Jack’s Blog

This blogosphere (or whatever the technical name for it is) has documented time and again my chronic back pain.  Just like buying a new car, and then seemingly seeing that same car over and over when you hadn’t seen one before, it has come to my attention that, while I have back pain, I’m certainly not alone.

Yesterday, a friend contacted me, telling me that his mother-in-law made a seven-hour trip into town to see her grandkids.  She has periodic back problems and forgot her pain pills.  Since I get my medication intrathecally (I don’t even pretend that’s the correct spelling and spell check is stymied as well), I gave him the pain pills I had.  I don’t use pain pills anymore because 1) taking strong meds aren’t good for, among other things, the liver and 2) they don’t work on me (which is probably the #1 reason I don’t take them).

A coaching friend of mine, and his wife, approached me and asked several questions regarding what I was doing and how I was coping.  It turns out she has chronic back pain.  I’d known her from my days at a physical therapy facility where I was rehabbing from my last (I certainly hope it’s my last) back surgery and she was getting therapy for a (couple of) shoulder surgeries.  While her shoulders got better, it was a few years later that she encountered excruciating back pain.

One of my math teaching colleagues came into my room last week and showed me the tens unit she was wearing.  The reason?  Back pain.  She told me anytime she starts hurting, she thinks of me and tells herself she could be worse.  Not the way I’d hoped to inspire people.

I started thinking and realized that during the course of a typical week, I probably hear from and about others who live in a less than pain-free existence.  I just read an article by Jonah Lehrer, entitled The Psychology of Back Pain.  The gist of the article is much of back pain lies further north of the spine.  “It’s all in your head,” a line we’ve all heard on many occasions is now the basis for a great deal of back pain.

Whether or not that’s true, I can say that while you’re reading this blog, I’ll either be in, or just have left, a seminar called Meditation Strategies for Chronic Pain.  Have I become desperate?  I guess I’m hoping Benjamin Disraeli’s quote is right:

“Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.” �

As stated in an earlier blog last week (1/21), the “Jack’s Notes” page of this website has been (finally) updated.  Since the last upgrade a few days ago, another addition has been added. 

If you read that entry, you’d know that my main man, George Raveling, taught me (among about a zillion other lessons) to read with a highlighter.  After finishing the book, get the highlighted parts typed, thus giving me a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the book.  Since they were mine, I chose to call them “Fertig Notes.”  For my website, I furthered condensed the book summaries - to between one-three pages (since an 8-12 page manuscript would be too much on a website page). 

Originally, there were five - and due to powers beyond my control, these comprised the “Jack’s Notes” page for altogether too long.  Not that they weren’t informative; quite the contrary.  I had numerous people mention to me they loved the book summaries.  Their main question was, “When are you going to add to the collection?”

How it got done isn’t something that needs to discussed in this space, just suffice to say, a change was finally made and an additional four new entries were posted.  And now there are three more - one of which is When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss’ biography of Vince Lombardi (hailed by many as the greatest sports bio ever).  My condensed version on this website is altogether too brief, but every word will educate, inspire and, possibly even, shock the reader.

Rather than try to even further shorten it for this blog, allow me to direct you to the appropriate page, i.e. the “Jack’s Notes” tab on my Home Page.  You are guaranteed to feel enlightened after reading the brief synopsis - even if you’ve already read the book.  I can truthfully say this because I just finished re-reading it (for the who-knows-how-many times) and I have a greater appreciation for what the Colts and Saints are going through - and playing for.

One Lombardi quote I will end with is:

 “There are other coaches who know more about X’s and O’s but I’ve got an edge.  I know more about football players than they do.”�

Each Wednesday night on The Jerry Tarkanian Show, our second segment is an interview with someone very prominent in the world of college basketball.  This past week’s interview was with St. Louis U’s head coach, Rick Majerus.  Rick is a throwback type coach, the guy who enjoys practices much more than games, someone who’d much rather talk hoops than endorsement deals.  He’s also a quick wit, a trait he seems to have inherited from his former boss, the late Al McGuire.  Rick admitted as much during the interview. 

After the segment, I asked Jerry to relate his favorite Al McGuire story - well aware of which one it would be.  Jerry told of the time he went to Milwaukee to exchange ideas with Al.  He was sitting in the coach’s office when Al’s secretary buzzed him and said, “Coach, Maurice Lucas (Marquette’s star forward) called and is coming over to see you.”

“Quick, let’s go,” Al said to his stunned visitor, and they quickly went out - the back door.  As they were walking across campus, they heard someone yell, “Hey, Al!”  Sure enough, it was Lucas.  When he came closer, he saw who was walking with his coach and said to Jerry, “Hi, Coach.”

“I couldn’t believe it,” Jerry said.  “He called his coach, Al, and called me ‘Coach.’  But that was how Al operated.  Just before Lucas could say anything else, Al said, ‘Hey, Mo, am I glad I saw you.  I have Coach Tark here and I want to take him to lunch but I don’t have any money.  Can you loan me 20 bucks?’ 

“Lucas looked at him and said, ‘Ah no, Al, I don’t have any money either.’  After he left, Al turned to me and said, ‘Tark, that’s the key.  You ask them for money before they ask you.’  He knew Lucas was about to hit him up for a ‘loan’ so he turned the tables on him.  Al was a quick thinker and was always one step ahead of everybody.”  This reminded me of the story when Majerus was an assistant for McGuire at Marquette. 

Everybody who is even a casual fan of college basketball knows Rick has had a life long weight problem.  It was during one of his many attempts to shed some excess baggage that he proudly went up to his boss before practice and said, “Hey, Al, I’m on a new diet.  I just dropped five pounds.”

Al took one look at Rick and said, “Five pounds!  That’s like throwing a deck chair off the Queen Mary.”       

No one was ever more authentic than Al McGuire.  The quote that described him perfectly is from Harriet Beecher Stowe:   

“Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”

My wife’s out of town all week (thank goodness she comes back tomorrow), so I’ve had to take care of the homefront, something I’m very poorly equipped to do.  Throw in feeding the dog and I’m a complete wreck.  Younger son, Alex, is a starter on Buchanan’s varsity basketball team, currently 15-4 and ranked #2 in the San Joaquin Valley.  Last night they played Clovis High School, a team they haven’t beaten . . . I’m not sure ever.  I know they haven’t beaten them in the past eight years.

Last night, the drought came to an end with a convincing 70-49 thrashing in front of BHS’s students, teachers, parents and fans.  After the game, there was the hanging around, discussing the contest and, naturally, since it was a first, the chatter took longer than usual.  Much of it centered around how hard the guys have been working.  This got me thinking to a blog I did on 7/10/07 and it’s as true now as it was then - or ever.  It follows - with permission from the author.

One thought that is pretty much universal is that people should work hard in whatever field they choose.  In a interview years ago, NBA Hall-of-Famer, Bill Russell, repeated a story his father had told him.  His dad had said to Bill that if an employer paid him $5, that he should give that employer $7 worth of work.  The reasons were: 1) you become valuable to the company, 2) you’re more important to that company than that company is to you, and 3) if it came right down to it, you could tell your boss to stick the job.

While I’m not one for burning bridges, I fully believe in a strong work ethic.  First of all, it’s what this country is founded on.  Second, it’s tragic if you don’t reach your potential because you didn’t put forth the effort (see my signature quote, blog 5/6/07).

One of the most powerful lines I’ve ever read came from (I might be mistaken but I believe this is where I read it) NSA Orange County (CA) speaker, Danny Cox’s book, Seize the Day.  The quote is:

“Wouldn’t it be hell if the Lord came down and showed you what you could have done with your life?”�

The first game of Super Tuesday on ESPN was Michigan State against Michigan in Ann Arbor.  It was a thrilling game, with Michigan playing the #5 Spartans right to the buzzer, losing when a last second, perfectly designed side-out-of-bounds play went awry - mainly because the Michigan player’s jersey was held by the MSU defender.  The officials, down to only two when early in the contest, veteran Jim Burr came up lame due to back spasms, missed the infraction.  If anyone can empathize with Jim’s plight it’s your truly.  Back pain can stop the toughest of us - not for one minute implying that I, or Jim Burr for that matter, are in that category, but, trust me, back pain trumps most any physical activity.

Something that somehow merited no attention, possibly because he’s an ESPN analyst now and the game was broadcast on their station, was the rousing ovation former Fab 5 member Jalen Rose received when he was announced to the crowd.  Jimmy King, one of his running mates with the Fab 5, was also in attendance.

I completely understand the adulation the maize & blue showered on Rose (and King).  It’s been a rather long dry spell for one of the traditional powers in intercollegiate hoops and fans who’ve had to endure losing seasons or NIT bids when a deep run in the NCAA’s used to be the norm, love to be reminded of the glory days.  What surprised me was there was no mention of the fact that the Fab 5’s teams records have been expunged from NCAA history due to violations committed by an overzealous booster named Ed Martin.  I admit I wasn’t glued to the set, so maybe I’m speaking out of turn and there actually was criticism directed toward that other Michigan tradition - cash payments made to the members of that quintet.

And these weren’t crimes on the order of free rice bowls.  The numbers the NCAA revealed were in the five-figure category.  It seemed there was not only a free lunch, but breakfast, dinner, wardrobe, transportation, “toys,” you name it.

On a website entitled Winning With Integrity (not to be confused with agent Leigh Steinberg’s book of the same title), a company in the UK stated the need to set out a clear vision for the long term, with clear answers to three questions.  It would be an interesting research project to find out the answers to these questions when it comes to an athletics department’s vision - especially how it compares to its alumni and fans’ vision.  The questions were:

“What are we here to do?”

“What do we stand for?”

“What would we like to see ourselves become?”   

Postgame comments on Brett Favre came from many different corners - talk radio, ESPN-TV, water coolers, bar stools.  If they weren’t so serious, the people in three of the four of those categories could be looked at as bit players performing comedy spoofs.  For those who never played, you’d think Brett Favre was one of the all-time great losers.

To hear them spout off statistics about late game interceptions, you’d think he never won a game, much less some pretty big ones.  Mark Twain once said that there were three types of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.  I can understand if someone lost a bundle of money because they had the Vikes in the Super Bowl at big odds ridiculing the Minnesota QB.  This way, it’s his fault the mortgage payment went out the window, not the schmuck who put money on someone else, banking on him to bring home the bacon.  Why would someone who knows even a sliver about the game, mock someone as talented as Brett Favre?

Because in our society, there is a group who just gets a kick out seeing other people fail.  Makes them feel less lonely, I guess.  Just to play 19 seasons in the NFL - sure, he only won one Super Bowl - ought to be enough to earn the respect of someone whose claim to fame is having been the guest speaker at the local Rotary luncheon - more than once.

These folks will always believe in the theory: Strengthen the weak by weakening the strong, i.e. rather than trying to scratch and claw their way to the top, it’s easier and more fun to drag others down below them.  Then there are guys like Trent Dilfer and Tom Jackson who had a completely different take on the seemingly ageless quarterback.

When asked after the game about “the interception,” Dilfer, as always, gave his honest, i.e. “I’m an analyst now so it’s my job to call it straight and not be a shill for players” answer.  He wasn’t as critical of Favre for throwing that ill-advised pass as he was understanding of the gunslinger approach Brett Favre takes toward the game - and how, in some instances (that one in particular), he will attempt to make a pass he shouldn’t.  He said that style defines Favre and when you have him on your team, those are the throws you expect him to try to make.  But the difference was, because Dilfer has actually played not only the game, but the position, he acknowledged that same mentality is what gets his teams deep into the playoffs.

The other “men with the answers” were yucking it up over whether Favre would retire - ooh, will he or won’t he?  Making fun of his past indecisions, not bothering to mention it’s guys like them who ask a player immediately following a devastating loss - in which he took some nasty hits and had to be feeling as hurt physically (a hurt these people would never begin to feel) as he was mentally - “are you going to retire?”

The wise commentary came from Jackson and Dilfer, each of whom had long careers in the professional ranks - and who know what it’s like to be in Favre’s shoes.  Jackson and Favre gave the sentiment - that, naturally it was his decision, but that he should play.  Dilfer said football is the greatest game in the world and it’s intoxicating, the most addictive drug in the world.  Jackson echoed that sentiment, but intelligently added, “if his body can hold up.”  The camaraderie among teammates, the feeling you get being in the locker room, being part of it, spelled out “do it as long as you can.”

Some guys feel the need to make snide comments, yet have never experienced the thrill or the agony.  For them, they ought to adhere to the old adage:

“Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut and let everyone think you’re a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.” 

   �

Speaking at the press conference after AFC title game, Peyton Manning made the comment that he was glad there was a two-week break before the Super Bowl.  He claimed he didn’t know how the guys used to do it, i.e. when the game was played the following week.  He admitted to being mentally tired - not physically tired, but mentally tired.

Anyone who is aware of the Peyton Manning story (which includes any true fan of pro football - and several casual ones as well) knows how much preparation Manning puts into his game plan.  And that’s just for a regular season game.  Imagine how much video prep, meetings with his coaches, receivers and O linemen and speaking with his dad and brother goes into a postseason contest, where it’s a “win or go home” scenario.  And, obviously, the deeper the Colts go, the more time he invests.

The night prior to the game, ESPN’s Teddy Bruschi said that, in order to beat Peyton Manning, a defense must keep him off balance - and even then, he will adjust as the game goes on.  Jets’ coach, Rex Ryan’s post game remarks echoed that philosophy: “You have to keep Peyton Manning off balance and we didn’t keep him off balance enough.” 

Sure enough, the Jets did throw different looks at him, changed out of what they were initially running in order to confuse the Colts’ QB and the Colts struggled - in the beginning.  The Jets jumped out to a 17-6 lead.  But, Peyton being Peyton, just before the half, he led his offense to a TD, the first seven of what were to be 24 unanswered points to move on to Miami and Super Bowl XLIV.  Certainly Peyton Manning is highly skilled but it’s his discipline and work ethic that sets him apart from his peers. 

During an ESPN college basketball telecast, the station’s newest color commentator, none other than the winningest men’s coach of all-time, Bob Knight, voiced his support of the Colts.  He said his relationship with Colts’ president, Bill Polian, was the reason for his support of Indy.  Then, he shared a statement that he made to Peyton Manning which spoke to Manning’s approach to his craft:

“If I had five guys just like you, in varying sizes, I’d never lose.” �

Some coaches are fire-breathing, aggressive and competitive types, while others are more laid-back, introspective - and competitive.  It’s been said coaches get too much credit when teams win and too much blame when teams lose.  (Note: The same is said about quarterbacks).  So, which model is recommended?

If any research has been done, undoubtedly, it would show that both types (and any other leadership style) have a number of coaches who have been big winners as well as coaches who’ve lost - games and their jobs.  Vince Lombardi and Mike Ditka in one group and Tom Landry and Tony Dungy in the other.  Jimmy Johnson was gregarious as a head coach; Bill Belichick is anything but.

I found the answer in one national wire story I read yesterday.  It discussed the coaches in today’s AFC title game and had the following quote from New York Jets coach, Rex Ryan, when asked about his bravado approach: “Believe in yourself and believe in your team.”  He does, and expresses himself in a way that endears him to Jets’ fans and players.

When his counterpart, Jim Caldwell, head man of the Indianapolis Colts, was questioned about his soft-spoken ways (especially in comparison to Ryan), he summed their differences - which are also their strengths - perfectly:

“The great thing about this game is that it requires an immense amount of authenticity, so you have to be who you are.”

Rex Ryan, coach of the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets, has been using one of the oldest tricks in the coaching book by intentionally holding his head high, sticking his chest out, flapping his gums and breaking all the rules of “limit the bulletin board material you give your opponent.”  The stomach’s out there too, but that’s not necessarily by design - unless his doctor told him to watch his weight, so now he’s got it out there where he can keep an eye on it.

No knocking the Jets’ head man as he readies his team for the NFL version of the Final Four.  It’s worked so far - like a charm - so why stop now?  Actually he can’t.  Imagine if all of a sudden, Ryan clammed up when asked what his team’s chances were against Indy. When someone is bragging about what he (or, in this case, his team) is going to do, then one day, shuts down the rhetoric, think of the message it sends to those whose efforts caused him to pop off in the first place.

Usually, there is a method to a coach’s madness when they use this particular strategy.  Just go back to Lane Kiffin’s boasting when he took the job at Tennessee (gosh, it seems like only yesterday, or fourteen months ago, whichever is sooner) and made caustic comments about Florida and Coach Urban Meyer, going so far as calling them - and him - cheaters.  After a much-closer-than-everyone-thought game in the Swamp, Kiffin emerged from the visitors locker room, saying he took all the pressure off the players, i.e. that the Gator fans were seeking him out for ridicule, thus allowing the team to march in unscathed and play to their potential.

Another reason might be a bonding experience.  Kind of like, “Look fellas, it’s us against the Big Bad Wolf.  I’ve pretty much managed to upset our opponents entire fan base - and that’s where we have to go.”  It fosters a “United We Stand” mentality as the game the Colts (as the Vols back then) are about to play is full of “them.”  And, depending on what the coach is saying to his team behind closed doors, the shrewd leader can motivate his squad beyond any Tony Robbins seminar by expressing his true belief in what he’s so vocal about.  If he can come off sincerely, his guys will tear down doors and bust through walls.

With all that said, do I think the Jets have a shot against the mighty Colts?  Only if a flu epidemic strikes down the home club, starting with #18.  Barring a medical turn for the worse in Naptown, or some other natural disaster, the Jets’ magical run has come to an abrupt end.  As the writer Ayn Rand said:

“We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.”

Countless numbers of fans were disappointed and enraged when Norv Turner and Wade Phillips were given contract extensions.  Each coach has been roasted by fans and radio talk hosts alike for their inability to go deep into the playoffs.  The fact that they get to the playoffs doesn’t matter in the slightest.

Listen to a conversation among fans or tune into talk radio and those coaches are getting skewered.  What I find extremely amusing is that the dialogue nearly always consists of a (as in one) play call or a decision or a play not called that, had the fan’s or caller’s suggestion been used instead (always after the game has been decided), the Cowboys, Chargers, fill in the blank with whichever team they’re pulling for, would still be alive and on their way to a Super Bowl.  And these feelings are not limited to the professional ranks.  The rash of college coaching changes that take place each year seems to be on the rise.

We all have heard that fan is short for fanatic, so on this topic, emotions run high.  Which is good because we need something to get excited about and give us feelings of success(when the team wins) or vent over (when they don’t).  But let’s think about what happens to the team when the coach is fired.  I’m not being heartless when I say not to consider the coach’s feelings, family, stress level, etc. when he gets fired.  In this case, I’m focusing on what should be the main concern to the fan - the team. 

In college, when a coaching change is made, there is (usually) a period of time before the new coach is hired.  During that time period, the fans are still giddy because that “SOB who couldn’t get the job done” is finally gone.  However, just as fans have emotions, so do the players. 

Since these are young guys, they tend to make statements or decisions during a time when it probably would be better to sit back, take a few deep breaths and let things play out.  But that type of reaction doesn’t make for good reading or listening, so these young adults (or spoiled kids) shoot from the lip because it’s their right that everyone knows how they feel.  Many of the comments made fall under the “I wish I hadn’t said that” category.  Even worse are the decisions some of them make in haste, e.g. to “un”commit, transfer, or even quit. 

Move on to just as important matters, yet ones that are devoid of emotion and there’s a better reason why several coaching changes that are made are not in the best interests of the team.  One is that with a new coach comes a new system.  No two coaches have identical styles and the players who are at that institution were recruited to play in the now-gone coach’s system.  Some “blue chippers” might not be the best fit for the incoming staff.  It’s not easy to replace good players.  Depending on when the change is finally completed, an entire recruiting season may be lost.

In addition, in college football, most programs like to redshirt many of their freshmen (some coaches have the philosophy to redshirt the entire freshmen class - to get them more familiar with the style of play, to get them stronger - and a year older and more mature, to get them acclimated to college life - especially academics).  Combine the fact that recruiting has got to suffer because the coaches of schools where there was no coaching change are using all this turmoil against a new staff and it becomes an uphill battle.  Sure, the new coaches have been recruiting these kids for quite a while, but you’d better be a slick talker to change your sales pitch - from why where the institution you, the coach, just left was the perfect place, to why your new employer presents an even better situation.  Which is the reason why recruiting seasons are lost.  Another thing that’s often lost is a great deal of money, but that’s another story for another blog.

Finally, take into account the new guy may be worse than the last one.  “Impossible!” the fan claims, yet when the following season kicks off and the fan’s team loses, I defy you to catch that same backer saying, “Well, we might have lost, but at least we don’t have that other guy here - making calls that cause our team to . . .  oh yeah.”

I wonder how the Charger and Cowboy fans would feel if Dallas and San Diego had fired their coaches - and then the Cowboys hired Norv Turner and the Chargers hired Wade Phillips?  What their fans really want is for Norv to coach the Chargers and Wade to coach the Cowboys during the regular season.  Then, replace them with, maybe Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy or better yet, Vince Lombardi and Chuck Noll.  Just remember:

“If the grass is greener on the other side, there’s always a guy on that side who thinks your grass is greener than his.”�