I've spent a good percentage of my life on fields and courts as both a player and a coach. At best I'm average at both playing or coaching, but I've enjoyed the process immensely and over the years I hope that I've learned much through my observations. One thing I've learned through all that participation, and something I've tried to share with the kids that I've coached, is that too much attention is paid to the actualy playing of the game and not enough is paid to how to play the game. My mantra is that the most important contributors to your success in sports are, in this order, the head, heart, lungs and legs.
Most great competitors are not the most athletic, rather they have a certain level of athletic ability mixed with a superior mind. They also possess an incredible drive, often referred to by coaches as "heart" that allows them to put forth an incredible amount of effort no matter what obstacles are put in their way. Lungs and legs simply refer to the fact that the great players almost always train harder than anyone else in the game which means that when everyone else is ready to pass out they're ready to go. Also, the great ones work on their technical skills long after everyone else has called it quits for the day so when the heat is on during the game they can rely on their skills even when they are completely stressed out.
I thought about all this when I read Dan Collins' most recent post on "My Take on Wake". He writes about Wake Forest center Chas McFarland's struggles to keep his emotions in check and how McFarland's inability to do so has led to reduced playing time. In this case it sounds like the heart is actually trumping the brain, and that's never a good thing. I hope for McFarland's and Wake's sake he gets it together in the near future. He's obviously worked his butt off and improved physically, but that will be all for naught if he doesn't get his head in order.
Befuddled 