Jack’s Blog

It’s great to be back but I’m leaving again.  I’m honored to be the emcee at the party in Las Vegas tonight to celebrate Jerry Tarkanian’s induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.  When I get back, it’s off to the Stanford Pain Management Center for a pump refill and check up.  Then, into the car to drive down the 101 to Monterey to pick up Alex who just finished his first year of college at Cal State Monterey Bay and bring him home for the summer.  He claims he nailed it academically this semester.  If he can match his inaugural season in college hoops, in which he was one of only ten players in the country to make the Division II Freshmen All-America team - and the only one from the west coast - he’ll have had a successful beginning to college life.

Not done yet.  For those of you who have ever checked out CoachGeorgeRaveling.com, the website for my boss previous to Tark, you might have seen the video section entitled #JackAndCoach.  On it, I turn the tables on George who has interviews with individuals such as Oscar Robertson, Nolan Richardson, David Falk (MJ’s agent) and my man, Tark, among many others.  In our segment, I pose questions to get to know “the inside Rave.”  Currently, there are between 25-28 “shorts,” about 3-5 minutes in length.  Some are very funny, others quite moving, all entertaining.  We spent about five hours shooting last fall and it’s time for round two, so I’ll be, ahem, on location in LA, as they say, this weekend.  This blog will return Monday.  

The Chicago Bulls teased the entire country when they won Game One of their best-of-seven series with the Miami Heat - in Miami.  Nate Robinson showed what a little guy can do when given a chance - and is playing for a contract.  The fact that Nate hasn’t stuck with any of his five teams yet has more to do with his just being an ultra-short little guy.  The performance that night - and his continued aggressive play despite all the odds - raised the eyebrows of fans and, probably some general managers.  Last night was an abomination of a contest.  Tired or other issues?  Why haven’t the Bulls been able to repeat an effort like they did in the opener?

ESPN has four guys talking about it when the games are on their stations; TNT has four (in my opinion, better) analysts discussing the contests when they’re aired on their network.  The groups chime in on what has happened and what needs to be done to fix the problem.  In each case we hear about how some player needs to contribute more, to become that all-important creation of analysts - the X-factor.  Basically, the talking heads aren’t necessary for this series.  When a superstar is forced into street clothes, it’s obvious the team’s getting nothing from him that day.  In addition, they’re probably going to encounter a serious drop off at that spot in the lineup.

The complete analysis for the Bulls and Heat goes as follows:

“The Bulls have lost their starting point guard and both wings.  They’re playing against the best basketball team in the world.  Next?”

Yesterday, both Boston and the Lakers were down 0-3.  It was apparent that neither was going to win its series.  Yet the Celtics won Game 4 in Boston, knowing that all they have to look forward to is the Knicks’ inevitable series-clincher in New York.   Meanwhile, the Lakers lost to San Antonio in LA.  Can we conclude anything from these two performances?  Even though, without Rondo, the Celtics had almost no chance of advancing, they were well aware they didn’t dare let their long-time, ticket-buying fans down in an elimination game.  Apparently, the Lakers’ relationship with their fans isn’t quite as intimate as that of the Celts.

On TNT’s pregame show, Kenny Smith even exclaimed that he’d heard Jack Nicholson gave his tickets to his cousin.  Which, of course, was absurd.  Because Jack has a relationship with the Lakers that’s stronger than a series sweep (against - he’s witnessed the flip side), even if it’s his favorite team getting blown out twice in a row.  He remembers the past - and looks forward to the future.  Whatever (and whomever) it brings.

For the record: how many people who were criticizing the way Mike D’Antoni coached yesterday’s game would have wanted to switch places with him?  And for those foolish enough to say yes, do you really think the outcome would have been any different because of your brilliant bench manuevering?  If you do, there are talk show hosts and hundreds of callers waiting to abuse you on the Subway fresh take hot lines, #1-25.

Truthfully, Boston had a shot at winning yesterday and the Lakers didn’t.  For that game, they’d lost their their starting small forward and top four guards - one of whom happens to be one the top three players in the game.  They were so decimated with injuries, nothing could have been done against the Spurs.  Nothing.

Whether or not that is true for the entire season will remain a mystery.  The saddest part of the entire year is the truth behind Charles Barkley’s statement regarding the Lakers’ pitiful performance in Game 3:

“It’s not too many times you can take the Lakers +30 - and lose.”

Amazingly, former Oakland Raiders great Tim Brown maintained his former head coach, Bill Callahan, sabotaged Super Bowl XXXVII.  When I first heard it, I thought Brown was going to add a punchline to add.  To charge that any head coach, much less your own, would throw a game is as serious a charge as can be levied.  It’s interfering with the absolute fabric of the game.  And the Super Bowl?  Keep in mind all that goes to the winning coach of the Super Bowl: you’re one of only x number of guys who’ve ever done it, your agent gets you flooded with endorsement opportunities, you’ve achieved what has probably been your number one goal since you decided to be a coach.  There are, I imagine, several other reasons I’ve omitted.

To hear about the accusation at this time in the season seems a little too coincidental.  Brown says Callahan changed the game plan two days before the biggest game of the year.  He did this because 1) he hated the Raiders (the team that was paying him and gave him the opportunity to be a head coach - which has led to the opportunity every other of his colleagues only dreamed about) and 2) he was good friends with Jon Gruden, the coach of the Raiders’ opponent in the Super Bowl, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  First of all, you’d have to really hate your team to dump a Super Bowl and that would have to be one really good friend - to give him what just about every guy who’s ever coached would die for.  If ever there was such a friendship, it might be this year, but I doubt that either would perform such a gesture for the other.

For the record, QB Rich Gannon did put on one of the worst performances ever by throwing five interceptions, three of them “pick 6s.”  This, after the original game plan was “run-heavy,” according to Brown.

Now, though, Brown is backtracking - a little.  He said his comments “were taken the wrong way.”  Excuse me if I have a question or two.  Actually, it’s Brown who says he has a question.  Actually, he said the sabotaging remark should have been a question, not an accusation because “I’ve never said he sabotaged the game.  That’s something that can never be proven.  We can never go into the mind of Bill Callahan.”

Callahan, for his part in all this, maintains his “innocence.”  Brown does have a supporter, though.  His ally is one of his fellow receivers in that game, Jerry Rice.  If you’re looking for a credible person in the game of football, having the greatest receiver of all-time on your side certainly can’t hurt.  However, other Raiders who would go on the record, as well as one who wouldn’t, are on the “non-dump” side.

If Tim Brown didn’t initially talk out of turn (or frustration), he ought at least to remember the street cred motto and stand firmly behind it:

“I said it, I meant it, I’m here to represent it.”

That’s something that can never be proven. We can never go into the mind of Bill Callahan

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2013/01/tim-brown-ive-never-said-callahan-sabotaged-the-game/

That’s something that can never be proven. We can never go into the mind of Bill Callahan

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2013/01/tim-brown-ive-never-said-callahan-sabotaged-the-gam

Fans of sports teams often act like they’ve lost their minds.  As a group they can’t be studied too much as far as I’m concerned.  Now that I’m retired, I get to live the life of a fan.  Not a life-long, jersey-wearing, shut-everything-down-when-my-team-is-playing type of supporter, but still a guy with a vested rooting interest in a team.  My son plays for the Cal State Monterey Bay men’s basketball team and possibly because, for the years and years I coached and watched relatively normal people lose their objectivity (always) and their sensibility (a little less often), I usually remain rather stoic during games.

Sports Illustrated did an article on Indiana’s return to the top of college basketball a little over a year ago (1/16/2012).  In it they mentioned a guy named Ed Hirt who is a psychology professor at Indiana.  Professor Hirt has done years of research on the group known as “sports fans.”  On only one occasion did I witness an IU game in Assembly Hall (a really interesting blog for another day).  It was an NIT quarterfinal game, meaning the winner went to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Final Four.

The Hoosiers were playing Marquette, coached by the late Rick Majerus.  Here’s a brief summary: although I think officials’ calls usually even out over the course of a game, in this contest, there was no doubt Marquette got screwed throughout.  The worst call of the night came when Indiana had the ball, down one with seconds to play.  There was a shot at the buzzer - that missed.  Out from under the basket, a referee came with his arm up, hand clenched.  He had an off-the-ball (more like off-the-wall) foul against Marquette.  Uwe Blab, the Hoosiers’ center made the first, missed the second.  IU prevailed in OT.

During the game, however, there were some close calls that went against IU.  Men, well-dressed and groomed, seemingly intelligent, with their young sons (6-10 years old) by their sides, would go absolutely apoplectic, screaming at the officials, saying words I know their little boys had yet to hear in school - but would certainly be repeating at IU games well into the next (this) century.

Hirt’s findings (not solely Indiana fans, for the record) are “that the subjects’ moods were deeply affected by the team’s performance of their team.”  That, in itself is not shocking.  But he went on to say that when their team won, the fans experienced such a high, they felt they could perform better than usual, i.e. down when their “team” loses, up when it wins.

Having rabid fans was awesome - during games.  Outside of game day, not so good.  As a 30 year assistant, I was more of a target for fans’ complaints than the head coach, mainly because fans are in awe, or are afraid, of the head man.  They feel an assistant coach is the vehicle through which they can vent, that I would either pass along their brilliant suggestions so we’d win the next one (and never lose again, in many of their minds) or that I was just as frustrated as they were since my team lost too (because of that idiot of a head coach we had).  If they couldn’t find something stupid the head coach did, they’d blame the loss on a player or players.  This was easier since it was obvious if a guy missed a shot or threw the ball away.  Although it might be deserved, blaming a loss on a college kid made the fan(s) feel bad, but in most cases, an increase in the amount of spirits could overcome that remorse.

This phenomenon was described by Hirt as:

“The identity is so powerful, fans often see themselves through their team.”

Sad, but true in many cases.

Tim Tebow was as successful as any college football player.  His team, the Florida Gators, were big winners - including the biggest one - and, individually, he garnered about every award he was eligible for - including the biggest one.  If he had a (non-football related) flaw - for those who consider what he did wrong - was that he wore his beliefs on his sleeve.  It was just that many people thought the sleeve was on a religious robe.

Tebow knelt after each touchdown, apparently saying a short prayer.  This was an offensive gesture to some, a chance to capitalize for financial gains for others and a simple show of faith, neither offensive nor money related, to the rest.  First, consider he was born to parents who were Baptist missionaries.  His mother home schooled him and instilled in him the family’s Christian beliefs.  To non-haters, his background might explain his (brief) gesture following touchdowns.  His mom’s parenting skills are far and away better than the overwhelming majority of professional athletes we read about on a daily basis.

Granted, they made a controversial commercial but in this country, we do have freedom of speech.  Isn’t it amazing how people can be offended by Tim Tebow yet not have their emotions stirred by nearly every of the new, popular sit-coms (especially some of the animated ones).  In addition, with some of the other personal traits many of our “stars” have displayed, is the Tebow story something we should worry that our children see?

Although he was listed as a quarterback at the U of F, coach Urban Meyer saw the unique skill Tebow had, i.e. a cross between a QB and a bruising running back.  Standing 6′3″, 240 that was difficult to refute.  He also was someone who could turn a busted play into a big gainer because of his physical size and skills.  It would have been coaching malpractice if Meyer hadn’t used him the way he did.  The football experts - there really are some, although not nearly as many as they’d like us to believe - claimed Tebow would have a difficult transition to the professional level because of his long wind up when throwing and the fact professional defensive players are 1) so big and 2) hit so hard.  The wear and tear on his body would certainly shorten his career.  (After a few games there was a growing group of fans who were hoping his career would be shortened.)

Jon Gruden (one of the true experts) broke down his release and explained how his passing motion would have to be renovated.  However, doing so would preclude him from becoming an immediate starter.  No doubt because of his notoriety the Denver Broncos drafted him in the first round.  It was the wrong move and it’s hard to believe that a team that employed John Elway as an executive didn’t know it.  By now, everybody knows the story - Tebow comes in as a back up, the team is losing, he gets a shot, the team wins a few (although more because of D than O), pulls off some late game heroics (after showing little early in the game) and he’s the savior.  Allegedly, John Elway (and probably others) saw it differently and traded him to the New York Jets.

That was a bad marriage from the get-go.  This one rivaled Humphries and Kardashian (or Borgnine and Merman for older readers).  Anyone who had seen ESPN’s Hard Knocks with the Jets could have figured that out.  After a couple minutes!  If only Mark Sanchez and the rest of the guys had played as well Rex Ryan had truly believed would have, there still would have been controversy (after all, it is New York) but not the side show it turned out to be.  At least it would have saved Tebow from being mocked and imitated.  And for what?  Not being as good as people had hoped he’d be?

He heads up the Tim Tebow Foundation which builds facilities for sick children, granting wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses for kids in the U.S. and the Philippines and builds playrooms in hospitals and orphanages.  Gimme a break.

As Danielle Dax said so appropriately:

“I find it strange the way human nature wants heroes and yet wants to destroy their heroes.  It’s a kind of mass insecurity people want something to look up to and get a buzz off but, at the same time, want to destroy it because it makes them feel insecure.”

If you were trying to accomplish something you love, and had worked extremely hard, over a long period of time - and finally got it - imagine how thrilled you would be.  Then you got hurt and the person who wasn’t quite as good as you took over.  While you’re working to get back in tiptop shape, your “understudy” is performing really well.  So much so that your group wins.  Without you.  In the field in which you work, people outside of it have short memories.  They loved you when you were doing well but criticized you when you weren’t, especially when your company wasn’t winning.

Answer honestly, are you be hoping the “next guy in line” 1) does great, 2) does just well enough so that your team wins, 3) flops, but somehow your team wins or  4) does horribly, independent of whether the team wins or loses?  That is the test of every first teamer who lost his job because of injury.

It happened to the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Alex Smith.  Keep in mind that Smith was the overall #1 pick in the 2005 NFL draft.  You can’t get drafted any higher and the expectations mirror your selection, only more so.  Smith had to learn the offensive philosophy from the offensive coordinator because in the pros the head coach really coaches the coaches.  The assistant coaches coach their respective position players, with the coordinator in charge of the offense or defense.  If that sounds a little complicated, consider that Alex Smith had five different offensive coordinators in his first five years.

The NFL is the college game on steroids.  Everyone is bigger, stronger, faster.  The defensive coordinator is trying to make the game so difficult for the opposing QB - especially a young one - and the game has become so sophisticated that not only do teams change defenses, e.g. from a 3-4 to a 4-3, they change defensive looks within the same defense.  Worse yet, players have become so specialized that there are third down and long defensive linemen, nickel backs and guys who function so much better in one blitz package over another, their PT is limited to just such situations.  It’s nearly impossible for an inexperienced QB to succeed early in a career.  Ask Peyton Manning.

Alex Smith did not succeed.  Some fans didn’t think he was the guy to lead the 49ers back to championship contenders - and they were the ones who liked Smith.  The others ridiculed him - and the club - for wasting a #1 pick on someone so incompetent.  In walked Jim Harbaugh who, when asked what college QBs he’d like to get for his new team said he thought Alex Smith would be fine.  The fans thought he as kidding.  Maybe he was but it was the beginning of the Harbaugh-Smith-49er fans love affair.

Then Smith went down with a concussion.  It wasn’t diagnosed immediately.  When Smith was not cleared, Harbaugh had to go to the bench for a substitute.  He chose a second year QB, Colin Kaepernick.  Wouldn’t you know it?  Kaepernick led the Niners to victory.  After the win, Smith was asked about how he felt watching his backup play?

Remember the hypothetical question an four choices at the beginning of this blog?  Here was Alex Smith’s reply:  “If you can’t be happy for your teammate’s success you’re playing the wrong sport. Go play tennis or golf or something … That doesn’t belong in team sports. It’s the quarterback position. It gets a lot of attention. We’re going to get talked about.”

Would that have been how you felt?  The difference between players who are legitimately happy for the team, regardless if the teammate they’re competing with outplays them, as opposed to those who want the team to win - but only if they’re the major part of it - is probably going to determine whether or not your team will win or lose.

During my first year of coaching, in the early 1970s, we were losing and I had a kid who wanted to ask me a question.  After I said of course, he kind of stammered, but went on “Well, I want to know why I’m not playing more.  Mark is ahead of me and he can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t dribble (”handle” hadn’t made it’s entrance into the hoops vocabulary yet) and can’t rebound.”

I looked at him and said, “I completely agree with you.  Mark isn’t a good shooter, passer, dribbler or rebounder.  But he does all of them better than you!”  This led to a mantra we would use throughout the rest of the season:

“Just because someone else is doing poorly doesn’t mean you’re doing well.”

P.S. Harbaugh named Kaepernick the starter for the Niners’ next game.  Will Smith continue taking the high road?  My money’s on him - after all he’s endured.

The Los Angeles Lakers finished last season without the championship they think they’re entitled to (annually) so they decided to fix the problem.  Someone must have thought it was the offense because during the off-season they brought in Eddie Jordan to install the Princeton offense.  The only thing is that the Princeton isn’t installed like a new electronic gadget.  It doesn’t really come with a manual nor is there a money-back refund guaranteed.  And it takes longer than a few hours.

Apparently. Mitch Kupchak was left out of this decision - or at least the knowledge behind it - because no one who ever played for Dean Smith would ever think the Princeton offense could be implemented in an NBA preseason camp and expect it to produce immediate victories.  Maybe that’s why they left Mitch out in the cold because if he did know, Pete Carril would have legal grounds for a malpractice suit with Mitch being the first witness.

Really, did the Buss’s think any offense could work so quickly?  They complain about the luxury tax, yet they are now paying Mike Brown and however many of his assistants (my guess is three) who are let go and Mike D’Antoni and however many guys he’s bringing in (he’s already hired his capable brother Dan and his longtime assistant Phil Weber).  As I blogged on 11/10/12, the Lakers personnel wasn’t even conducive to running the Princeton O.

So now they’re putting in another offense - and the season’s already started.  Why should this one work?  One reason is that D’Antoni’s offense (really offensive concepts) are made for the pro game while the Princeton offense is . . .   I won’t insult you by finishing that sentence.

The hope for all Laker faithful  (I’m not a fan of any particular team - I pull for teams who have coaches/players on them I know - but to call fans “the faithful” sounds like they’re worshiping something) is that the Buss Boys take direction from Cavet Robert’s famous quote on commitment:

“The definition of commitment is following something through after the enthusiasm of the moment has passed.”

After the 2010 regular season, San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy told Barry Zito he was leaving him off the Giants’ World Series roster.  A serious blow to a guy with a mega contract who was scapegoated ever since he put on a Giants’ uniform.

Today he’s going to start Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander.  Maybe he wishes it were 2010 all over again.  No, he doesn’t.  There are fans who would readily admit to that and that exact topic is going to be a blog in the (very) near future.

But, back to today - does anyone think that back in ‘10 Zito was waiting for just this day?  My feeling, having been around world class athletes for decades, is he’s been waiting - and preparing - for just this moment.  Granted, I worked only on the college level (and only in men’s basketball) but at many of my stops there were some brilliant performers in other sports, e.g. Reggie White, Lisa Leslie, Stephen Abas (silver medalist wrestler) and Nick Watney to name just a few. And, because human nature intrigues me, I would closely watch them.

Highly talented, extremely competitive athletes are living for just such a day as Zito is getting today.  When he performed poorly after signing a huge contract, Zito’s internal make up was questioned - in print, on the airways and, of course, in bars.  A large percentage of fans, sportswriters and sportscasters (mostly those who never played beyond high school, maybe even ever) live for those days.  Nearly all in that group are solidly behind him now (the majority will tell you they always have been).  More and more, because “haters” are in vogue, there’s a small group who still criticize him but they pretty much criticize everything and everyone other people admire.

Unless he’s completely defied the odds, the Barry Zito (re)climbing of the success ladder continues today because he worked hard, focused and did what everybody who believed in him told him to do:

“Hang in there.”

After my fifth back surgery (of ten) forced to give up coaching, I just became another parent in the stands watching his kid play.  Because most people in the crowd knew me, I felt obligated not to act like the parents who attend “How to Be an Overbearing Parent 101.”  That’s why I used to correct math tests of do sudokus during games because, how do I say this diplomatically, the refs tend to err.  Often.

Here’s the condensed version of the aforementioned class.  For free.  What can I say, I’m retired and between pension and social security, I don’t need your money.  Lesson 1: Cheer loudly for the team.  Lesson 2: Yell at the refs - even if you don’t understand all the rules (like there’s no five second closely guarded call in the backcourt).  Lesson 3: If the game is close, talk amongst yourselves about the poor level of coaching - while yelling at the refs.

It was particularly difficult for me since several parents seem to think that once you’re no longer coaching, you feel like they do, i.e. your kid should be playing more (because they all think their kid should be playing more).  And you’re open game for listening to other parents criticizing the current coach because . . . you’re one of them!

I’ve been at games in which parents have been asked to leave the gym, i.e. they got thrown out; where the wife of the coach got into a verbal shouting match with a parent from the opposing team - while she was keeping the scorebook - and one where a father walked out of the stands and demanded his son to get off the court and leave with him.  And the kid refused!  It’s so embarrassing to witness such behavior from alleged grown-ups.

The parent everyone should use as a role model is my main man, C.J. Johnson whose three sons played scholastically at Clovis West.  I’ve known C.J. for over ten years.  Our older son, Andy, played with his older boys, John and Brandon, while our younger son, Alex, played many, many years of summer ball with their “Baby Boy,” Denzel (who’s a returning starter as a sophomore at Santa Clara).  A little history on C.J.  He played football at San Jose State and, . . . it’s too long a story (even for me), but he became best friends with Gary Payton.  So much so that he was Gary’s best man and Gary sent C.J. a world championship ring when they won it in Miami - which made Gary C.J.’s best man - as in the best man he’s ever known.

C.J. never talked behind coaches’ backs (in fact, they all loved him) and refused to yell at officials (the same cannot be said, however, for his wife, Denise, who, otherwise, is a real sweetheart).  During an important summer AAU game (if there is such a thing), our guys were in a back and forth, tense contest in which they got behind with only a few minutes left.  While the other parents were doing their thing, C.J. just yelled out to our guys exactly what they needed to hear:

“Figure it out.”

Did Rory McElroy come closer to convincing everyone he’s the #1 golfer in the world?  Not sure, but with his career winnings, how about buying a reliable alarm clock - one that has all the time zones?

Does the enormous amount of tour money lessen the pressure?  Dottie Pepper, commenting at the 17th hole yesterday, made the comment, “It seems like there’s no oxygen here in Chicago.”  So the answer seems to be the pressure is astronomical because this is the only time all year these guys are not playing for cash?  There’s nothing more difficult than knowing if you fail, you’re letting down millions of people, in particular the guys you see on a weekly basis during “business” hours.

Terrific, to the point of almost exasperating, sportsmanship displayed by both sides.  It appeared like there was more positive acknowledgement of good play than laser focus on the next shot.  Don’t they care as much, do they respect their opponents to the point of so much public admiration or is it a method of masking a kind of fear?  Or maybe it was just a select number that caught my eye.

After Saturday’s Ryder Cup concluded, the United States held a commanding 10-6 advantage, needing only 4 1/2 of the 12 possible Sunday singles points.  The Americans would need to win another 4 1/2 points to reclaim the Cup.  To put it in another context, nine all-squares and three losses would mean victory for the US.  Harken back to Saturday when the score was actually 10-4.  Going into Sunday down 6-10 isn’t so bad when your team won the final two points, the last of which coming from Ian Poulter who broke from the gates with five straight birdies.  Talk about a serious shift of “Mo.”

Speaking of Poulter, England’s favorite son (as of today) went 4-0 in Ryder Cup play and probably would have earned the MVP but that’s more of an individual honor for someone from a team sport, whereas the Ryder Cup is a team award for an individual sport.

Brandt Snedeker played much below his normal game.  Could it be because he had a letdown after just winning $10,000,000 in the FedEx Cup?  Yes, the zeros were included for effect.  It’s tough to tell as the sample size for that particular problem is too small.

So, was it an amazing European comeback or a classic US collapse?  Depends upon which team you’re pulling for or where your money was.  Also, how you look at life.  Are you a “There must be a scapegoat” type of person or “Unless it was just an out-and-out gift, congrats to the winners” kind of guy?  Before you answer, ponder the comments from former UNC offensive line coach, Howard Mudd in the 9/24/12 edition of Sports Illustrated.  What he was saying was directed to the “incredible psychological stability” of future Hall of Fame center, Jeff Saturday.  Take from it what you will regarding the clutch vs. choke argument:

“The really good players don’t rise to the occasion, as people like to say; they’re just not as adversely affected by the situation.”