What makes one person a champion and the other one not?

Good quote from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a seven-time Mr. Olympia, in Barbara Walters' autobiography:

"What makes one guy a champion and the other one not?" [Walters] asked.

Schwarzenegger:

"It's drive. It's the will. There are certain people that grow up with a tremendous hunger and it's usually kids that have struggled when they were young. When you grow up comfortable and in peace and happiness, all those things will produce a very balanced person and a good person, but it will not create the will and determination and hunger that you need to be the best in the world."

I was not allowed to quit when things got tough

Saw recently where Dwyane Wade relies on guys like Kobe and LeBron to push him to achieve more. In his words:

"Listen, I won a championship. I’ve been a Finals MVP. I’ve had All-Star games. I’m on every commercial you see. My life is good. But you have to keep going and keep going. You need things to push you, and I found them. There are always guys that are going to push me. LeBron and Kobe are two of the best talents this game has ever seen. If you want your name to be right there with them, you’ve got to continue working hard."

Wade's quote reminded me of a book I read last year. In it, professionals from various fields and walks of life talked about who had pushed them to achieve success.

The great Morgan Freeman (pictured above), one of my favorite actors, said he "was not allowed to quit when things got tough. I was not allowed to give up acting and try something else. I was just not allowed. There was always somebody there who gave me encouragement or help."

Several people credited their mothers or fathers with providing the support and positive reinforcement they needed to press on. According to Pablo Picasso, one of the world's great painters, his mother told him, "If you become a solider, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as Pope." He continued: "Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso."

Early in his cycling career, Lance Armstrong wanted to quit a race, telling his mother that he simply couldn't go any further. His mother replied that she wouldn't allow him to quit, even if he had to walk his bike across the finish line. "So Lance walked to the finish line."

Then there's Derek Hatfield, who was in a Trans-atlantic sailboat race when his mast broke. When he finally made it to land, he called his father to tell him he was quitting. "Bring the trailer, I'm dropping out of the race," recalls Hatfield.

His father was having none of it, saying, "I'm not bringing you the trailer. You get back on the boat and go to the finish line."

Hatfield "finished the race and became one of the few people who have ever sailed around the world alone."

There's still something in life for the people who persevere

Great quote from Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan when asked about the 9-point, 8-rebound, 6-steal game senior Joe Krabbenhoft had in the Badgers' win over Ohio State last weekend (UW's fourth straight win after losing six consecutive games last month).

According to this article, "what this line doesn’t show is the work he puts in behind the scenes. Ryan points to the effort Krabbenhoft puts in during practice and how that attitude translates to the game. Ryan believes that it is Krabbenhoft’s desire that allows him to excel game in and game out."

“There’s still something in life for the people who want things, and will persevere, and aren’t easily deterred. There is that element of perseverance that separates a lot of people.”

When you're the champs, the target is even bigger

As this article points out, at 42-11, the Celtics are "one game ahead of last year’s pace when they won 66 games."

That's a credit to BOS coach Doc Rivers, who "spent part of last summer consulting with coaches of teams that have won NBA titles to get an idea how to approach the situation."

"I talked to tons of coaches. Everyone is going to come at you. (The coaches said) as much as you can emphasize that, you still can’t enough. I think you have to experience it, and they’re absolutely correct on that statement. I’ve been on those other teams as a player and a coach, and I understand how fired up you get to play the champions. It’s been more taxing in some ways. I don’t think our guys have expected the intensity that each game has.’’

Veteran Paul Pierce describes how much rockier the road to repeat is for defending champions:

"Teams are going to be up for you. They’re going to be ready. Everything was kind of new last year, us coming together. Teams didn’t really know what to expect. Now, everybody knows what to expect. We’re the defending champs. It has been a little bit of a tougher road that it was a year ago because the target is even bigger. Teams that don’t play as well normally are going to come out and play their best against you. There’s a little bit more trash talking, a little bit more grabbing and holding. That’s all a part of being the champs because everybody is trying to take you down. Everybody wants to get a piece of the pie."

The way it is

My sister, who studied literature at SMU, sent me this poem by William Stafford titled "The Way It Is." It has a good message about sticking to it and following your path.






The Way It Is

There's a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn't change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can't get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time's unfolding.
You don't ever let go of that thread.

When you're really good at something, you can take it for granted

Indiana coach Tom Crean on freshman guard Matt Roth, who hit 9 of 11 three-pointers Saturday in a loss to Ohio State:

"We knew it was a matter of time with him. He has been spending so much more time in the gym on his own. He is an excellent shooter and sometimes when you're really good at something you can take it for granted once in awhile. He hasn't done that. He has really been one of our bigger gym rats in the sense of doing more things after practice or coming back at night. And he needs to continue to do that because that is how it gets done. It never gets done right away. He has to have that mindset."

Champions don't belong on the ground

In his book "How Good Do You Want to Be," Bama coach Nick Saban tells a story about Muhammad Ali, who "was knocked down for the first time ever in his career in the late rounds of a loss to Joe Frazier."

When Ali appeared to have already lost the fight, he got up to his feet and continued. When asked afterward why he'd gotten up, the champ responded, "The first thing I heard was 'eight.' The first thing I thought was 'I don't belong here.'" He got up and finished the fight because of pride. He was a champion, and champions don't belong on the ground.

Everybody wants to have a purpose in life

In the early 1970s, when my father coached at the University of Minnesota, there was a point guard he recruited. He was my Dad's kind of player: An intense, no-nonsense guy who worked hard on the defensive end.

His name was Lionel Hollins.

And while he never played for my Dad, I've watched his career for nearly 40 years -- from his time at Arizona State to his NBA playing days to coaching stops in Phoenix, Vancouver, SLC, and the minor leagues.

As this article describes, until he was hired last week as head coach of the Griz, he'd questioned whether "it was time to move on, to find something else to do with his life. He wondered whether all the doors had closed, whether his best opportunities had vanished."

"There are times when you say, 'Is this what I'm supposed to be doing?'" Hollins said last weekend. "I talk to my family all the time and my friends about, 'Is this my destiny, or is it something else?' Because everybody wants to have a purpose in life. And there have been times when I thought it was something different."

When he took the MEM job, Coach Hollins made it clear that "the process would require patience and perseverance, that this would not be an overnight fixer-upper. And patience and perseverance are what he does best, qualities he adopted as a player and honed as a coach."

Coach Hollins has an interesting life story. Despite starring at Rancho High School in Las Vegas, "he never intended to pursue a basketball career. He was going to finish high school and find a job."

He ended up at Dixie JC in Utah where, in the conference championship, and with four fouls, the coach moved the 6-foot-3 Hollins to the post.

"Hollins played foul-free basketball the rest of the way, grabbed 16 rebounds and led Dixie to the victory."

After junior college, he moved to Arizona State, then onto the Trailblazers where he won an NBA title in 1977 with coach Jack Ramsay, whom Hollins called "the greatest coach ever."

With that championship team, Ramsay created a sense of teamwork that bordered on brotherhood. And there were four basic principles that Hollins strove to emulate as he began his own coaching career: Be tough. Be demanding. Be fair. Be flexible.

According to Coach Ramsay, who now works as ESPN Radio analyst, some NBA assistants simply "go through the motions, satisfied to be sitting on an NBA bench. Others are always working and encouraging, always hands-on and vocal." Coach Hollins was in the second group.

Said a friend of Coach Hollins:

"Everybody was born with a gift. Some of us, we take that gift and nurture it. Others, we let it fall by the wayside. He's nurtured that gift."

If there are 10 mops, I'm going to grab one and start mopping

Many thanks to Coach Cooley for forwarding this story from yesterday's Chicago Tribune about new Bears defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who went 0-16 as head coach of the Lions this season.

Coach Marinelli, who had a copy George Halas' autobiography with him on his way to the Senior Bowl this week, talked about his three seasons in Detroit:

"Failing, that hurts. We made mistakes. But I looked at so many positives. That's just how I am, how I see everything. I could get up every day and I just wanted to make people better, make sure we were preparing correctly. When you do that, all the other factors, they didn't hurt as much. The fits just weren't always right. Sometimes you think everybody's like yourself—you know, if there're 10 mops, I'm going to grab one and start mopping. But that's not always the case. Guys are looking at the next job, or egos. All those things are tough. [With the Bears] I want to re-establish myself as a good teacher, prove myself to these guys.

Persevering and taking advantage of opportunities

The list of past NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners is impressive: Joe Greene, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary, Deion Sanders, Reggie White, Jack Lambert, Ray Lewis.

Yesterday, for the first time since the award began in 1971, an undrafted player has won.

Steelers LB James Harrison, who'd been cut three times by PIT and played in NFL Europe, made the team's 2004 roster after the starting LB went down with an injury, forcing the team to bring in Harrison "literally hours" before the start of training camp.

That same season, when another starter was suspended, Harrison moved into the starting lineup.

Harrison is an excellent example of someone who (1) worked hard and stuck with it and who (2) took advantage of his opportunities. [In fact, it's exactly what Malcolm Gladwell describes in his new book, which this post addresses.]

"Somebody else’s misfortune is somebody else’s fortune," said Harrison, who sometimes works out three times a day in the offseason. "It’s just hard work, perseverance and little blessings here and there. People said I couldn't do this or couldn't do that," he noted. "I was too short, too slow. Basically, I play and prepare myself in the offseason with the thoughts of what people said I couldn't do."

Why walk-ons are cherished

Imagine trying to play D-1 college football as a 166-pound linebacker.

Now imagine trying to play LB at one of the premier college programs in the nation at that weight.

When Clay Matthews was coming out of high school in 2004, most college scouts told him he was he was "too skinny, too weak and too slow."

But he had a couple things going for him. First, he has good genes. His father was an All-America LB who played in the NFL for 19 years and his uncle is a Hall of Fame offensive lineman. His grandfather also played in the NFL.

Second, he was willing to work hard to get better.

"I thought it was intriguing," USC coach Pete Carroll says of Matthews' arrival. "He had that big family background here. So I thought, 'OK, is there some magic in here somehow?' And I didn't see it. He looked like just a good, hardworking kid who was undersized, just not physically ready to match up."

Matthews' USC teammates marvel at how far he's come, earning All-Pac 10 Second Team honors and being mentioned as a third- or fourth-round pick in the NFL draft. As one put it, "I just remember how little he was. But he was always in the weight room three times more than anybody else."

Says Matthews:

"I knew if I came to USC and they gave me a shot, that I could play. I also knew if I was going to hang with these guys, I'd have to work really hard and be really persistent. I just kept working and working and getting bigger and faster and better. I'm sure the coaches thought I was crazy," Matthews says. "Most walk-ons … they're just here to contribute to the scout team or maybe special teams. But I was aiming for much more."

According to Coach Carroll, walk-ons are a valued part of the Trojans football program:

"The guys who walk on here are cherished. We look after these guys and treat them just like everybody else and just keep rooting for them, because we know that there are success stories in there. You just don't know which ones they're going to be. Clay is the most famous guy to do that, because he's done so much and he's come so far. He's really transformed his whole makeup. It's a remarkable story, I think, because he was just a skinny kid who wanted to play football."

Optimism and the "persistence instinct"

The CBS "60 Minutes" piece on USC coach Pete Carroll this past Sunday described him as someone who is "upbeat, optimistic, and seems to have a permanent smile on his face."

[Click here for the blog posting from yesterday about the "60 Minutes" story.]

That description got me thinking about the role optimism plays in success. Does a more optimistic coach or player have a better chance of succeeding than one who is pessimistic?

A book titled "Breaking Murphy's Law" by a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky examines this very question. The author isn't a motivational speaker; she's a scientist.

According to the author, if you're "optimistic" you "can easily envision yourself accomplishing what you want and, although you can recognize the possibility that not everything will turn out well, you think the odds are in your favor." It's just the opposite for a pessimist.

Her research has found that optimism isn't about "being a positive person" as much as it's about "motivation and persistence."

As an example, early in the book, she describes two law school students from a long-term study she conducted on "how optimism affects psychological well-being." One student was found to be in the top 10% of optimistic students. The other was in the bottom 10%.

"The... pessimistic one didn't seem horribly depressed, and the... optimistic one didn't seem happy-go-lucky. Still, there were dramatic differences in their approaches to law school that had to do with how they tackled the difficulties they encountered.

The pessimistic student dealt with difficulty by withdrawing, ruminating, disengaging, and eventually underachieving. The optimistic student dealt with difficulty by setting goals, planning, engaging, and eventually reaping the rewards.

The essential difference was NOT between positivity and negativity, but between trying harder and trying less.

Positive expectancies -- optimism -- increase motivation and effort, whereas negative expectancies -- pessimism -- decrease motivation and effort. Optimism leads to increased well-being because it increases engagement with life's goals, not because of some miracle happy juice that optimists have and others don't."

She calls this willingness to work longer at tasks as the "persistence instinct." In her words, "optimism makes you push ahead."

Based on the author's research, it's when things get difficult -- when there are obstacles and roadblocks on the path to your goal -- that "you see the biggest differences between optimists and pessimists."

"Difficult tasks create different dynamics. There are natural responses to difficulties and roadblocks. First, emotions turn to irritability, dejection, or anxiety. Second, preoccupation with, and attention to... this problem increases. Roadblocks threaten goals, and any kind of threat results in negative feelings."

Think about when a team hits a losing streak or has one of its key players go down with an injury. The team's goal -- of winning the division, reaching the playoffs, or repeating as champions -- is threatened.

When this happens, some people simply give up. Of course, "keeping at a goal is no guarantee that you will reach it. On the other hand, rejecting it almost ensures that you will not."

"This is where optimism comes in. Optimism helps people see beyond the immediate roadblock to a potentially positive future, whereas pessimists see only more roadblocks, problems, and failures.

For optimistic people, it makes sense to incur the costs of trying to get past a roadblock because they expect rewards in the end. Positive expectancies keep people working on difficult tasks... when it would be easier to just give up. Pessimistic people have no such inspiration and therefore fail to see the point of putting effort toward the negative future they envision."

Armed with this information, it would seem to make sense to gauge a recruit's or potential draft pick's level of optimism. After all, based on research, it's a good indicator of how hard someone will work to reach a goal, especially when faced with distractions and obstacles.

Near the end of the book, the author outlines three simple steps for "increasing intrinsic motivation" (i.e., motivation that comes from within us rather than some kind of external reward) that may be helpful for leaders, coaches, and teams:

1. Own the goal.
2. Make if fun.
3. Remember the big picture.

If you just stick with it, you can do most things

Mike Holmgrem, who has led three teams to the Super Bowl, is winding down his 17-year head coaching career this season in Seattle, which is 2-9 and losers of four straight.

It's only the third time in 17 seasons that a Holmgren-coached team will likely finish under .500.

Here's an excerpt from a recent story in the Seattle paper that demonstrates Coach Holmgren's persistence in a tough season:

An NFL coach is his franchise's spokesman. He has to explain... the reasons the team that has won four consecutive division titles hasn't won back-to-back games this year.

He also is the man in charge of motivating a locker room full of 53 adults, the one who must persuade them to keep sacrificing for the team's benefit, even as the playoff possibilities are about to flicker out in the autumn wind.

That's why Holmgren stood in front of his team on a Monday earlier this month, one day after a 20-point home loss to Philadelphia, and talked to them about perseverance.

"I told them a little story about my first job in construction," Holmgren said. "I'll tell you, it was just awful. I mean, the hardest thing I've ever done."

Holmgren was 15 and hired to a construction crew building an apartment complex. He was a high-school kid with new work boots who didn't want to let his dad down, so he spent his summer doing a grown man's work around grown men.

"They gave me the worst, as you can imagine," Holmgren said. "And it nearly broke me."

His hands bled and he said he considered quitting at least 25 times. He never followed through on that.

"It taught me a valuable lesson," Holmgren said. "One, I didn't want to disappoint my dad. Two, if you just kind of stick with it, you can do most things. You can kind of get through most things."

It was a crossroads for Holmgren, and he shared the experience with his players to emphasize that while the final two months of this season might not be enough time to save a season, there might be even more at stake.

"Everybody in the room has to make choices when it gets hard," Holmgren said. "You have to make decisions. What decision you make says a lot about you and really says a lot about your future."

It's where I should be, it's what I should be doing

Five years ago, Jason Olexyn quit as head volleyball coach of the Duchess Park school in Prince George, British Columbia.

When he stepped down, he was regarded as one of the area's best coaches, guiding his teams to three championships and earning B.C. coach of the year honors in 2001.

But in November 2002, just a few days before he turned 30, Coach Olexyn found out he has multiple sclerosis.

Today, the disease has progressed to the point where he's unable to walk without the use of a cane.

But one day last year, Coach Olexyn's 5-year-old son Griffin, who was born after his father quit coaching, saw a picture of his Dad that caught his eye.

The following is an excerpt from this article:


The snapshot was taken at the exact moment [Coach Olexyn's team] won their 2001 B.C. championship at the College of New Caledonia. The picture shows the Duchess Park players just starting their celebration after beating the top-ranked H.J. Cambie Crusaders of Richmond 15-9 in a fifth and deciding set.

The Crusaders had taken the first two sets 27-25, 25-22 but the Condors -- with a display of guts and determination -- won the next two 25-19, 25-13. In the photo taken at championship point, Olexyn can be seen on the Duchess Park sidelines, in a crouch, with both fists clenched in victory.

Griffin, after looking at the photo, had a question for his mom.

"Mommy, what’s that a picture of?"

[Olexyon's wife answered] "Well, that’s daddy at provincials."

He asked, "What’s he doing?"

She proceeded to say, "He’s coaching."

And then he proceeded to say, "Well, when’s he going to coach again?"

Prior to that day, Olexyn had been spinning his wheels about a return to coaching. He wanted to do it, but concerns about his lack of mobility were holding him back.

He didn’t know if he could still lead practices and was worried about whether or not players would be able to see past his disability and respect him as a coach.

"(Griffin asking about the photo) was the light that came on,” Olexyn said. “That was the moment that I went, ‘I’ve got to coach.’ And, if not for myself, for my son to be exposed to the sport of volleyball, me coaching, being in a gym. It’s priceless to have him around and exposed to the sport itself and to me coaching. I wanted him to see me coaching and him to experience that. That’s my honest truth, and that’s what threw me over the edge."

"It’s just where I should be, it’s where I want to be, it’s what I want to be doing,” Olexyn said of coaching. “Of course it takes my mind off of things but I don’t sit and dwell on my disability. It’s not something that I’m going to worry about. I don’t have very much control over it anyway.

“It’s just good to be back. Physically, I don’t have as much to offer but mentally I still think I have a pretty good volleyball mind and I still have a lot to offer if people are willing to listen.”

“I had skepticism because obviously the MS had sort of taken over my physicality,” Olexyn added. “I don’t have much balance, my ability to walk is diminishing. And so to be the same coach I once was, I wasn’t sure if I could be effective because I couldn’t get up and do the drills and I couldn’t physically do what I used to be able to do.”

Thankfully, but not surprisingly, a coaching staff with spotless credentials stepped up to help Olexyn [at his new job at College Heights Secondary School]. His fellow College Heights coaches include Mike Sookochoff, Meredith Spike, Marla Spike and Pamela Parker.

On practice nights, with the extra hands on deck, Olexyn is able to run the show from the sidelines.

“I give the team the instructions -- this is how the drill’s going to go -- and then Mike or Meredith toss balls and hit balls at the girls for me and I instruct them what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong at the time,” Olexyn said. “I think it’s really working. Just the amount of improvement they’ve shown says to me that something’s working and something is going right.”

At a Kelly Road tournament two weekends ago, [Olexyn's team] finished in the bronze-medal position, their first top-three result of the season.

Olexyn’s return to high school volleyball is described by Sookochoff as “heroic.”

Sookochoff, perhaps the longest-serving volleyball coach in the city, said he’s proud to work with Olexyn and is thrilled to see him passing along his knowledge to a new crop of players.

“He has his way of bringing out the best in each player,” Sookochoff said. “He’s a good teacher. At practices, I’ve noticed that the girls listen and they react to his instructions.

“I have deep admiration for him,” Sookochoff added. “I think him being back reflects on his love of the sport, his passion for the sport.”

As a coach, Olexyn is just as intense as he was during his championship seasons at Duchess Park.

When he senses his players aren’t practicing or playing with total focus, he speaks out. He has made the commitment to them and he expects them to give their best in return.

“He’s honestly the best coach we’ve had. He’s very good, even though he can’t do the most physical stuff with us. He knows exactly what he’s talking about and it has helped us out a lot this year.”

Hegel is inspired by the courage Olexyn has shown in stepping back into the game.
“It shows his love for volleyball, and he’s very committed,” she said. “He’s probably more committed than half the people on our team.”

Right from the start, Olexyn told his players that five-year-old Griffin was the motivation behind his coaching comeback. On select practice nights, Griffin is in the gym, chasing loose balls and just being a kid. He also sits on the team bench during games.

“The girls have embraced him,” Olexyn said.

Despite the challenges presented by his MS, he hopes to be on the Cougars’ bench for many seasons to come.

“I’m not going to sit around and dwell on it and worry about it. I’ve got an extremely supportive wife in everything I do, an extremely helpful family. Even my five-year-old son helps me out immensely. And he’s the one who keeps me going.”

To finish is even greater than to start

You might remember the Miami-FIU football game back in 2006 when the two teams emptied onto the middle of the field in a brawl that featured one Miami player swinging his helmet around like a weapon.

That player was Anthony Reddick, a member of the All-ACC freshmen team in 2004 before missing all of the 2005 season rehabbing a torn ACL. For his actions that day in 2006, Reddick was suspended for four games and had to complete community service.

Finally ready to return for the Canes, Reddick tore the ACL on his other knee during a pick-up basketball game. The injury kept him out all of '07.

Despite the obstacles, Reddick, who is now a fifth-year senior, "has become a friendly, smiling, hard-hitting leader at safety for the Hurricanes."

Said Reddick:

"I've learned a lot. First of all, I'm blessed for the opportunity to come back and play. My behavior [during the FIU fight] was a disgrace to my school, my family and my friends, especially the young kids who look up to me as their role model. I do understand that what I did was wrong. I've overcome most of things I've gone through and I've found to finish is even great(er) than to start."

According to UM coach Randy Shannon:

"Me and Anthony talk all the time about everything, not just what's going on in football but life in general. As a coach, you're always educating, making sure you never forget about where a kid's been. Guys make mistakes, but you have to make sure they understand that there's gonna be disciplinary action that comes with it.

He's been through a lot. With a guy who's been through as much as he has, you gotta make sure he's always able to communicate about his issues. Sometimes, things you may share with him you may not like it as a coach; but you gotta look at it from the viewpoint of where he's been at in his life."