Monday, January 26, 2009

How playing without passion is disrespectful of the game

Good story in yesterday's NY Times about Pat Summitt's "coaching tree."

According to the article, "45 Lady Volunteers, about a third of the players who have passed through her program, have become coaches."

Carla McGhee, who played for Coach Summitt and is now a member of the coaching staff at South Carolina, sees things now that she didn't see when she was a player:

"As a player, I couldn’t see why Pat would get so upset about a lack of effort, why she would say it was disrespecting the game. Now when I see a lack of effort, something about it just grates my nerves, and before I know it, I blow my top."

On this blog, Coach Summitt talks about the need to play with passion:

"I think every time you play the game, you should play the game with great passion if you're competitive, if you love the game,'' Summitt said. "You don't disrespect the game. If you don't play hard, what are you bringing, what are you saying?"