Five Reads for Friday January 22nd -- Basketball Bash Edition

We are in the midst of a very busy series of games. Tonight our boys JV and Varsity will play Francis Parker at 4:30 for JV and 6:00 pm for Varsity. This Varsity game will have a lot to due with our boys final standings this year in our conference. They are currently 3-2. But so is Latin, Northridge and Parker. Then tomorrow at 9:00 am is Basketball Bash. We will have 8 games in a row ending at about 7:30 pm. So if you like basketball, you can watch 10 games in 27 hours over the next two days.

Here are the five reads for Friday.

The first reads are actually a two parter as we lost two legendary coaches this week -- Ted Marchibroda and Johnny Bach. Despite the fact Marchibroda was a football coach and Bach was a Basketball coach, they had a lot in common. They were both coaching lifers. Bach even volunteered at St. Ignatius when he was in his late 80's. Both also made their greatest contributions to their sports as assistant coaches -- Marchibroda on Offense in football and Bach as a Defensive genius. Both coaches had a sizable impact on two of the greatest coaches of our era -- Marchibroda on Bill Belichek and Bach on Phil Jackson.
From Belichek to the No-Huddle -- Ted Marchibroda gave the NFL so Much -- Baltimore Sun

Even at 85 Johnny Bach Still Teaching the Game he Loves -- Chicago Tribune

I have never met him, but a number of people I respect tell me than Dan Pfaff may be one of the greatest track coaches in the world. He's coached every event from distance runners to long jumpers. He's probably best known for coaching Canadian Olympic 100m Champion Donovan Bailey. The list of other Olympic medalists he's worked with is long. Here is his thoughts on what he has found to be 20 barriers to Championship performance. It's a great read for any athlete in any sport or just anyone who wants to excel.
Barriers to Championship Performance -- Freelap

This next piece should be read by everyone in our community. College prep schools like ours value their college acceptance list. We do quite well at North Shore Country Day School. But many members in our community wonder at times at what price. So do lots of others. Is the pursuit of the prestigious college list actually harming kids. Frank Bruni of the New York Times has written a lot about this topic and here is his most recent piece.
Rethinking College Admissions -- Frank Bruni -- New York Times

Tim Elmore's blog has an almost daily great post on raising young people. One of the posts this week was on Coaches that is worth a read.
How Great Coaches Inspire Action -- Tim Elmore -- Growing Leaders