High/Low Week 2 2010

It's been a great week when I have to ponder a while to think of the low point.

One is a regret on the basketball court. A player approached me asking about his upcoming playing time for one of our games, and I echoed Coach's honest plan that he'd shared all week. Namely, that during tonight's game we were hoping to get more bodies off the bench than usual to get some people more time on the floor. Considering that there are five positions on the court, he was third on the depth chart for his position and I let him know that.

As you saw from an earlier post, that game ended up needing our very best players on the court at all times. So the player never got in. Especially for home games, it must be tough to sit while your parents are in the stands. And this is a hard-working player who never complains. It tugs at the heart.

Now he did get into the "B" game and played well, showing no negative body language as he threw himself about the court. And he does play an important role and stands to learn an important life lesson by throwing himself into that role - that of the practice player, as on so many championship teams, whose contribution to the team is to push the starters to the limit so that they're more than ready when the real competition appears. I feel like I owe him that conversation to keep his expectations in perspective and not leave him feeling as if I'm handing out false hopes, or measuring success in terms of playing time or competing against his teammates.

The other incident, which crept up a couple times and doubtless will at others this year, was an opportunity to chime in on a comment that came at someone else's expense, and in their absence. People often earn a good part of their own reputation, but that doesn't give someone the right to revel in it or perpetuate it. Later that week a similar occasion crept up about the same individual, and I bit my tongue. Hopefully that momentum will carry.

There were several highs this week, some of which will be touched on in other posts. The one I'll share here is a subplot of the UHigh basketball game. All of a sudden as the B game began, Coach turned and asked me if I wanted to take his place for this extra quarter. My instinctive reply was "You're doing just fine, Coach," averting my eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked plaintively. I hesitated, just long enough for two things to happen. First, I thought of my Dad's memory. I am definitely his son, from the blue eyes and square jaw on the outside to the love of strategy and teaching on the inside. I may be more reserved and less popular than him, but have developed in my own way a staid belief that a person reaps what he sows, that private one-on-one conversations rooted in respect and humility build relationships that explode with the momentum of success eventually. And that's the second thing that happened in this moment. Half the bench overheard Coach's question and started cheering as if he'd just announced the cure for cancer. "Yeah, Coach McDonald! Go!" they chorused. And so I launched from my seat and walked high school sidelines as "head coach" for the first time. Whether anyone actually heard any of my words is anyone's guess. It was enough for me to see us win by nearly ten points in one quarter, and then spontaneously hear the team captain raise a cheer for me in the locker room afterward. Somewhere, a great coach was smiling in the sky.