North Shore Country Day School Athletics Blog

We Balanced!

2012-03-08T11:56:00.001-08:00

I used to be a box office manager. So balancing my ticket sales and cash was a daily goal. When it didn't happen, it meant for a much longer day. Just left the Carver Arena Box Office. The box office crew told me to come back anytime as we were one of the few schools that balanced. I still have some box office skills.

Heading Down State

2012-03-08T10:19:00.001-08:00

This will be the view for most of your drive. I am almost to Peoria.

My Schedule for Thursday -- the Day Before A Really Big Day!

2012-03-08T04:00:00.009-08:00

I hope to post some pictures and blog occasionally throughout the day. Here is what I expect my schedule will look like.
5:00 AM -- wake up, breakfast, shower
5:30 AM -- count tickets I have left
6:00 AM -- answer emails about bus and details for today as well as pack clothes for trip
6:30 AM -- Head to school -- probably detour to Starbucks and get a triple venti on the way
7:00 AM -- Change Phone message for day. Start selling tickets
8:15 AM -- Send off Basketball Team
9:15 AM -- Reconcile tickets
10:00 AM -- Leave for Peoria -- Ask myself "is that triple venti still working?" Maybe detour to Starbucks so I stay awake for the drive.
1:00 PM -- Arrive at Peoria Carver Arena and Settle up with Box Office
1:30 PM -- Team pictures and Media
2:00 PM -- Shoot Around
2:30 PM -- Head to hotel to get keys for team
3:00 PM -- Wait for team to arrive. Hope to get in the swimming pool or workout room
5:15 PM -- Dress for banquet. Head back downtown for IHSA Basketball Tournament Athletic Directors Meeting
6:00 PM -- Meeting Begins
7:00 PM -- Go to Banquet with team
10:00 PM -- Back to Hotel for some sleep. Try to write some thoughts down on my blog. Pray that kids go to sleep. (I am sure they will. These guys are focused.) Collapse with SportsCenter on my Large Screen TV playing.

Basketball at State Fan Bus and Ticket Info for Friday

2012-03-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

Here is where we are going on Friday -- Peoria, IL. Here are the details.

Upper School is not meeting on Friday but the expectation is that most of the community will go to Peoria for the game.

Tickets: I have 800 tickets for Friday and 800 tickets for Saturday. So don't worry, I have plenty. The only issue is, I have only until Thursday morning to sell tickets. So I will sell out of the mac Gym office on Wednesday from 7:30 am to 8:30 am, at lunch in the cafeteria, and after school from 3:30 pm until 9 pm out of the Mac Gym Office. The benefit in getting tickets from me is that you will be able to sit in North Shore sections. The cost of a ticket is $10.50 and I can only take cash or check made out to North Shore Country Day.

Fan Bus Packages: We are selling ticket plus fan bus package to students for $20 per day. This will help offset some of the cost for the transportation.

Schedule for Friday: Buses will depart North Shore at 8:30 am. Arrive in Peoria Carver Arena at Noon. Out game is at 2 pm vs. Woodlawn. The fan bus will pack up about 20 minutes after the game ends Friday and return to school. We expect to be back to school around 7:30 pm Friday.

Our plan for Saturday is still unclear. I do have tickets for Saturday, and we will have a fan bus. How early the fan bus leaves and how many we have will depend on Friday's outcome.

Tickets will

Riley Hall hits two big foul shots

2012-03-06T17:52:00.005-08:00

Winning Press Conference

2012-03-06T17:52:00.004-08:00

BIG RAIDER WIN!!!!!!!!

2012-03-06T17:52:00.003-08:00

RAIDERS 41
COMETS 35

41 Seconds to go Raiders up 2

2012-03-06T17:52:00.001-08:00

Going Down to Wire

2012-03-06T17:05:00.001-08:00

Raiders up by 3
1:15 to go

4 minutes left Raiders up by 6

2012-03-06T16:54:00.001-08:00

This Looks Like It's Going Down to the Wire

2012-03-06T16:48:00.001-08:00

Tied end of 3

Very Exciting Game

2012-03-06T16:43:00.003-08:00

Raiders up 30-28

Raiders Start Second Half with 8-0 Run

2012-03-06T16:43:00.001-08:00

Forces Comets to take Timeout

Raiders Down 24-19

2012-03-06T16:28:00.001-08:00

The Comets hit a three at the Buzzer

Raiders Up 14-12

2012-03-06T16:18:00.001-08:00

Quicklybwe close the gap

Raiders Down 10-3 Early

2012-03-06T16:13:00.001-08:00

Big Screen Picture

2012-03-06T16:12:00.001-08:00

Newman Catholic gets opening Tip

2012-03-06T16:08:00.003-08:00

Introductions

2012-03-06T16:08:00.001-08:00

Jamie Swimmer #0 being introduced

Here We Go!

2012-03-06T15:55:00.003-08:00

Warm-up Starting

2012-03-06T15:55:00.001-08:00

We Are Here

2012-03-06T14:36:00.001-08:00

The team is here and we are here too for a pre game meeting. Great day to play.

Live Blogging Today at Super Sectional

2012-03-06T05:38:00.001-08:00

I will start live blogging from the site of the NIU Super Sectional this afternoon. Game time is 6 pm. You can sign up for email updates on the right. You can follow me on Twitter @NorthShoreTrack. It should be an exciting afternoon and evening. GO RAIDERS!

Super Sectional Information on Tickets & Fan Bus

2012-03-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

Tuesday evening March 6th at 6 pm, our Boys Varsity Basketball team will play in the De Kalb Super Sectional vs. Sterling Newman Catholic. The game will be played at the NIU Convocation Center.

Tickets are $10. You can buy tickets at the door but I would suggest that you purchase tickets from me. I will be selling tickets at lunch today and tomorrow and from my office in the Mac Gym after practice tonight until 9 pm. Our Student Tickets are in Sections 116 and 117. Our other tickets are in Sections 101, 102 and 118.

There will be a fan bus for students leaving school at 3:15 tomorrow. Students need to sign up for that today -- Monday.

The drive to De Kalb is a solid two hours. Obviously, with Chicago traffic travel time is a bit unpredictable. Our team is leaving campus at 2:15 hoping to arrive by 4:30. Gates open in De Kalb at 5:00 pm for fans.

Parking is $5.

Tolls -- if you do not have an I-Pass are not cheap. Getting off at Exit 91 off of I-88 in De Kalb, you will need $2.10 in exact change.

Sunday Inspiration -- Simon Sinek

2012-03-04T04:00:00.005-08:00

"Normal" is what the majority does, which is why "different" is so much more interesting.

Simon Sinek

Another Picture From a Crazy Night

2012-03-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

This is the finish line picture from the Distance Medley Relay Heat #1 at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame Friday night. Not the greatest picture of Peter as that is him in the middle with his head down. It was a great dual between the anchor legs. Unfortunately, Peter got into an awkward position with a lap to go. He almost made up all the ground he was behind but ran out of ground and energy with just a few yards remaining. The final places were:
1st Ohio State (anchor Corey Leslie) 9:31.72
2nd University of Oregon (anchor Trevor Dunbar) 9:31.92
3rd Princeton (anchor Peter Callahan) 9:31.95

Princeton is now a provisional qualifier for the Distance Medley Relay at the NCAA meet. That means it is up to the NCAA selection committee to decide if they are in or not Monday or Tuesday this week. Thanks to Flotrack for the picture.

Where We Are Playing Tuesday

2012-03-03T09:08:00.001-08:00

This is the NIU Convocation Center. Just met with our event coordinator.

American Pie & March Madness North Shore Style

2012-03-03T04:00:00.062-08:00

A long, long time ago....

As I drove away from school on Friday afternoon. Don McLean's American Pie came on the radio. I have to say I saw it as a great omen for the evening. When I was 10, I remember many happy school bus rides on Friday afternoon winters going with my class ice skating. On those rides we always sang American Pie. It was 1972. Although this is a sad song really, when 10 year olds sing it who are naive to the meaning of the song, it is happy sound. And it was happy on our bus as we headed downtown for our track meet. To think that it was before this song was a hit that North Shore last had a boys basketball team that had achieved as much as our current team would. So before I get into what happened last night get into the feeling I had as I pulled out from school and listen to this great song.

So lets's take inventory on last night.

The first event of the evening was North Shore alum Peter Callahan '09 anchoring the Princeton Distance Medley Relay at the Alex Wilson invitational at Notre Dame. This night is called DMRMadness. The Coach at University of New Mexico calls the event the 25 most exciting minutes in track as two mens DMR heats are run all desperate to make the NCAA meet. In their heat the Princeton guys not only break the Princeton record but also the all-time Ivy record. Peter runs a 4 flat final 1600m leg which includes an insane final 400m in 55 seconds to run 9:31.95 and finish 3rd in their heat 4 hundredths of a second behind the legendary Oregon squad and .24 seconds behind winner Ohio State. But Princeton's time is only the 13th fastest time of the season, and it looks like the Princeton team will not advance to the NCAA meet missing the Auto Qualifier by 95 hundredths of a second. Here is video of the race courtesy of Flotrack.

Watch more video of 2012 Alex Wilson Invitational (Notre Dame) on flotrack.org

Then at 7:25 pm our girls 4x200m Relay team of Rachel Mabie, Heather Mabie, Aleda Deuble and Cassi Formolo run 2:00.4 to set a new indoor school record for the 4x200m relay. Shortly after the relay, Heather Mabie sets her second indoor school record of the night triple jumping 31'8". We have a great rest of the meet with 12 athletes taking part.

North Shore fans at the game

But of course the topper to the night was our boys Sectional Title game. Throughout the year, Chicago Hope Academy (25-4) has been ranked among the top Class A teams in the state. They defeated seven 4A schools over the course of the season. Despite those achievements, I felt very confident we were going to hang right with Hope. The State Tournament is never about who was playing well early in the season or in the middle of the season. It is about who is playing well now. And the Raiders are playing well RIGHT NOW. For most of the game the play was extremely close. There were six ties and five lead changes before the Raiders pulled away in the second half. Jake Bruce had 22 of his game high 27 in the second half. Hope was able to cut the deficit to 50-43 with 4:44 to play but the Raiders finished things off with a 20-13 run to win 70-56. Incredible. This is our first Sectional Title ever in Boys Basketball. Our only other Sectional Titles have come in golf.

Coach Rashid Smith Cutting Down the Net

So now we await the winner of Freeport (Aquin) and Sterling (Neumann) who play Saturday at 2 pm.

There is no rest for me and our basketball coach Rashid Smith. We are expected out in Dekalb at the Junction Restaurant for breakfast at 9:30 am on Saturday morning. We will get an allotment of tickets and a tour of the NIU convocation center. Our Super Sectional Game will be at 6 pm on Tuesday. There will be more information on fan buses for Tuesday by Sunday.

On Sunday we also have our Basketball Banquet at Hackneys on Lake at 5:30 pm.

I hope people enjoyed the blogging last night. The blog had almost 500 hits between 7 pm and midnight. That's another record! March Madness has descended on North Shore Country Day. Hold on everyone. Next week may be wild.

Riley Hall '13, Jake Bruce '12, Austin Curren '13, Jamie Swimmer '13, Floris Hondmann '13

The Dream is Alive!!_

2012-03-02T19:37:00.001-08:00

Sectional Champs!

Go RAIDERS!!!!

2012-03-02T19:30:00.001-08:00

POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST WIN IN SCHOOL HISTORY!!

RAIDERS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-03-02T19:16:00.001-08:00

HUGE UPSET!!!!!!

WE ARE GOING TO WIN!

2012-03-02T19:11:00.001-08:00

UP 13 SECONDS REMAINING

62-48 2 Minutes To Go

2012-03-02T19:06:00.001-08:00

We are on the brink of a MAJOR UPSET!!!!!!

Raiders Up by 11

2012-03-02T19:05:00.001-08:00

North Shore 44
Hope 33

Halftime Scoreboard

2012-03-02T18:56:00.003-08:00

Raiders Up!!!

Raiders up 35 - 31 in 3rd

2012-03-02T18:56:00.001-08:00

Unbelievable Game

2012-03-02T18:25:00.001-08:00

Raiders up at half 26-25

Raiders Up 20-18

2012-03-02T18:17:00.001-08:00

4 minutes to go in half

9-13 end of 1st Quarter

2012-03-02T18:05:00.001-08:00

We are down 4

Boys up 7-6 first 4 minutes

2012-03-02T17:59:00.001-08:00

Girls 4x2 Finish Second

2012-03-02T17:37:00.001-08:00

Run close to school record pace.
Rachel Mabie 30.5
Heather Mabie 29.7
Aleda Deuble 31.0
Cassi Formolo 29.5

Sectional Basketball Game Delayed

2012-03-02T17:34:00.001-08:00

Referee apparently stuck in traffic. 15 minute delay.

Princeton 3rd

2012-03-02T17:11:00.001-08:00

Princeton runs 9:31.95. Peter Callahan split 3:57.

Live Blog Tonight Starting at 6:45 pm

2012-03-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

Through the power of TommyTech, it looks like I will be able to LiveBlog all our events tonight. We have a tethering system worked out and can update people on results from Notre Dame, Mooseheart and the University of Chicago. So here are the key moments.

7 PM Distance Medley Relay at Notre Dame -- Peter Callahan on the anchor
7 PM Track Meet Starts at University of Chicago -- First event for North Shore Athletes will be the 4x200m which will be at about 7:25 PM
7:30 PM Sectional Basketball Game Begins at Mooseheart

So look for postings beginning at about 6:45 pm.

Please, just this once. Could I be in three places at once?

2012-03-02T04:00:00.022-08:00

There are many times when I wish I could be in two places at once. Today, I wish I could be in three places at once. Tonight we have three events that North Shore athletes or alums are taking part in, all happening between 7 pm and 9 pm.

Our varsity boys basketball team is playing in the Sectional final at Mooseheart tonight vs. Chicago Hope Academy at 7:30 pm CST. We are the underdog, but we are playing well. I feel really good about the preparation of our team. Playing at Mooseheart is a great location for us. I think I have attended every game that represents a first in our schools athletic department history. So I wish I could be there tonight. If we get by tonight, I get at least one more time to watch our basketball team. Right now the plan is to send Natalie Kohn to represent me and text me results. Something tells me this is going to be a great game.

Also at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana at 7 pm CST, Peter Callahan is anchoring Princeton's Distance Medley Relay team. A Distance Medley Relay has four legs running 1200m, 400m, 800m and 1600m in that order. In collegiate track this weekend is known as Last Chance Weekend, meaning this is the last chance for athletes to hit qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor National Championships. The NCAA meet is next week in Boise, Idaho. Typically there are some incredible times run this weekend as everyone is in their best shape and hungry to hit the marks. Princeton has to run 9:31 to punch their ticket to Boise. The Alex Wilson Meet at Notre Dame is noted for great fields in the Distance Medley Relay. Flotrack is covering the race. Here is a link to a preview: Distance Medley Madness. Princeton is in the same heat with the University of Oregon's legendary team. If you want to tune in on your computer and watch live, here is the link ALEX WILSON MEET LIVE. Since Peter graduated from North Shore in 2009, I have not been able to watch him compete live. To know he is as close as South Bend ... well I wish I could be there. Luckily I am sending his brother Tim to text me results.

I am planning on attending our track meet at U-High Friday at 7 pm. We have been working hard for a while in preparation for the meet and this is only our third track meet of the season. We have some great potential to hit some big marks.

I am not sure if I will be able to live blog tonight, but I will try. TommyTech is working on a tethering system for me to live blog. If only there were three of me or I knew how to teleport I could be at all three locations. My twitter is @NorthShoreTrack if you are interested in following that.

March Madness at North Shore

2012-03-01T04:26:00.000-08:00

On Friday night March 2nd at 7:30 pm our Varsity Boys Basketball team will play Chicago Hope Academy at Mooseheart for the IHSA Boys Sectional Title. This game will mark the first time our school will truly participate in March Madness. Today March Madness is mostly associated with the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. But it was a term originally started and associated with the Illinois High School tournament. The first use of the term March Madness was with the 1939 tournament.

Last year after losing in the Sectional Semi- Final one of the boys on our current team asked our Coach, Rashid Smith, did he think we could win the Sectional next year. Coach Smith answered by saying he would never put a limit on our teams success. I reminded Coach Smith about this conversation last week. He does not remember it. But I wrote about it last March in the following post: The Dream -- March 14 2011 Post .

Of course winning the schools first ever Sectional in Boys Basketball means you have to get the Sectional Final game. The team has accomplished that first step. Come see if they can take the second step on Friday night and fulfill the Dream. It should be a great game and a great moment for our school.

Raiders Win!!!

2012-02-29T18:29:00.001-08:00

North Shore 51
Newark 37

Newark concedes

2012-02-29T18:28:00.003-08:00

They have put subs in. We are going to win.

Four minutes to go

2012-02-29T18:28:00.001-08:00

Up by 18

Raiders Up after 3

2012-02-29T18:17:00.001-08:00

North Shore 42
Newark 31
Very rough end of quarter. Swimmer again hits shot at buzzer, but this time called off.

Halfway Through 3rd

2012-02-29T18:11:00.001-08:00

Raiders up 40 - 27. Highlight a Riley Hall dunk

Raiders Up At Half

2012-02-29T17:58:00.003-08:00

North Shore 36
Newark 23
Jamie Swimmer hits 3 in last 10 seconds

Raiders extend lead

2012-02-29T17:58:00.001-08:00

26 - 13 now

1st Quarter Ends Raiders Up

2012-02-29T17:43:00.001-08:00

North Shore 16
Newark 11
Very close first quarter. The difference were baskets by Curren and Swimmer in last 25 seconds.

7-6 Raiders halfway through 1st quarter

2012-02-29T17:36:00.001-08:00

Introductions

2012-02-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

Warm-Up

2012-02-29T17:27:00.001-08:00

We made it out to Mooseheart. Introduction about to start.

Stopped For Dinner at A&W

2012-02-29T17:26:00.001-08:00

Made it to the Mooseheart A&W. We once had a race in this parking lot for a Cheeseburger.

North Shore National Recordholder -- Congrats Sam Skinner '12

2012-02-29T05:38:00.001-08:00

Sam Skinner '12 upper right

This is pretty big news about a former North Shore athlete. Most of you know we do not have a swim team. But over the years we have had a lot of students who participate in swimming outside of school. Now we have a former North Shore student who is a National Recordholder. Sam Skinner '12 who attended North Shore through 8th grade was part of the 440 Yd. Freestyle Relay team at New Trier this weekend that won the state title and set a new high school record. That is an amazing accomplishment. Bolles High School in Jacksonville, Florida held the old record. Congrats to Sam and his teammates. Raider Nation is proud of you! The link below will give you full details.

New Trier Relay Team Sets National Record

Varsity Boys Basketball Live Blogging Tonight

2012-02-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

Our Semi-final Sectional game in the IHSA State Boys Basketball Tournament is tonight at Mooseheart. I am hoping to be able to live blog from the site starting at 7:30 pm. If you check back regularly this evening between 7:30 and 9, I hope to be able to put regular posts up.

Building Resilient Leaders of the Future

2012-02-28T04:00:00.016-08:00

In 1991, I was doing a summer internship in the Philadelphia corporate offices for a company called SMG (Spectacor Management Group), the largest company in the world that privatizes stadiums and sports arenas. I had finished my graduate degree at the University of Massachusetts in Sports Management, and I was hoping to get a job with SMG once the summer internship ended. The person who I directly reported to went on vacation, and I was left with a fairly long to-do list. To prove to the company I was worthy of a full time job, I was determined to finish this list of tasks. But something went wrong, and I needed to ask a senior executive for clarification on an advertisement that was going to be placed. I will call this executive Matt. As soon as I asked the question, Matt exploded in profanity. What was I doing asking him this question? How did I think I had the authority to be involved in a company advertisement? I was a mere intern, didn't I understand that? Along with many more questions -- all sprinkled with frequent use of the F word and a few "you idiot" for good measure. The tirade went on for what seemed like 10 minutes as Matt stormed outside my cubicle. As you can imagine once Matt finished, I was pretty shaken. My chastisement was public and humiliating. I ended my day wondering if I was going to be sent packing. I wasn't. Matt himself hired me as a full time SMG employee three weeks later and eventually put me in charge of millions of dollars in ticket revenue. I am convinced to this day the tirade was a test and I passed.

Before I go any further, let me say, I do not agree with this kind of management technique -- or to any degree coaching people in this manner. But I would bet there are a lot of readers over the age of 30 who have had a similar experience in their work life. My point in sharing this story has nothing to do with coaching or managing in this way. It has to do with developing resilience.

On the day it happened, I was shocked as the incident seemed to come out of no where and the words used were profane and personal. I thought I was just being helpful and following directions. Plus I was in a vulnerable position trying to get a job with the company at that time. There was really no re-course for me. Either I take it and learn. Or I pack my bags and move on. So I learned a lesson in resilience, and I was hired by SMG a few weeks later.

Resilience is one of those traits I worry we need to do a better job at as we teach our kids. There has been a lot written about our educational obsession of the last couple of decades in building self-esteem. You may have even been part of a team where everyone got a trophy regardless of how the team performed. Recently, though, there have been a number of articles written critical of the results of this educational approach. The results seem to indicate a lack of resilience among young people. Plus recent work by psychologists like Dr. Martin Seligman have shown that the critical determinant of success in life is resilience in the face of adversity.

Only a couple generations ago things were very different. Most people my age and a little older have parents who grew up during the depression and World War II. My own mother lived through air raids in England at that time. My father has always described it as a harsher time. He attended a high school in the 1940's that prided itself in flunking kids out who could not withstand the competitive academic load. My father himself came within a whisker of being one of those students not allowed back at the end of his freshman year. But he survived to ultimately be an academic success. Tom Brokaw has called my parents generation "the greatest generation" It seems clear that the challenges that life presented "the greatest generation" in the 1930's and 1940's contributed to their success and make complaining about a profane outburst seem like whining.

I have become especially interested in the work of Dr. Tim Elmore. My Athletic Director colleague Tom Bower, at The Latin School, first introduced his work to me. Dr. Elmore has written Generation iY and more recently a book called Habitudes. Dr. Elmore's work concerns the issue of building leaders for the future. He too is concerned about how we are raising our current generation for the future. The reality is despite how much we want to do for and protect our children from, life is hard at times. No one gets through life without a number of bumps in the road. We cannot prepare our children for their future without letting them fail, fear, fight, and fall.

I think school athletics is one of the areas where we can build the habits of resilience and leadership. I have already said in other posts that athletic venues should be laboratories for failure. I am a strong believer that mistakes and failure need a place in school. But with that failure needs to come the skills and habits for success. Sports can allow that to happen in a safe environment.

Below is a recent interview of Dr. Tim Elmore that I think you might enjoy.

Peter Callahan at Heptagonal Meet

2012-02-27T10:00:00.003-08:00

This past weekend Peter Callahan '09 competed for Princeton at the Heptagonal Meet hosted by Cornell University. The Heptagonal Meet is the name of the Ivy League Conference Championship. It was projected to be a very close meet and looked like Princeton after Saturdays performance would finish second to the host Cornell. The Princeton men rallied and ended up winning by 8 points. Peter made a great contribution. He broke a 24 year old Barton Fieldhouse record becoming the first athlete ever to run under 1:50 for 800m at Cornell when he ran 1:49.72 to win the event. He then anchored the Princeton Distance Medley Relay Team. A Distance Medley Relay has legs of 1200m, 400m, 800m and 1600m in that order. Peter got the baton in last place -- well back -- and you will see from the series of pictures sent to me by Bic Callahan he steadily moved up to eventually earn second place.

800m Results First Time Anyone Has Broken 1:50 at Cornell for 800m

800m Podium

Early in the Distance Medley Relay, Peter well back, the leader is not in the picture

Moving into the pack. Leader now in sight

Moves solidly into second, but running out of room to catch the leader

Update: HERE IS VIDEO of 800m

Watch more videos on Flotrack

What do you do when you drop the baton?

2012-02-27T04:00:00.050-08:00

This is one of those metaphorical questions that hits on life lessons of sport. I was reminded of this question Friday when we dropped the baton at our second track meet of the season. Our relay team responded exactly the way I wanted them to. So despite an outcome that did not reflect their abilities, I was pleased how our team responded. But before I tell you what I tell our teams let me just write my thoughts on baton passing and what I think our regular national failures at passing a baton say about our sports culture.

Passing a baton looks like one of those sports skills that if you practice it enough you ought to get it right. But despite that fact and the fact that the United States has the greatest depth of sprinting talent in the world, arguably the best coaches in the world, and likely access to the best facilities, look at their results in the major international competitions over the last 12 years.

4x100m Relay Results United States Teams 2000-2011 in World Championships and Olympic Games
DNF means Did Not Finish
2011 Daegu World Championships Men DNF Women Gold
2009 Berlin World Championships Men DNF Women DNF
2008 Beijing Olympics Men DNF Women DNF
2007 Osaka World Championships Men Gold Women Gold
2005 Helsinki World Championships Men DNF Women Gold
2004 Athens Olympics Men Silver Women DNF
2003 Paris World Championships Men Gold Women Silver
2001 Edmonton World Championships Men DNF Women DNF
2000 Sydney Olympics Men Gold Women Bronze

So out of 18 opportunities in the 4x100m relay (which is the relay that involves a blind exchange) over 12 years to win medals in international competitions, the United States Mens teams have won three Gold medals, one Silver Medal, and been DQ'd or DNF'd five times. The United States Women's team has not fared much better as they too have won three Golds, one Silver, one Bronze Medal but have been DQ'd or DNF'd four times. 50% of the time you can bet that the United States will drop the baton in the 4x100m relay. Considering the advantages we have as a country and that all of the athletes that are involved in these events have been running relays at an elite level since high school, our country's failure rate is unbelievable.

Whenever our US team fails there is a lot of fingers pointed and excuses made. I wondered as I considered this piece if any of them can compete with our teams preparation challenges. Here they are. Of the four athletes on our Friday relay team one has just finished her winter gymnastics season so was just starting her track season last week. Three are involved in the spring musical so some days have to come late to practice. One has a long term commitment to helping disadvantaged children once a week so has to miss practice on that day. On the one day we had to get everyone together last week at the same time to practice handoffs, we had to do it on a gym floor that is slightly over 100 ft. long. Their coach is juggling a three ring circus of hurdlers, jumpers, and sprinters in that gym. Now I am not complaining. I actually enjoy all of these challenges and the fact that we did as well if not better than 50% of the United States's best relay teams over the last dozen years makes me feel much better. And better yet after our race Friday, no one on the team was making excuses either. They all seemed to be focused on improving for the future.

But let's get back to the original question. What do you do when you drop the baton?

This is what I tell my athletes. Pick it up and run.

You might think that's obvious, but it's not always. I have seen a lot of teams just stop and athletes hang their heads. Shortly there after the blame game begins. Fingers are pointed and team morale suffers. That's typically what the US teams do. Why pick the baton up I am sure many athletes feel since picking it up costs seconds in an event that typically is decided by 100ths of a second.

Here is why I tell our athletes to pick the baton up and run no matter what. It is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, courage and perseverance.

Whenever the the baton is dropped the act of picking it up shows me that someone is taking responsibility for the bad situation. There are all sorts of reasons that a handoff can go bad. Dwelling on those reasons in the moment is pointless. Someone needs to act. At our 2003 conference meet, we were the prohibitive favorites in the 4x100m relay. Something happened on our first exchange, a baton was dropped, one of our runners had fallen and gotten scraped up. Our relay team went from first to last in a six team battle. Our second runner picked the baton up and continued. Our third runner battled us back to in reach of passing the 5th place team. Finally our anchor leg moved us from last to 3rd. The leadership and perseverance of those actions earned us valuable points that contributed to our team championship but also helped focus our team on the challenge at hand.

I still believe the most courageous run I have ever seen a North Shore athlete perform happened at a U-High track meet (the same place we were on this past Friday) in the 4x400m relay race to end an indoor meet in February of 2000. We were neck and neck with Prospect High School -- typically a much stronger team than us -- heading into the final exchange when our third leg dropped the baton. We lost considerable ground. But Teddy Heinz (class of 2000), our anchor, began trying to chase the Prospect athlete down. Having to make-up about 30m, unbelievably Teddy pulled even on the final straight. But his body completely shut down with 10 meters to go, and he stumbled across the line in second.

These kinds of efforts may have been in losing causes, but what they did for team morale was important. This past Friday when at our first exchange the baton was dropped our second leg picked it up and although falling from close to first to last did her best to get us back in the race. That action demonstrated that we were not going to hang our heads. We were going to compete. So this summer at the London Olympics, I hope if the US team drops the baton, no one hangs their heads and sulks that they just lost their gold medal and endorsement deals worth millions. Instead someone picks the baton up and finishes the race. Maybe the effort they show will have positive repercussions well beyond the glory of gold.

My First Sports Memories in NYT Today

2012-02-26T16:00:00.001-08:00

My first professional baseball game was July 20th 1969 at Yankee Stadium -- the day the astronauts landed on the moon. I had to post this article from the New York Times today as it summed up a lot about those formative years. The Yankees were in the midst of their worst draught since before World War I. Those of us who were Yankee fans in New York in 1969 were teased and bullied by Mets fans. As Dan Barry says, cheering for this team in 1969 made both of us fans of the underdog for the rest of our lives. It is great to see the name Celerino Sanchez in print again too.

The Damned Yankees

The Yankees of Mediocrity Had Their Own Strange Charisma by Dan Barry

Somewhere amid the endless Long Island sprawl of aspiration, a father sits in his living-room chamber, sipping from his beer chalice as he considers the various financial threats to his split-level castle. Meanwhile, upstairs, his oldest child ponders more urgent matters as he lies on his bedroom floor, oblivious to the boyhood squalor that envelops him:

The dirt-stiffened blue jeans; the grayish balls of formerly white socks; the ripped Hawkman comic books; the scattering of carefully collected wheat-ear pennies, some already worth twice their face value. Even the close air, redolent of a bologna sandwich misplaced and long forgotten, goes unnoticed.

Scrawny, bucktoothed, conditioned by bullies to greet each day with an anticipatory wince, the boy is poring over piles of small, rectangular documents spread out before him, searching for answers to why he has been denied his rightful place among the wreathed champions. He is confused beyond the confusion that is part of being 11 years old.

You see, thanks to an inheritance from his brooding father downstairs, he roots with every ounce of his body for a perennial baseball underdog: the New York Yankees.

As I write this, I hear the hue and cry of outrage from across the continent, the angry dissent loudest in certain long-suffering precincts: the rain-wet hills of Seattle, the landmark-cluttered District of Columbia, the north side of Chicago, the lakefront of Cleveland. Even Boston, forced by two recent World Series victories to shed the lovable-loser status so meticulously cultivated over several generations, takes wicked umbrage.

The New York Yankees? As underdogs? No ___ way! (Insert regional epithet of choice.)

Ah, but the indisputable documentation was laid out upon that bedroom floor back in the summer of 1969, and the boy has it still. That is, I have it still, stored in a Rockport shoebox whose location will remain classified: hundreds of old baseball cards, courageously saved from the sporadic cleaning frenzies that disrupted our home’s natural disorder.

Most of the cards are worth less than the face value of those wheat-ear pennies; some even bear the singe of fire damage. (Strange how I don’t even remember burning out the eyes of California Angels outfielder Rick Reichardt with a magnifying glass.) I keep them all as evidence, along with well-thumbed Yankees yearbooks that feature the mostly forgotten pre-Steinbrenner, Mike Burke, and a few crumbling newspaper clippings from early 1969, when Mickey Mantle, my broken idol, announced that he just could not play anymore, and I sensed, even then, that the Mick would never quite adapt to a work world without grass.

The Yankee cards among my tired collection are like mug-shot exhibits, prepared for presentation to the Court of the Beleaguered. From Jake Gibbs, catcher without bat, to Walt Williams, outfielder without neck, they confirm my childhood status as underdog. Here is Bill Robinson, one would-be phenom, batting .196; here is Steve Whitaker, another, batting little better. Here is first baseman Joe Pepitone, sporting his game-day toupee. Here is second baseman Horace Clarke, who so disliked body contact that he often failed to make the relay to first on potential double plays.

Here are Roger Repoz and Ruben Amaro, Andy Kosco and Charley Smith, Fred Talbot and Hal Reniff, Frank Tepedino and Gene Michael and Joe Verbanic and Thad Tillotson and Johnny Callison and Danny Cater and Curt Blefary and Jerry Kenney and Jimmy Lyttle and Celerino Sanchez, poor Celerino Sanchez, and so many others you do not remember, probably by choice.

As hollow as it might sound, though, these were my heroes. I ached and rooted for every one of them as they failed daily on baseball’s Broadway stage, Yankee Stadium, facing two opponents every time they stepped onto the field: the American League team of the moment and the Yankees teams of the past. My father’s Yankees.

Who knows when a child first becomes baseball-aware? I fell under the game’s spell at age 7, in the upside-down year of 1965. My mother came from rural Ireland, where sport meant soccer, rugby, hurling and blood; she found baseball to be pastoral — almost like turf-cutting, only with uniforms. Still, she became conversant in the exploits of our central, post-Mantle heroes — Bobby Murcer, Mel Stottlemyre, Roy White and Steve Hamilton — because she was a wife and mother, resolved to maintain the domestic peace that she occasionally managed to achieve.

My father, though, was a New Yorker to his marrow, no matter how many times Gotham turned its concrete back to him. Raised in the belly of the Depression, he moved to or was evicted from one borough after another, never enrolled in one school long enough to develop friendships, never finding urban roots. He finished high school at night, found his higher education in the Army during the Korean War, and returned to work on Wall Street — literally, on the street — as a cold-call salesman.

But he flashed his New York Yankees allegiance like a diamond-studded tie clasp. It granted a measure of elegance to his sweat-stained shirts, his sole-worn shoes, his striving. A child of flawed, alcoholic parents, whose baby-sitting options included leashing him to a post, he now rooted for baseball’s best by day and vicariously socialized with them by night, sharing highballs at Toots Shor’s or the Copa with that Rat Pack of baseball — Billy Martin, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle. Winners, all.

By the time I was 7, then, I knew that Mickey Mantle was born on Oct. 20, 1931, 10 days after my father. That my father saw Don Larsen throw his perfect game in the 1956 World Series. That Ruth called a home run in the 1932 World Series; that Gehrig was the luckiest man on the face of this earth, but not really; that DiMaggio once hit in 56 consecutive games; that Berra was the best and Maris was the best and Mantle was the best, always, even with his damaged legs.

And Son, the Yankees lost the 1964 World Series in seven games. They’ll be back, though, Son, because they’re the top dogs, not the underdogs. The best, the best, the absolute best.

But just as I came of baseball age, in the spring of 1965, my precious inheritance broke apart like a tin toy from some discount store on Montauk Highway: the vaunted and suddenly lousy New York Yankees.

The statistics, including those contained on the backs of those baseball cards, tell the damning tale.

In 1965, when I was 7, the Yankees finished under .500 for the first time since 1925 — years before my father’s birth.

In 1966, when I was 8, they came to a thud in last place for the first time since 1912 — so deep in the past that they were known then as the Highlanders, fielding a team with names like Hippo Vaughn, Cozy Dolan and Klondike Smith.

And in 1967, when I was — you guessed it— 9, they again lost far more than they won to complete a hat trick of failure not known to the organization since the administration of Woodrow Wilson.

In fact, the New York Yankees of my formative years were mired in failure and mediocrity, with occasional competitive flashes, for 11 consecutive seasons. This fallow period was so startling, so un-Yankee-like, that you had to reach back to prehistoric times to see its like; that is, to those dark years before the purchase of Babe Ruth in 1919 — two decades that are generally dismissed in the ball club’s hagiographic narrative as a kind of protracted spring training.

It is true that the Yankees would soon endure an even longer drought: the Mattingly Era, you might call it, when the impressive career of the lionhearted Don Mattingly, the Sisyphus of the Bronx, coincided with 13 years of futility, from 1982 to 1994, that did not end until the team at least made the playoffs in 1995. But the earlier decade of failure, my decade, was still fresh in the collective Yankees memory. In many ways, it prepared the team’s fans for their descent into sustained humiliation.

As with the collapse of other empires before it, the fall of the Yankees has been subjected to intense academic scrutiny — though, in the end, the reasons are effectively the same: age, self-satisfaction, the failure to anticipate. In 1965, the Yankees acquired a good-glove, no-hit catcher named Doc Edwards, who regarded his new teammates with unabashed awe, but instantly recognized that these bandaged men beside him were no longer the famously dominant Yankees of years past.

“They were not the Mickey Mantle and the Whitey Ford and the Roger Maris that we knew,” Edwards said. “They had reached a point in their lives where they were all hurt. You just don’t take that many thoroughbreds and replace them with ponies — and, in my case, a draft horse — and win races. You just don’t do it.”

You just don’t. But I didn’t understand this. Weren’t many of the surnames in the box scores the same as when the team owned October? Didn’t the mere donning of pinstripes imbue a ballplayer with Ruthian power and DiMaggio’s grace? I did not know, for example, that Mantle was paying the physical price for years of alcohol abuse, or that Ford and catcher Elston Howard, at 36, were baseball Methuselahs.

Because of curious timing, then, and inherited allegiances, I became an underdog. And I am so grateful.

Otherwise, I would not have so keenly appreciated the need to find balance when the world turns upside down, as when a giddy nun wheeled a television into a sixth-grade classroom at SS. Cyril and Methodius School so that we could watch an event even more spiritually rewarding than the papal visit of 1965: the 1969 World Series, about to be won by New York’s other team.

The once-hapless Mets were up, the once-invincible Yankees were down, and the sons and daughters of those abandoned a decade earlier by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants wept and rejoiced. Razzed then as a Yankees loser, I learned how to be a good sport; how to see the wonders of baseball beyond the sometimes confining bars of Yankees pinstripes.

Nor would I have fully comprehended the restorative powers inherent in loss, or the deep resonance in the clichéd vow to wait till next year. While other families bonded over victory, my family bonded over failure — a pervasive sense of inadequacy made more acute by the knowledge of the greatness that once had been.

Let those in New England remember where they were when their beloved Red Sox clinched the 1967 pennant. I, though, have never forgotten a Sunday earlier that season, in June, when the Yankees won the first game of a doubleheader at home against the Detroit Tigers, and were now trying for the sweep.

Imagine! Winning both ends of a doubleheader to come that much closer to .500, where official mediocrity resides! And then? Think of the possibilities!

My younger brother and I darted in and out of the house in boyish blurs, watching an inning on television, then playing an inning on the front lawn, watching an inning in black and white, playing an inning in color, pestering our father all the while about what we had missed. Yankees pitcher Fritz Peterson gave up six runs early in the game, but the team scrapped back — until, with one out in the ninth inning, Jake Gibbs stepped out of character to hit a pinch home run and tie the game.

Our Bobby Thomson moment: a shot heard ’round the living room!

Now our team’s modest fortunes rested with Yankees relief pitcher Dooley Womack, whose name never struck us as silly; he was just — Dooley Womack. He held his own through the 10, 11th and 12th innings, as the late-afternoon shadows encroached deeper upon the Stadium grass, as our telepathically delivered pleas failed once again to alter the standard performances of the likes of Bill Robinson (groundout) and Steve Whitaker (double-play groundout).

Then, in the top of the 13th, the Tigers loaded the bases, and stepping up to the plate with two out was their second baseman, Dick McAuliffe, to adopt that wide-open, gloriously eccentric batting stance we all mimicked when playing Wiffle Ball. Dick McAuliffe. Not what you would call a threat. Certainly not an Al Kaline or a Norm Cash. Just a Dick McAuliffe.

Well, batting left-handed, Just Dick McAuliffe drove a Dooley Womack pitch into the right-field bleachers for a grand slam.

Nearly 45 years later, I still remember the hurt contained in the loss of that inconsequential game: the deflating moment of McAuliffe’s contact; the final score, 11-7, numbers that in other contexts are considered lucky; the sense of a small, sudden death in our living room; and the growing realization that my boyhood team simply was not good enough, and never would be. And I am grateful.

The seasonal failure of the Yankees made the game of baseball somehow sweeter. It became a kind of binding agent for a suburban family in need of one: a shared distraction; an ever-ready conversation changer. When my father lost his job, or temper; when our home’s domestic quarrels became loud enough for the entire neighborhood to enjoy (Mets fans, all of them); when the three dogs slipped under the fence and ran away again, there was always this:

Dad, didja see that the Yankees are gonna get Rocky Colavito? Rocky Colavito?!?

Dad, watch me do a high-kicking windup, just like Lindy McDaniel!

Dad, guess what? Bobby Murcer is an All-Star!

Dad, it says here that Mickey is going to play in the Old-Timers’ Game. Can we watch that together? Can we?

By the time Chris Chambliss ended the decade of Yankees failure with a walk-off home run that sent the team to the 1976 World Series, I was an 18-year-old college freshman — a man, technically — who erupted from my Rathskeller seat with an 11-year-old’s abandon the instant the ball cleared the wall.

But in the years to come, as the Yankees returned to collecting World Series championships the way I once collected wheat-ear pennies, my Yankees blood struggled with my underdog nature for dominance. I had been conditioned by bullies and baseball to wince, not gloat. I found myself rooting at times for small-market teams, like the Minnesota Twins, and Rust Belt teams, like the Tigers, as a way, quite frankly, of honoring my father: lifelong Yankees fan, lifelong underdog.

The family is long gone from those cheap seats on Long Island. The Irish mother is gone, and the Yankees father, too. So, every now and then, I open an old shoebox, grab a few dog-eared rectangles of cardboard, and lay out my proud inheritance before me.

Sunday Inspiration -- Ken Kesey

2012-02-26T04:00:00.001-08:00

"There are going to be times when we can't wait for somebody. Now, you're either on the bus or off the bus. If you're on the bus, and you get left behind, then you'll find it again. If you're off the bus in the first place — then it won't make a damn."

Ken Kesey as quoted by Tom Wolfe in

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Ken Kesey was the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and the leader of the merry band of pranksters. Above is a picture of the pranksters and his bus named Further. I like this quote for today because spring sports starts on Monday. For our spring teams, we will find out who is on the bus and who is off this week. I also like Kesey's description of being on the bus but being left behind. That happens in all kinds of ways in education. But as Kesey says "you'll find it again." I look at each season as a journey. Sometimes individuals on that journey get lost or left behind, but typically by the end they find their path again. However, if you were never on the bus in the first place, then it really makes no difference if you get left behind.

I am hopeful to have lots of folk on our spring sports buses this week!

Track Team Post Meet Fun

2012-02-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

One of the traditions of Track teams I have been part of since my college days is going out to eat after a meet. To me food never tastes better than right after a track meet. The Deubles discovered a Pizza place called Medici right near the University of Chicago that stays open late. Here we are last night enjoying the fruits of our labors.

Today's Lesson On Why Grace and Beauty are Important in Sports

2012-02-25T04:00:00.025-08:00

I don't want to lose anyone when I say this is a Fred Astaire video. But I think you can learn something about athleticism from watching it. There is a lot more to athleticism than any one factor. Watch Fred Astaire hit the golf ball. If you are like me, you will be so impressed by the grace and beauty of his movement. I have no idea how far the balls that he hit went. I don't think it really matters. His ability to swing the club is inspiring and made me think about what initially got me inspired to run. I wrote about that in this post: Inspiration November 28, 2011. Strength, endurance, speed, and agility seem to be the factors I hear most often spoken about when coaches discuss developing athleticism. However, there is also rhythm and timing. Those are two factors that are probably key to developing efficiency of movement as well as grace and beauty. Thanks to our golf coach, Joe Bosco, for pointing this video out to me. I think you will enjoy it.

Raiders Win Regional Title

2012-02-23T18:55:00.001-08:00

Final score 59-34

Riley Hall having strong game

2012-02-23T18:50:00.002-08:00

Raiders up 42 - 25 end of 3rd

2012-02-23T18:50:00.001-08:00

Raiders Up By 8 At Half

2012-02-23T18:17:00.001-08:00

After a very strong first quarter, the Raiders played a solid second quarter, but the CLA Chargers proved they were not going away and closed the gap to an 8 point gap. It will be a battle the rest of the way.

1st quarter score-- Raiders take early lead

2012-02-23T18:04:00.002-08:00

Regional Game Started

2012-02-23T18:04:00.001-08:00

Raiders get the tip and quick 3 pointer by Austin Curren

Christian Liberty Regional Final Tonight 7:30 pm

2012-02-23T04:00:00.001-08:00

Tonight our conference champion basketball team will play in the Christian Liberty Regional at 7:30 pm in Arlington Heights. This game is a rematch of last years Regional Championship game which our Raiders won 67-48. Here is the link to last years blogpost about the game: Raiders Win Regional February 25, 2011. Christian Liberty is not to be trifled with. The game will come down to if we can stop their strong guard play. Hope to see many of you in Arlington Heights this evening. Those of you who cannot make it, I will be trying to send Tweets from the game.

GO RAIDERS

The Problem for 8th Grade Boys

2012-02-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

I have trained with a lot of great runners in my time. I have trained with guys who have run in the Olympic Trials. I have trained with guys who have broken 4 minutes for the mile. I have trained with guys who have won NCAA titles. But I still believe the best ATHLETE I have ever trained with is my friend Steven Levin.

Steven Levin 3rd from left in lead pack of 1981 Baltimore City Marathon at 18 years old

Now I want to discriminate here between what I mean by a runner and an athlete. Runners can vary in their athleticism. Some runners can be uncoordinated athletes but due to some character trait -- like their determination and hard work -- or a genetic trait -- like their bodies ability to process oxygen -- are accomplished. But the runners who are also great athletes -- meaning their efficiency of movement, coordination, or grace is developed to a high level -- have a big advantage. Although runners can get a bad rap athletically, the best runners I know are great athletes. Steven is one of them.

Steven and I became friends competing against each other in high school, and we went to college together. Coming out of high school, he was the best runner in Baltimore and arguably the best in Maryland. I can only remember him having one bad day ever when I beat him. Otherwise I was rarely close to him in races. Not that I wouldn't try. Sometimes I would be with him in the first mile or two of a 5 mile collegiate cross country race and people would ask me later, "why does it look like Steven is not trying and you are trying so hard. Is he taking it easy?" But going on about Steven's grace and talent diverges from the point of today's post.

My point today is that in Middle School, Steven was the best FOOTBALL player in his class at all boys Gilman School in Baltimore. Part of the reason he became one of the best cross country runners in the state when he was a senior in high school and not one of the best football players was because he was an early maturer. In 7th grade, he had the advantage of being both very athletic and the largest boy in his class. By 12th grade, he was still very athletic, but all the best football players in his class had long since passed him in size as he reached his adult height in 7th grade.

Also in my 8th grade class was a student named Lance Reddick. Lance is now a TV star.You may have seen him in Lost or The Wire. He is also known for this famous Cadillac advertisement.

When Lance was in 8th grade, he had a physique that I can only describe as similar to Hercules. We used to ask him, Lance how did you get so cut. He used to tell us that he did 100 push-ups and sit-ups in the morning and 100 push-ups and sit-ups in the evening. Many of us tried Lance's training strategy and although it may have leaned us up a bit, I do not remember anyone looking as strong as Lance did in 8th grade. The irony was Lance's physique has not changed much since he was 13. He matured early and had the body of a man when he was young.

Steven and Lance are on one side of the spectrum of physical maturity. The other side was David Robinson who was too small in middle school to play basketball but by his senior year in high school had grown to 6'7". Despite never playing organized basketball before his senior year in high school, Robinson's high school coach added him to the roster as a senior. The rest is history. David Robinson's all-conference play his senior year in basketball as well as strong academic performance led to Robinson's admission to the Naval Academy. By the beginning of his freshman basketball season at Navy, Robinson was 6'9". By the time he graduated he was 7' tall -- too tall for the Navy to use him on ships. The Navy excused him from three of his five years of duty and in 1989 he joined the San Antonio Spurs for what resulted in a hall of fame professional basketball career.

Maybe the David Robinson story is an extreme example, but I have seen numerous Steven Levins and Lance Reddicks among 8th grade classes every year. This maturity debate has reached international levels recently when a study revealed that the vast majority of soccer players in England's Premier League were born in the first half of the year. The conclusions of the study were that this anomaly has occurred because early birthdays during players developmental years were an advantage over having a late in the year birthday. When players were 8, 9, 10, and 11 year old those born early in the year were more regularly singled out as being more talented. But really they were just more physically mature. Those six months make a big difference at 8,9,10, and 11. The early decisions on talent gave players with early birthdays the better coaching and entry to the better teams at an earlier age. This advantage in attention during developmental years then continued all the way up to the professional ranks.

So the problem with 8th grade boys is it is difficult to predict how their talents are going to progress. Some of the boys who are the best at one sport as an 8th grader may be better at another as a 12th grader. Some boys who are not on anyone's radar as an 8th grader reveal themselves to be stars when they hit their stride physically as junior and seniors. The key is to give the late bloomers a chance to continue playing as their bodies catch up to the early maturers.

I think there are two lessons to be learned from the issue of physical maturity among boys. The ones who are early maturers as 8th graders need encouragement. However projecting future successes based on 8th grade play I fear may only lead to frustration if those successes do not materialize. 8th grade rankings need to be put into context of the broad spectrum of physical maturation among 13 year old boys. Keep flexibility of sport choice in these players lives as long as possible. The best football players in 8th grade may become the best cross country runners in 12th grade. On the other side of the spectrum, the boys who are late bloomers need encouragement to stick to what they love to do even if they may seem a little behind. Lots of kids catch up over the four years of high school. I am fortunate to work at a school where we allow boys to play their favorite sports throughout high school and do not cut. Some of my best runners on the boys track team as seniors were often not very good as freshmen.

One thing that is clear from the experiences described in Moneyball and in the recent success of Jeremy Lin is that talent evaluators are often wrong. What is most important is that athletes use their early sport experience as an opportunity for self-discovery. With patience and consistent support, boys figure out what and if they want to pursue their sport beyond high school.

There are other slightly different issues for girl athletes to consider in regards to maturity. But that is for another post.

Basketball Update #5

2012-02-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

A number of basketball teams are finishing up their seasons either this week or last week. The Purple Girls Basketball team had to wrap up their season last week with a number of girls performing in the Middle School play and Lake Forest Country Day having to cancel our final game today.

The Purple and White Boys teams were able to send partial squads into the city last week for the Northside Small School Tournament. The White team was knocked off by Anshe Emet on Wednesday but the Purple team advanced to the finals on Thursday. In the final game the Purple team was able to defeat Chicago City Day for the championship. Below is a picture of the champs shortly after their victory.

Picture credit: Chris Charnas

The Purple and White Boys teams have their final games of the season today vs. St. Francis Xavier at 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm.

Today, the Varsity Boys team will open their pursuit of a trip to the State Finals. Our game will start at 6 pm at Christian Liberty Academy and our opponent is Chicagoland Jewish High School. The winner will play on Thursday for the Regional title at 7:30 pm. GO RAIDERS!

Pitchers and Catchers Report

2012-02-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

Are there any four words in the sports world that evoke more hope and optimism. Please write them in the comments section if you know any. Pitchers and Catchers report is the phrase that evokes that sense of hopeful beginnings in me.

Of the thirty major league baseball teams, twenty nine of them had or will have pitchers and catchers report for spring training sometime between Saturday (Feb. 18) and this Wednesday (Feb. 22). The Cubs pitchers and catchers reported Saturday and the White Sox will report on Wednesday. The team of my youth, the Baltimore Orioles, reported on Saturday.

Opening day will now be a bit of an extended affair. There will be an opening series in Japan between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics on March 28th and March 29th. Opening night will be April 4th with a game between the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals and newly named Miami (formerly Florida) Marlins. Opening day will be April 5th which will be the first day the Cubs play. Much more complicated opening than it used to be, but I am sure that is due to the need to market the product of baseball.

During this time, I will be thinking of my former colleague and loyal Cubs fan, Erik Skalinder, who would always drop by my office sometime in the next couple of weeks and we would be discuss if this could be the year for the Cubs. I also post a link to a post from last year that I wrote during spring training about the importance of dreams for ourselves and our athletes.
The Dream -- March 14 2011
It has been a pretty mild winter, but it is still good to see the first signs of winter ending and spring beginning.

One Magical Year

2012-02-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

"We're hoping to succeed. We're OK with failure. We just don't want to land in between."

David Chang

"There are no mistakes."

Charlie Trotter

Today marks the end of one year for this blog. Wow, what a year! I started last February thinking I would post once a week and it would generally be a summary of North Shore athletic results. I found that I enjoyed sharing more than that and my writing has extended into a lot of other areas of sport and life in general. That's led to many interesting interactions with people at North Shore and -- literally -- around the world who are trying to think progressively about sports and educational athletic programs.

In my first month last year, I was amazed when I got about 1000 pageviews. Monthly pageviews, though, steadily climbed throughout the year. This month should be my first month over 5000 pageviews. I appreciate everyone who reads this blog and shares their thoughts with me through commenting, tweeting, Facebooking, or the old fashion way -- stopping me in the hall or by the field and telling me what you think.

Those kinds of interactions have been really helpful to me.

I have been thinking for a while what my topic today should be. I decided that these two quotes summed up a lot of what I have been writing about over the last year.

Both David Chang and Charlie Trotter are chefs. Maybe their quotes show you how much I like food. But it is also interesting to me how the philosophy of great chefs parallels the philosophy of great coaches, great writers and probably successful people in all creative endeavors. The David Chang quote I recently came across. The Charlie Trotter quote was said to me by Charlie Trotter. Running a restaurant and an athletic department both are results driven occupations. But I believe they are also creative occupations.

Through my wife Kathy's work with St. Bernard Project, I got to meet Chef Charlie Trotter at a local fund raiser. Charlie Trotter has a connection to New Orleans through the food of the region and his friendship with Emeril Lagasse. In my short conversation with Trotter, I told him how much I liked to cook, but did not like making mistakes to which he quickly responded with his Yoda like statement "there are no mistakes." I was immediately struck by the optimism of this approach and in comparison my negativity. I further began wondering about how unproductive beating myself up over a mistake is as that kind of thinking probably slows my rate of improvement. It was also interesting to me that a person -- Trotter -- known for being demanding had such a philosophy.

I saw the David Chang quote on Seth Godin's Blog. What I liked about the quote is the sense that striving for success means taking some risk. Being OK with failure -- as long as you are striving for success -- has been a theme of this blog throughout the year. I think it is also interesting to think about the dissatisfaction that comes in the area in between success and failure. But another blog theme that these quotes hit on is the issue of not being afraid to do things your way even if that might mean going against the orthodoxies of your field.

In the track and field world when I was growing up, there were a series of books entitled How They Train. These books were surveys of the best high school, collegiate and post collegiate track athletes and their workout routines. As I was passionate about the sport in high school, really wanted to be good and had some inconsistent coaching, I loved reading these books and trying to imitate the workouts. I felt that to be a great runner all I had to do was complete the same workouts, and I would be good. I found out pretty quickly that this cookbook approach to athletic development did not work. There was something more to the list of workouts that could not be quantified. I am sure part of it was talent. But there was another part that was missing that ultimately led to the results I was looking for and leads me back to the chefs.

Great chefs do not blindly follow a recipe. Great chefs take recipes and change them to create a unique experience. Maybe there is a lesson there for all of us. I had a wonderful writing professor in college, Dr. Sue Ellen Holbrook, who had a similar approach to writing. She always said to be a great writer you first had to learn the rules of writing so you can eventually learn why to break them. I think the same lesson applies to coaching. There are rules of training that exist out there, but every person is different. So trying to follow the same training plan like a cook book recipe for every person in my experience does not work. Learning how and when to break the rules in any creative endeavor is part of what I see as the magic.

So where does all that talk bring us in an athletic program that tries to focus on successful results. We obviously need to know what are the ways others have been able to create success. But we cannot be too willing to adopt one perspective. We need to be aware of the variety of perspectives and techniques out there and apply the most appropriate for the talent that is currently attending our school. Julie Hall, the head of school who first hired me at North Shore, always spoke about the school as being magical. I think one of the strengths of the school has been to get to know its students and apply a broad generalist approach to develop often latent talent. That has resulted in some magical results. But also flies against a larger community that sometimes seems to get overly focused on the specialist. Although I do not know about Chang, Charlie Trotter I know had broad training in the techniques of multiple cooking traditions before he opened his acclaimed restaurant. Interestingly both Chang -- a Trinity grad -- and Trotter -- a Wisconsin grad -- started their educations in the liberal arts tradition before deciding to be chefs.

So to me it's not just about how they train or following the recipe. It is so much more. That might explain the days that this blog's posts seem a little less directed and maybe a little off topic. But sports to me is about inspiration, it is about life lessons, it is about creativity as much as -- if not more than -- it is about results. So there many be inspiring musicians. There may be talk of innovative business leaders. There may be non-sport book recommendations. All of which I believe hold lessons for athletes. The blog will continue to be that way to me because just like Chef Chang I am hoping for success, Ok with failure but really don't want to end up in between. I feel I have to look in all disciplines for support in accomplishing this goal.

I hope you will continue to read what I write and join me on that journey. Thanks for a magical year.

Varsity Boys Basketball State Tournament Info

2012-02-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

With yesterdays game at Christian Liberty, our regular season of Varsity Boys Basketball ends and on Monday, the state tournament begins. There are four levels of the state tournament. There is the Regional, the Sectional, the Super Sectional and the State Finals. Like the NCAA tournament each segment of the tournament is held at a larger and larger venue. Below I have list the locations and brackets for each stop. The games we could play in are highlighted. It is obviously unclear how far we are going to go, but it only takes 7 wins in a row to win the state title.

Good Luck to our team

Christian Liberty Academy Regional

Mon., Feb. 20

Game 1 at 6:00 pm: (4) Deerfield (Chicagoland Jewish) vs. (5) Evanston (Roycemore)

Game 2 at 8:10 pm: (3) Skokie (Yeshiva) vs. (6) Waukegan (St. Martin de Porres)

Tue., Feb. 21

Game 3 at 6:00 pm: (1) Winnetka (North Shore Country Day) vs. Winner Game 1

Game 4 at 8:10 pm: (2) Arlington Heights (Christian Liberty Academy) vs. Winner Game 2

Thu., Feb. 23

Game 5 at 7:30 pm: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Mooseheart Sectional

Tue., Feb. 28

Game 1 at 7:30 pm: Winner Hinckley (H.-Big Rock) Regional vs. Winner Chicago (C. Hope Academy) Regional

Wed., Feb. 29

Game 2 at 7:30 pm: Winner Arlington Heights (Christian Liberty Academy) Regional vs. Winner Serena Regional

Fri., Mar. 2

Game 3 at 7:30 pm: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Dekalb Super Sectional @ Northern Illinois University

Tue., Mar. 6

Game 1 at 6:30 pm: Winner Hanover (River Ridge) Sectional vs. Winner Mooseheart Sectional

Peoria Civic Center State Finals

Fri., Mar. 9

Game 1 at 12:15 pm: Winner Jacksonville (Jacksonville Bowl) Super-Sectional vs. Winner Normal (ISU) Super-Sectional

Game 2 at 2:00 pm: Winner Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional vs. Winner DeKalb (NIU) Super-Sectional

Sat., Mar. 10

Game 3 at 12:15 pm: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 4 at 2:00 pm: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

10 Morning Habits

2012-02-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

Today's post is partially courtesy of Kevin Eikenberry's blog Leadership and Learning. I have always believed that how we start our day is the key to a productive day. If I can beat my wife out of bed, which is tough since she usually is up and out by 5:30 am, I love the quiet time in the house to start the day exactly the way I want. When I was younger and training as hard as I could, I felt there was no better way to start my day than with a 10 mile run. I have not been able to do that in a few years. But I still try to fit some exercise in every morning even if it is just for ten minutes. Eikenberry's blogpost link is below and he goes into even more detail as to why starting your day right is so important. If you do not have the time to read the full post, below it are his ten morning habits. You are not expected to do all ten every day. I have been under the weather the last couple of days. I am hoping today will start a little better not just in me feeling more energetic but also seeing if I can knock a few of these off.

10 Morning habits that promote Succes

1) Read powerful material
2) Exercise
3) Write Notes
4) Review your goals
5) Plan your day
6) Meditate or Pray
7)Think!
8) Work on a goal
9) Reflect on Yesterday
10) Journal

Conference Champs

2012-02-13T17:20:00.001-08:00

North Shore perseveres through a courageous effort by Francis Parker. First title in boys basketball in over 40 years.

1st North Shore Lead

2012-02-13T17:09:00.001-08:00

1 Minute to go

1 point game 2 minutes to go

2012-02-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

Down by 5 at Half

2012-02-13T16:33:00.001-08:00

Been a defensive struggle in first half.

Big Game Today

2012-02-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight at 6 pm in the Mac Gym the Varsity Boys Basketball team plays Francis Parker. The winner will likely either end up as the Independent School League Champion or co-champion. The current standings in the Independent School League are:
Francis Parker 8-3
Latin 8-3
North Shore 8-3
Northridge Prep 8-4
U-High 6-5
Elgin Academy 1-11
Morgan Park Academy 1-11
Latin still has to play U-High one more time. That game will happen tomorrow -- Valentines Day.

There will be a 4:30 pm JV game today before the Varsity game. Unfortunately, I have been a bit feverish over the weekend. I am trying to rally like Michael Jordan did in Game 5 of the 1997 finals.

Peter Callahan Wins the Flo/Husky Mile 3:58.72 Update with Video

2012-02-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Who says running the mile isn't a contact sport. A very competitive field. A lot of traffic but Peter prevailed with a 3:58.72 personal best.

Here is the video of the race:

Watch more video of 2012 Flotrack Husky Classic on flotrack.org

Here is a post race interview. One day they will get the name correct.

Watch more video of 2012 Flotrack Husky Classic on flotrack.org

Sunday Inspiration -- Andy Rooney

2012-02-12T04:00:00.000-08:00

The easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

Andy Rooney

If You Want to Watch Peter Callahan Run Today READ THIS

2012-02-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Saturday February 11th, if you want to watch Peter Callahan run, you can. Here's how. Go to this link 2012 Flotrack / Husky Classic Live at the Dempsey That should get you to Flotrack's live stream and the Flotrack/ Husky Classic from Seattle Washington. Peter is running in the fast heat of the mile. His race should go off between 5:45 and 6 pm on Saturday afternoon (Central Standard Time). There will be two heats of the mens mile at that time of day. So if you tune in and there is a mens mile going on and you don't see Peter, just wait. He will be in the next race. Sometimes Flotrack makes you get a login. That process is completely free but might take a minute or two so I suggest getting tuned in a little before 5:45. Flotrack is also webcasting the Millrose Games. So make sure you are watching the Flotrack/ Husky Classic to see Peter.

If you want additional information about the meet (meet schedule, heat sheets, even some pre-race interviews) go to this link 2012 Flotrack Husky Classic

If you want to read some of my thoughts on the others in the race, read below.

There used to be a show called Wide World of Sports and they used to run a segment called Up Close and Personal. that used to give you the behind the scenes look at what was going on. Here is my attempt at going Up Close and Personal into the fast heat of the 2012 Flotrack Husky Classic Elite Mile. There are at least three or four story lines here.

Why is Peter traveling all the way from Princeton to Seattle Washington to run a mile? It probably mostly comes down to the tradition of very fast times that come out of this meet every year and the goal of qualifing for the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet. To qualify in the mile you have to run 3:57.9 to guarantee your entry. This is called an AUTOMATIC Qualifier. Right now Peter's best time of 3:58.86 is a provisional qualifier. Provisional means you might get in if the NCAA does not have enough people who ran the AUTOMATIC time. Last year the race Peter is in was won in 3:54, so one can assume that the winner this year -- and maybe several others -- will be well under the AUTOMATIC standard.

Who's his main competition? Well just about everyone. I think the slowest guy in the field has run around 4:01. Although my information may not be perfect, out of the 12 people in his heat 6 have broken 4 and three other guys have run 4 flat. So this is a very competitive field. The fastest person in the field has run 3:54. These are some people to keep an eye on.
Matt Tegenkamp -- is a former University of Wisconsin All-American who is now running for the Nike Oregon Track Club -- pretty much the most elite track club in the nation. He trains in Portland and is primarily known as a 5 km runner having a personal best of 12:58. He has run the mile in 3:56 and has a PR for the 1500m run of 3:34. He has represented the US multiple times internationally.
Evan Jager -- also a former University of Wisconsin athlete and now competing for the Nike Oregon Track Club has a PR of 3:54 for the mile. He is considered one of the most promising American talents and left the University of Wisconsin two years early to go pro. Unfortunately, he has struggled with injuries for the last two years. This mile will be one of his first races in quite a while. Evan is originally from Illinois graduating from Jacobs High School in Algonquin in 2007.
Bobby Creese is the Penn State Freshman who set the collegiate record for 1000m in mid January and Peter defeated a week ago. Creese, though, just missed breaking four minutes for the miles. Due to his promising early performance, Flotrack has named him the darkhorse for victory in this race.
Jeff Thode represents the University of Iowa, attended Conant High School in Hoffman Estates and is the same year in school as Peter. In high school, Peter and Jeff raced twice, Jeff winning indoors and Peter winning outdoors. Jeff's PR for the mile is also 3:58. Jeff is a classic front runner so expect to see him in front at some point in the race. He is not afraid of a fast pace and if he withstands the early pace will run fast.
Others to note: Abdi Hassan from Arizona has not done much this year yet, but ran very well last year. Tyler Stutzman from Stanford and Boru Guyota from Oregon cannot be ruled out. 4 flat miler Joey Bywater from the University of Washington will be the crowd favorite.

Sub-sub plot: Jager, Thode, and Callahan are all Illinois High School products. Jager won the Class AA 1600m in 2006 and the AA 3200m in 2007. Thode won and set the State Meet Record for Class AAA in 2009 for 1600m. Callahan won the 2008 and 2009 1600m for Class A. He also ran the third fastest Illinois high school mile in any meet at the Midwest Gala in June of 2009. So this race will be an interesting meeting of three of the best milers Illinois has produced in the last decade.

Why does everyone run fast in Washington? This meet is held in a building called The Dempsey. It has whats called an oversized indoor track. Indoor tracks tend to be 8 laps to the mile or 200m long. This track is 5 1/4 laps to the mile. The oversized nature is somewhat confusing to spectators and runners alike but leads to fast times as there are not as many turns and the turns are not as sharp. The milers will start at the top of finishing straight. Just before they enter the first turn they will pass the finish line. It is 5 laps from there.

Good Luck to Peter!

Ring Ceremony for Golf State Champs

2012-02-10T11:08:00.001-08:00

First Ring has Arrived

2012-02-10T09:11:00.001-08:00

Golf State Champion Rings will be presented at lunch today.

Girls Basketball Regional, Girls Gymnsatics Sectional, Golf Ring Ceremony, and Boys Basketball Senior Night

2012-02-10T04:22:00.000-08:00

I was unable yesterday to update people on what was going on in our athletic program yesterday afternoon. But there was a lot and even more today.

In our Regional Championship Girls Basketball game, the Raiders were defeated 43-38 to end their season by the Ida Crown Aces. Although the game ended up being very close, the Aces got off to a quick start in the first quarter and due to their superior height and rebounding were able to hold off a charging Raider team that closed a 10 point deficit to 3 with less than two minutes remaining. Kim Kahnweiler ended her career with 25 points in the loss.

Cassi Formolo ended her Gymnastics career at the Niles North Sectional, scoring 8.50 in the Balance Beam. This was a strong performance for Cassi, but it did not get her into the top five Automatic Advancers.

Friday will also be a busy day as our Golf team State Championship Rings are supposed to arrive and it is Senior Night in Boys Basketball. The JV Boys Basketball Game starts at 4:30 and the Varsity Game Starts at 6 pm. We will honor our seniors right before the Varsity game begins.

Why I am Boycotting Butterfingers

2012-02-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

I was mad Wednesday morning when I thought that some marketing exec at Butterfingers decided it was funny to make light of Wes Welker's dropped pass and drop 900 pounds of Butterfinger candy bars in Copley Square in Boston. I found out later it was really an on-line Pawn Shop called Pawngo. I thought this was a real cheap shot. It has enraged Boston fans and me. But knowing how marketing works, Pawngo has probably just gotten millions of dollars of free advertisement so someone is getting patted on the back today. Nestles, the makers of Butterfingers, is apparently distancing themselves from the prank.

But it made me think about one of the themes of this blog over the last year. Failure is ok as it sets the stage for eventual success. In every middle school and high school game I watch, kids make errors, miss shots, fumble balls, and drop passes. All of these mistakes, should be embraced as only through risking a mistake will kids eventually learn to perform better.

What I fear in our culture today is less and less tolerance with the honest mistake. There seems to be more an more insistence on living up to unreasonable standards which leads to many students scared to take risks. Even though Welker is a pro, take a look at the video of that play. Despite color commentator Chris Collinsworth description and Gisele Bundchen's now infamous comments, that was a tough ball to catch. If that is the standard of success -- and Pawngo's prank is going to be the reaction -- no wonder many are just afraid to put themselves on the line.

One of the great aspects of school sports, I believe is it is a laboratory for failure and thus ultimately success. The mistakes made in a game are typically trivial compared to other areas of a students life. What I hope we are trying to do is to get our athletes in school sports to be comfortable making a mistake and then getting up and trying harder.

In that spirit, here is the video for today. I know you are going to like it. The race is the 600m run from the 2008 Big Ten Championships when one of the runners falls. It is not about the fall, though. It is about what happens after the fall. It is exactly what we want to teach all of our students to do.

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career.

I've lost more than 300 games.

26 times, I've been trusted with taking the game winning shot and missed.

I've failed over and over again in my life.

And that is why I succeed.

Michael Jordan

#366 on the US Sub 4 Minute Mile List

2012-02-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Track & Field New, the bible of the sport, here is the most updated chronological list of US Sub 4 minute milers. Our own Peter Callahan is number 366!

Raiders win 38-37

2012-02-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

In a very exciting game, the Raiders pull it out. Kim Kahnweiler had 16 points -- 14 of those points in the second half. They will play the Ida Crown Aces for the Regional title on Thursday February 9th.at 7:30 pm.

Beginning of 4th Still tied

2012-02-07T19:07:00.001-08:00

Battle in Raiderland

2012-02-07T18:54:00.001-08:00

Girls Regional Semi-final tied at the half against St. Scholastica

Austin Curren Vote For Athlete of The Week

2012-02-07T04:22:00.000-08:00

Austin Curren has had a great week or so of basketball play for the Raiders leading us to key wins over Latin and Northridge Prep and putting the Raiders back into the race for the ISL title. He has been nominated for Patch Athlete of the Week. You can go to the following link and VOTE FOR AUSTIN

My Sam Mussabini Moment

2012-02-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

Sam Mussabini

In 1982 Ken Lowry from Wissahickon High School in Pennsylvania won the Golden West Invitational Mile in 4:05. This performance was significant to me because I was just becoming aware of who the top high school runners were every year, and I was going to college in Pennsylvania at the time. When I ended up coaching in the Philadelphia area four years later, I remember meeting people who had seen Ken Lowry run, and they said he was incredible to watch. Ken Lowry was the top school boy miler in the nation in 1982 and may have been the top 800m runner too as he won a major high school invitational here in Naperville, Illinois. In the 1980's the thought never went through my mind that I would ever coach anyone as accomplished as Ken Lowry. The times seemed inconceivable. When I started coaching, I was just hoping to teach kids the life lessons that I learned from sports. If I had the occasional conference champion along the way, all the better.

The ironic thing about Ken Lowry is he was the best high school miler in the nation in 1982 and went on to run at the University of Viriginia -- a great running program -- but he never broke 4 minutes for the mile. It is one of those unspoken truths about high school runners. Sometimes they never get much better than they were in high school. So doing the mental math, that a 4:05 miler in high school will equate to a sub 4 minute miler in college, does not work.

So there I was in Starbucks in Highland Park, Illinois on Saturday at noon waiting to hear if Peter Callahan -- a runner with equivalent high school times to Ken Lowry and a talent I never expected to have influenced -- would break 4 minutes for the mile. I have said before in this blog, I believe I have seen other athletes, even at the small schools I have coached at, who I believed had the physical talent to break 4 minutes for the mile. Some of them never wanted to try. It is one of those goals you don't tell a kid about when you first get them out for your team. You don't tell them, I think you can break 4 minutes for the mile. They just won't believe you. And for boys, most of them will tell you -- especially when you don't have a track at your school -- that they would rather focus on another sport. A sport like football or basketball where lots of people come to cheer them on. A sport like tennis which has such a strong social component. Or a sport like soccer that they have played since they were 5 years old.

So if you are a track coach at a school without a track, you spend your career watching kids in other sports and looking for talent. Then approaching them in the hallway, hoping they will be receptive when you say to them "I think you could be pretty good." Some are polite and say thanks but no thanks. Some flat out tell you, you are nuts. They would never join a track team. If you are lucky, you get 1 out of 4 to give it a try and some are immediately turned off by the pain or the time spent away from school or the uniform (the shorts are just too short) or some other inconvenience and they quit before they make the commitment needed to just see if I was right. If they have the spark of physical talent it takes to do something really special.

Harold Abrahams

Saturday night --late -- well after I had spoken with Peter about his accomplishment, well after everyone in my family had gone to bed, I rented Chariots of Fire. I wanted to get to the Sam Mussabini moment. Sam Mussabini was one of the first professional track coaches. Early in the movie, Harold Abrahams, a student at Cambridge University and an aspiring sprinter, tries to recruit Mussabini to be his coach. Abrahams realizes after watching Eric Lidell run -- the other protagonist in the movie -- that he would need some help to be able to beat Lidell and win an Olympic medal and initially Mussabini turns him down .Mussabini agrees just to watch Abrahams compete first and if Mussabini sees the ability to win an Olympic medal as he says "then I will be the one doing the begging." It made me feel better that even the great track coaches were willing to beg.

But that's not the scene I was waiting for. You see Chariots of Fire is not a running movie. It is a movie about relationships and how they reflect and symbolize a changing world. The relationship between Abrahams and Mussabini is a fascinating one. They were both in some ways outsiders in the English society of the 1920's, but also harbingers of the future. Abrahams was the son of a Lithuanian Jew who immigrated to England, made his fortune in finance but was never really accepted by the Protestant Anglo-Saxon culture. Harold Abrahams was portrayed as a talented and driven young man always trying to prove he was as good or better than others hoping that would lead to acceptance. His other great hobby was singing in Gilbert and Sullivan productions. What could be more English!

Mussabini was born in London also as an outsider having Arab, French and Italian ancestry. Initially a sports journalist, he became a successful professional coach early in the 20th century with an innovative systematic training philosophy. However, in a time when amatuerism ruled, Mussabini was never officially recognized by the world of athletics and always looked upon by British overseers of athletics with suspicion. And that gets me to the moment.

On the day of the Olympic 100m final Sam Mussabini is not able to watch Abrahams run due to his professional coaching status. Abrahams rents him a room near the stadium which allows Mussabini to watch from a window for the flag of the winning country to rise and to listen for the winners national anthem to play. As he agonizingly waits, he continuously looks at his watch, talks to himself and paces near the window.

I could not attend Peter's race in State College Pennsylvania on Saturday because it was just too far away, and I had family and work commitments. I was sitting in Starbucks because I was waiting for my son to finish a rehearsal. My window on the results was a laptop and a smartphone as I waited for either a text or results to be posted. The race was supposed to go off at approximately 11:50 am CST. As the minutes went by after the race was supposed to end, like Sam I looked at my watch and paced by taking sips of my drink. I kept on saying to myself, I will hear by 11:58 or 11:59 or 12:02. The website was not updating results quickly so it was a text at about 12:10 that alerted me to the time -- 3:58! And then like Sam Mussabini, I celebrated by myself. It was not the Olympic final, but I felt pretty happy.

The sub four minute mile is one of the most recognizable of athletic accomplishments. Roger Bannister breaking 4 for the first time is almost universally recognized as the 20th centuries greatest athletic achievement. Breaking four happens a lot more often today than it did even 20 years ago, but it is still an amazing performance. No where along the journey to sub 4 are there any guarantees. Plenty of athletes with the talent to do it get distracted on the path by other things -- by injuries, by other interests, by commitments. Plenty of athletes with the talent don't start. Plenty of high school coaches have great careers positively impacting lives, but never see one of their athletes accomplish such a goal. I never thought I would be associated with such a performance. So I hope you do not laugh or think less of me when I tell you that on February 4th 2012 a little after noon, there was a track coach in a Highland Park, Illinois Starbucks sitting by himself ... crying,

Super Bowl Sunday Inspiration

2012-02-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

“Prepare yourself well. Play with intensity. Be ready to change and adjust. Brace yourself for adversity, because it’s a part of life. You are not born with character; it’s something you work at and learn.”

Bill Yoast

High School Football Coach at TC Williams High School whose 1971 team inspired the movie Remember the Titans

ISL Boys Basketball Title Still A Possibility!

2012-02-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

Photo by Art Jessen

In an already exciting weekend of North Shore sports news, on Saturday afternoon Francis Parker defeated the Latin School in Varsity Boys Basketball 56-34. This result now means there are three schools tied for second place in the conference with three losses -- Northridge Prep, Latin and North Shore. And there is one school with two losses -- Francis Parker. Francis Parker is technically in the lead in the conference but has to play at Northridge Prep still and at North Shore on February 13th. If North Shore wins the remainder of their conference games -- Morgan Park Tuesday, Elgin Academy Friday, and Francis Parker on Monday February 13th -- they will either tie or be outright conference champions. As best I can tell, we have not had a Varsity boys basketball title since the 1968-69 season. Hold on to your seats!! It may be a wild ride.