"I Don't Like The Coach"

Someone showed me this letter. My personal style is less aggressive than this, but the main points here are good ones.

It has come to my attention that you do not like the coach. I've got some bad news for you. That's too bad, young man. Go tell somebody who cares, because I don't . Tell your mommy and daddy, or your grandma, or tell your girlfriend. I don't want to hear about it. In a few short years, you'll get the chance to meet a whole lot more people who you won't like.

For starters, you won't like your new boss who is watching you dig a ditch while it's snowing outside. you thought your sports talent was going to be a free ticket to wealth and fame, but you were wrong. you were too stupid to spend the effort to get a real education and you majored in tiddly-winks. Now you're working a minimum wage job doing hard manual labor, as the boss drinks hot coffee in his warm truck. It might be a police officer who you don't like. You've had a couple drinks after a hard day's work. You look up and see red lights flashing behind your car, and it's him. He is walking towards you vehicle and he can't wait to fire up the breathalyzer. Or the Circuit Court Judge at your DUI sentencing hearing, no, you won't like him either.

Maybe it will be a drill sergeant, who orders you to shovel a pile of sand from here to there, and then he tells you to scoop it back where you started. you won't like him barking in your face. It might e a college professor who you don't like. You need a good grade on a term paper of you risk funking out. You haven't spent any time studying, choosing instead to goof off and party. Possibly it'll be a co-worker who you don't like. The co-worker got the job promotion that you wanted, including a salary bump and all the praise. maybe it will be a banker who you don't like. He's calling you about a later car payment you haven't made. Unless you make the payment, he'll need to repossess your car. but if you don't have a car, you can't get to work, and if you can't get to work, you don't have a job, and so on and so on.

Heck, maybe you'll be a high school coach someday. You'll be making big money putting up with some spoiled brats who thin their poop doesn't stink. Somebody just like you who thinks they are better than they really are. And you'll have to put up with their parents who call the superintendent to complain their little prince doesn't like the coach. Life is just about ready to smack you squarely in the face. You better get ready. I only wish I could be there every time you meet somebody you don't like.

They'll come in all shapes and sizes. Some will be real jerks. Others will just greatly annoy you. The worst part is you really won't be able to do much about it. They'll be criticizing you, arguing with you, disagreeing with you, and telling you things you don't want to hear. That is how life works my precious friend. In contrast to what you might think not everybody is going to baby you like your parents do now. Not everybody is going to inflate your ego like a hot-air balloon.

Hot-shot, you're just mad because you're sitting the bench. You think you should be starting or playing more, or maybe the coach yelled at you. I have some more bad news. It's a harsh cold world our there. This high school sports stuff is all just a big game. Think of it as fun time, kind of like kindergarten recess. If you don't like the coach, you can just quit. That's the easy thing to do. Of course, if you quit, you'll always be a quitter in everything you do. You might as well tattoo "QUITTER" on your forehead.

On the other hand, there is one thing about high school sports that is often forgotten. Sports can teach you a lot about life's little lessons. There has been a movement across the country by some "educators" who argue we should not encourage competitive activities. They argue competition results in some participants winning and others losing. They don't like young people getting their feelings hurt. I disagree with such nonsense. Regardless of whether any body agrees or not, life is all about winning and losing. Life is one big constant game of competition. Everybody gets to play the game. In fact, you are required to play the game. You have no other option. In the game of life, you don't have the luxury of being able to quit or sit it out. If you quit, its over and you lose the game. It's that simple.

If you don't like the coach, here is my advice. Try and figure out a way to get along with the coach, and learn how to work with him. Figure out the best way you can help the team, even if you don't like the coach. It's not about you, it's about the team. You'll play on lots of teams during your life. Most won't involve sports. Marriage is a team effort, your family is a team, and the various jobs you have will all be teams that you play on.

I've got a little more advice for you. An edification that you won't get in any classroom, nor will you find it in any books. When that little thought pops into your head, "I don't like the coach" (or the professor, or boss, or co-worker, or whoever), I recommend you do as follows. Go put on your best clean pair of Big-Boy underwear that your mother has washed and folded for you, and deal with it. Figure out how to fix the problem. Find a Big-Boy solution to help you get along with your coach, or your boss, or your professor, or your wife, or whoever. The answer is usually fairly easy, but it might require you to swallow your pride. You will need to come to grips with the fact the world does not revolve around you, no matter how important you think you are now.

This is a lecture almost every coach in every sport has always wanted to give to some athlete at one point in their life. Now you've heard it. I hope you learned something and I hope you get a chance to benefit from it in the not-so-distant future. When that little light bulb pops on in your head, I hope you remember this letter and smile.