2012 A Look Back -- Top Read Posts

2012 has been a great year for this blog. Readership has steadily risen throughout the year. The blog now has a loyal following not only at school, but a larger and larger group of people literally around the world. I know from Google Analytics that the blog has been read over 27,000 times this calendar year by people in 110 different countries. That response has been very gratifying.

Over the last couple days of this year, I hope to sum up the year with a look back at what I wrote about. Today, I will start with the most popular posts by month. I will start with last January and work to this month. That way, I hope, those who have only started reading in the last couple of months can catch up on some of the posts that people found most interesting from earlier in the year.

Although most of the posts had something to do with North Shore athletics, I think the common theme was that they also had something to do with the larger world of athletics as well.

January
I did a series of posts on my professional thoughts and experiences in getting athletes stronger. This subject has been of personal interest of mine since I was in high school. So I did a five-part series on the subject to start the year. The most read post was my January 5th post: Thoughts on Getting Stronger Part IV. You should see links to all five posts at the top of this blog at the link entitled Posts on Strength Development.

February
Among many exciting things that happened last February that involved North Shore athletes, the most historic was when Peter Callahan '09 broke four minutes for the mile. Not only did he become the #366th American man ever do this and become an All-American, he also became the first Ivy League runner to ever break four minutes for the mile twice in a season. I posted a number of pieces on the accomplishment and this is the one I wrote reflecting on what it was like to be his high school coach and hear the news: My Sam Mussabini Moment

March
One of the biggest events of the year was our boys basketball team advancing to the state finals. Last March was also the month that I posted the most with 106 posts. I had the biggest single day to date on the blog when I had 334 unique visits on March 9th. Most of the posts where short posts on how the team was doing in either the Sectional or Super Sectional Finals. The most read piece was on March 3rd and was entitled: American Pie & March Madness North Shore Style

April
We were out on spring break for the first part of April and then getting ready for the conclusion of the spring. I wrote a lot about Coaching in a series called Coaching and the Scripts of our Lives on April 4, 5 and 6. I will write more about that tomorrow. But the most read piece of the month was a book review I wrote entitled : 14 Minutes -- A Cautionary Tale. Books are a really important part of my house today just as they were when I was growing up. I try to post a review of every book I read. This post was the most read book review of the year.

May
May was an eventful month for a lot of reasons as it was the culmination of the school year athletically. I had a number of smaller posts on how our teams did. Personally for me, though, it was a month that brought a significant milestone -- my 50th birthday. So for the month of May, the most read piece was What I have learned in fifty years of life which I published on my birthday -- May 27th.

June
June brought a number of concluding pieces for the school year as well as my annual trip to the GAIN conference at Rice University. I posted a daily overview of those days. But the most read piece was Class of 2012 Playing College Sports which detailed the number of kids we had last year going on to play college sports. Although North Shore is a small school, over the last couple of years we have graduated a high percentage of kids who go on to play college sports. This years class -- class of 2013 -- may even surpass last years class.

July
You would think that July would be a quiet month for this blog, but I kept on writing mostly in anticipation of the Olympics to come in July. I began writing about a Sports Scientist, Dr. Tim Noakes, from South Africa whose work has affected me. A post I wrote about him got over 1000 reads. But the most read post of the year was entitled Today's Must Read -- Especially for Dad. It was about Julia Lucas who I had posted about after watching her finish 4th in the women's 5K at the Olympic Trials. I was moved by the way that she ran and the way that she dealt with defeat. Then I read an article her Dad wrote about her and re-posted it. Someone noticed, the Twittersphere took off and it was re-tweeted 19 times.

August
In August, I wrote a number of popular posts on my trip to the Olympics. Two that seemed to be most read were Bolt Turns on the Big Engine and my final post Leaving on a Jet Plane. But my most read post in August was entitled What's the Takeaway, Lance? which was really reflections on our JV Field Hockey game the day after Lance Armstrong Tweeted that the US Anti-Doping Agency attempts to strip him of this Tour de France wins a "pitiful charade."One of the best parts of my job is that there is a purity to the athletic contests that I arrange.

September
One of the interesting things about writing this blog every day is I never completely know what people will find interesting. I try to post something every morning by 6 AM and by lunch I usually know if it has been received well. Septembers top read Motivation vs. Commitment was a post I did not really think would take off. It was just an insight from a book I was reading entitled The Chimp Paradox. But it became the most read post for September.

October
Because I am increasingly bothered by the college recruiting process, I keep an eye out for materials that might be helpful to our athletes who hope to play at the next level and their families. We do not offer Lacrosse as a sport, but US Lacrosse issued a terrific piece on recruiting that I feel best sums up my feelings on recruitment. It also became the most read post in October: MUST READ! Recruiting Statement from US Lacrosse

November
Through writing this blog and through recommendations from others, I follow other bloggers. Tom Bower, Athletic Director at The Latin School suggested that I start reading the blog of Tim Elmore. The Independent School Association of the Central States (ISACS) also got Tim Elmore to present here in Chicago this fall. I like his ideas on leadership and how to develop what he has referred to as Generation iY. His work directly related to my most read post in November: Are You a Passenger or a Driver?

December
Our traditional rival Mooseheart, became involved in a recruiting issue that got national news. Local TV and national news outlets like the New York Times and the Huffington Post began writing about the four boys from Southern Sudan who were attending Mooseheart. Three of them were playing basketball. I wrote a series of posts on the issue and my perspective. The most read was also the most read post in December: Mooseheart Basketball Decision Day.

Although these posts were my most read posts by month, there were several other posts that also got lots of interest but might not have been a top post of the month. I will list those tomorrow.