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Hockey Chat: “That’s how the Cup changes everything.” This was the marketing message for 2008 year from the NHL, being repeated over and over about how everything in the game is elevated because of the quest for the Cup. It’s gone from just playing hockey to playing for the Stanley Cup.
Hockey Chat: There are some guys that have used the same gear for years. They suit up in the same old outdated stuff, work hard, practice, and skate great. Then there are others who buy the newest and the best only to struggle when they hit the ice. Even though they have the best gear, they lack the skills and knowledge to be a great hockey player.
A man named Guy Dowd was once given the National Teacher of the Year award. One of the turning points in his career came, he said, when he was frustrated and couldn’t seem to reach his students. God impressed upon him that he should pray more for them. Each morning Guy would arrive early to pray with his students, sitting down with different ones each day. Over time Guy began to notice a difference not only in the way the students responded to him, but also in the way he taught and responded to the students. Prayer changes our attitudes and helps us see people as God sees them. When we can see people through God’s eyes, it makes all the difference.
I read a newspaper article last year about a professional baseball player who couldn’t seem to make the necessary adjustments needed in his approach to hitting. The player contended that his hitting was fine, but many of his current and former coaches disagreed. They pointed to the fact that his batting average had continued to decline and that he was striking out at an alarming rate.
In one game, the player might have 3 hits, but in the next 4 games he wouldn’t get a hit, striking out 9 times. It’s not that the player didn’t have good coaching—one of his previous coaches was a former batting champion. The problem was that he wasn’t doing what the coaches were asking. James 1:22-24 says:
Yesterday, we talked about hope. And we used words that can actually serve as an acronym for the word itself: H – history, O – optimism, P – Promise, E - Eager Expectation.
Knowing what Christian hope is can be a great thing. But what should it produce in us? In the sports world, hope is necessary in spurring a team to do great things. Without hope, why would we as athletes endure what we do? If we cannot achieve our goals, why would we endure the hardship of preseason training? Why would we waste hours studying film, learning our skills, pushing our bodies beyond what we thought possible? Why would we choose to follow a game-plan if we knew it was going to fail? The truth for most of us is that we wouldn't.
I was a high school sophomore awaiting surgery to repair torn cartilage in my knee. In walked a young orderly with a razor to shave my leg. Before long, the blood began to flow. He was unskilled, and his razor was dull. Fortunately, the next day was different. The surgeon was skilled, and his scalpel was sharp.
Surgery is always painful, but its purpose is to heal. To be successful, the surgeon must be skilled. I once saw a documentary on a surgical technique to reduce an enlarged heart. The surgeon literally sliced off a quarter of the heart and sewed it back together, where upon it began beating again! Would you want a medical intern doing such a procedure? I think not.
No matter where we are in the coaching ranks of our team or sport, there are times when we are called upon to step up to the next level. This call can be both a source of excitement and great fear. Will I succeed in this new challenge? Will I lead the team to a winning season? Will God be glorified if I accept this new position?
Joshua surely asked questions like these and many more besides. He was a faithful man, a type of assistant coach over the Israelites under the direction of Moses. When Moses died, Joshua had to step up and lead God’s people. Needless to say, this was a daunting challenge because the Promised Land was yet to be conquered. So God eased his fears with some encouraging commands.
It’s easy to make our way through the winning seasons; however, the struggles we face during losing seasons are what we tend to remember most. Most of us have experienced seasons where we’ve tried every plan we can think of, yet the team still struggles. It was during a season like this that Christ’s “good part” was revealed to me. The season began with one of our leading scorers breaking his foot. The problems mounted throughout the season, and the players and coaching staff began to buckle under the pressure. Arguments began and I started to worry about the team’s demise.
In the arena of sports where score is kept and there are always winners and losers, how do you know whether or not you are successful? While much of the world defines athletic success in terms of wins and losses, legendary coach John Wooden writes in his book, Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success that “success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.Within this framework, each person becomes the only one who can ultimately judge his or her own success.”
Recently I sat in on a home school history session with my wife and three kids. The subject was Europe's transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance period of history, and focused on the huge impact that Gutenberg's movable type printing press had on civilization. For those who are not aware of the history, Johannes Gutenberg created the first movable type printing press in 1456. Prior to that, all books were painstakingly written by hand - one by one - including Bibles.
In church recently my pastor spoke about Acts 17:26 and how each of us was made by God for a reason. It wasn’t a just coincidence that I was born 22 years ago or that I was put in Austin, Texas three months ago because my job relocated me.
Oftentimes it’s easy for us to forget the simple fact that with God everything happens for a reason.
Sometimes working so hard in my job distracts me from what God has set me on earth to do—serve others. But, the neat thing is our ministry doesn’t have to begin after our normal work hours, when school is let out or at the once a year mission trip. It’s something we should be doing constantly and enjoy doing it too!
I had the great privilege of knowing Prentice Gautt, who passed away March 17, 2005. He was a wonderful human being. Prentice Gautt was the first black athlete to play football at Oklahoma University. He began playing there in 1956. He was two-time all conference in both 1958 and 1959. Not only was he a great runner; he was a fierce blocker.
As a coach, you’ve probably tried to learn from the best in your profession through clinics, articles, visits, and the informal conversations that happen when coaches get together. The knowledge we gain is often priceless, but sometimes it’s costly. Costly not so much in the areas of strategy and fundamentals, but in regard to the way we relate to players, coaches, and parents. This is not to suggest that advice in these areas is always negative, but any counsel we receive regarding the “life-related” issues of coaching, family, finances, etc. is potentially harmful if not filtered through God’s Word. Regarding God’s Word, the psalmist writes, “Your decrees are my delight and my counselors” (Ps 119:24).
Hockey Chat: Wood, aluminum, carbon composite, fiberglass. Hockey sticks are made up of all kinds of different materials. It takes time and practice, but once you find YOUR stick, you know it and use it with confidence. You puck handle and shoot the best you can with your stick. Have you ever broke a stick and had to grab a different one quickly. Right off the bat you know it’s not going to work well. Your not use to it. It’s not yours. You have to play with it before you get comfortable using it regularly.
Why is asking so hard for some of us? Whether it’s for a ride to the airport, a few dollars for lunch, or financial support for FCA camp, many of us avoid asking for things we or others need.
Of course, there are times when even the most self-sufficient among us is willing to swallow our pride and plead before “the throne of grace.” I have personally witnessed the humbling of coaches, players, and fans when difficult circumstances turned them into fervent prayer warriors. Sometimes the difficulty is momentary, such as during a game when the team is down by a point with a few ticks left on the clock and the least-talented shooter is on the free-throw line. Who among us hasn’t uttered a prayer in times like these?
Hockey Chat: We’ve seen it at every level. From the pee-wee’s up through the professionals. As much as skaters on the same team try to move fluently and work together, there is always some moment in some games where two guys on the same team cross paths and trip each other up. The lack of proper communication or the way they communicated caused them to run into each other. One misjudged the other and they both wound up in the same space and down on the ice.
There is more than one person who mentors me and speaks into my life. If I have an issue, I have five mentors on whom I can call, and they all give me different perspectives. It takes many advisers to win the war. That doesn’t mean we should ask 100 people for advice. But there’s some godly counsel that you can have around to pour into your life, and it will keep your steps straight. That’s what happens with strength in numbers. That’s why I believe in accountability. If some issues are popping up, we can all come together in agreement and pull each other out of a bad situation. That’s a powerful thing. A lot of times, we don’t get enough people around us. We might just have one.
The fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel is all about love, the nitty-gritty of life, and faith. In this chapter Jesus teaches that He is the vine and that we, His people, are the branches, and that by being united to Him, we will bear fruit. Coaches are responsible for recruiting athletes; Christians are responsible to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. God delights to use Christian coaches to recruit players and then open to them the truths of Christianity. He often uses us to plant the seed of faith and to expose the lost to Christ.
David found trouble because he was in the wrong place. At the season when kings go off to war, he was at home. We cannot afford to be in the wrong place when we understand the eternal consequences. Our daily decision making is too crucial to have a momentary lapse in judgment. David’s lapse led to a lifetime of heartache.
God had chosen David, given him position, promise, and a plan—and made him the greatest king to ever live. God has great plans for us as well and provides His Word to help keep us in the right place. Scripture tells us that we must: (1) hide the Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:1-3); (2) understand temptation and ask God to help us be obedient (Psalm 119:37-39); and (3) remember who we are in Christ (2 Samuel 12:7-8).
On the second Sunday of every March, you will hear teams all over the country proclaiming how they should be invited to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. More than 30 teams get automatic bids through conference tournament championships, but 34 other teams have to be invited. These teams boast of the great things they have done—and how they deserve to be in the tournament.
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PICTURE THIS: Its Wednesday morning July 28, 2010. Its 6:30 AM, time for my morning run. It’s raining. Its decision time…to run or not to run that is the question. Put up or shut up, go hard or go home, don’t be a punk were some of the thoughts that ran through my mentality as mind kept reminding me that it was raining. OK Chad, what’s it gonna be?
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