements between advisors and players, and discipline and oversight among others. If the NFLPA decertifies, agents will no longer be legally bound to a union because there will be no union. While it is likely that the agents will be asked to “voluntarily” register and comply with NFLPA guidelines there is no legal requirement that they do so.

What does this mean? To start, the NFLPA’s “Junior Rule” would no longer be in effect. The “Junior Rule”—found in Section 3 B (30) (a) of the NFLPA’s Regulations governing contract advisors—prohibits contact with a college player until:

“after a prospective player’s last regular season college or conference championship game (excluding any post-season bowl game) or December 1, whichever is later, of the college football season immediately prior to the year in which such prospective player would be eligible to apply for the NFL Draft.”

Thus, while the NCAA does not make such contact illegal, agents are not allowed to contact freshman, sophomores, or juniors under NFLPA guidelines. Without these regulations it is entirely likely that we will see agents reaching out to those highly desirable underclassmen if decertification comes to pass. Furthermore, it is also entirely possible that after the dust settles the “Junior Rule” does not return.

What other NFLPA rules relative to agents will lose their legal imprimatur? What about the requirement that a contract advisor be certified by the NFLPA? How about the cap on commissions set at 3%? What about the Standard Representation Agreement (SRA) that every player signs when they select an agent—will agents be able to sign new clients to different terms? Certainly arbitration rules that govern disputes between agents and the NFLPA will be on hold.

The bottom line is that decertification may bring changes that are ancillary to the labor impasse but meaningful in unintended ways.

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