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By Jeff Mayfield
[SEPT. 16, 2000]  Now that the fall sports season is upon us here in Lincoln and Logan County, I thought it might be good to review why sports programs even exist to begin with. I should point out that I am not an expert in this field. I am not a sports psychologist, although I’d love to play one on television. I have no credentials. I am not endorsed or sanctioned by the ISHA, the NCAA (thank God, talk about the kiss of death...) or the NBA. I have never received expressed written consent for any accounts or depictions of any games by Major League Baseball. However, I do think I have as much experience in this one little area of life and more than most of my 40-plus-year-old counterparts. I have noticed a disturbing national trend when it comes to scholastic sports competition. Before we begin covering this year’s plethora of games in our region, the LDN will try to remind athletes, coaches, parents and fans the reasons that we participate. I hope that from this point on, Lincoln will be known as the town that bucked the trend...that in our area, kids learned the fundamentals, developed character and skills like teamwork, and also that they had a lot of fun along the way.

(Why do sports exist?
(1) To have FUN.)

(Why do sports exist?
(2) To learn the fundamentals.)

Why do sports exist?

(3) To build character and personality traits.

The last area that I’ll touch on in this editorial is the idea that sports provide lots of teachable moments.

The possibility of learning to build one’s character can be either a positive or negative experience.  The coach has the opportunity and, in my mind, the responsibility (at least in junior high and high school sports) to help mold the character of the student-athletes in his/her charge.  I believe that it is one of the most difficult aspects of the coaching profession…and it’s getting harder in this society that has such a fixation with ONLY winning!

It is also troubling that people take issue with what coaches are hired to do.  What’s wrong with teaching kids hard work, punctuality, team responsibility, role modeling and sacrificing, just to name a few.  Why do so many people want to take coaches to task because they may have a unique way of teaching these principles to their athletes?

(To top of second column in this section)

I believe that in some ways coaches have a higher calling to this endeavor than just about anyone else in the school system, and that pressure also makes it one of the hardest things to do.  I cherish the traits and characteristics that my coaches tried to instill in me in my younger years.  I hope that they would be proud that I not only try to live them, but that I also try to coach them into a new generation of Americans.

It’s not too late to stem the tide.  But just as it is very difficult for the salmon to get upstream, it may be the most difficult task that we’ve handed our coaches in the new millennium.  As fans, parents or grand parents, we must all pull together to create or re-create an atmosphere or an environment that relishes all-out effort, that applauds a spectacular play even if it is made by someone from the opposing team, and that establishes an arena that will not stand to see a coach or an official berated or intimidated.  I loved that kind of environment as a kid.  I hope I live long enough to see it again!

[Jeff Mayfield]

By Jeff Mayfield
[SEPT. 15, 2000]  Now that the fall sports season is upon us here in Lincoln and Logan County, I thought it might be good to review why sports programs even exist to begin with. I should point out that I am not an expert in this field. I am not a sports psychologist, although I’d love to play one on television. I have no credentials. I am not endorsed or sanctioned by the ISHA, the NCAA (thank God, talk about the kiss of death...) or the NBA. I have never received expressed written consent for any accounts or depictions of any games by Major League Baseball. However, I do think I have as much experience in this one little area of life and more than most of my 40-plus-year-old counterparts. I have noticed a disturbing national trend when it comes to scholastic sports competition. Before we begin covering this year’s plethora of games in our region, the LDN will try to remind athletes, coaches, parents and fans the reasons that we participate. I hope that from this point on, Lincoln will be known as the town that bucked the trend...that in our area, kids learned the fundamentals, developed character and skills like teamwork, and also that they had a lot of fun along the way.

(Why do sports exist?
(1) To have FUN.)

Why do sports exist?

(2) To learn the fundamentals.

A part of the disturbing trend that I see in youth sports has to do with the area of fundamentals. When many of us were growing up it was thought that the purpose of little leagues and junior high level athletics was to teach young people the rudimentary aspects of a specific sport. I’m not sure if that is happening today.

I guess I wonder why we feel it’s a good idea to cut kids from sports teams on the junior high level. Won’t they get plenty of disappointments in life soon enough anyway? (like when they get into high school?) Is it necessary to be yet another attacker of their self-esteem? I like the way sports are handled in California for the younger age groups. There are no state championships. There is an A, B and C team in virtually any sport. There is basically a way that anyone that wants to can participate.

It takes a lot of extra work and a lot of volunteer help, but I noticed something interesting even as a junior higher. Several parents and other interested adults would single out several players and say that they would never amount to anything. As I graduated and went into high school, many of the boys and girls that those adults had declared losers not only made their high school teams, many of them had blossomed and become stars! How many kids in the Midwest are run off before their bodies have even matured? When teams only play their starters, no one ever finds out what the bench players can do.

I’m only serving up food for thought here...as I know that many of our loyal readers have much more experience than I do in this field. I just thought that a mandatory playing time rule should exist on the junior high and lower levels. I do not see the sense in planting the seed in a junior high girl or boy that they are some kind of a superstar. I say, let them all play, let them all have fun and let them all learn. The best coaches have in their arsenal the ability to teach. I would love to see a generation of athletes with the proper fundamental knowledge of sports.

I do NOT think that it is too late to turn this trend around if we will commit ourselves to it. We will have to get off the coaches and give them the freedom to do their jobs rather than force them into a position of having to win every game.

I’m not saying that we should not teach the kids to be competitive. If you know me, I am one of the most competitive people that I know. If I can beat my wife in ping-pong right now, I will take the time to drill her...even if she is seven months pregnant! But there is a right and productive way to teach it.

(To top of second column in this section)

I think that we have left sportsmanship out of the curriculum. Oh, sure, we will do a forced, haphazard handshake at the end of our games, but in my experience there has been absolutely no instruction as to what sportsmanship means. Youngsters need to be taught how to be gracious losers and humble winners. I do not believe the old adage that if you show me a gracious loser, I’ll show you a consistent loser. I also do not believe that you need to put it in other people’s faces when you emerge victorious. They have enough to deal with in that they just lost the ball game. When you thump your chest and taunt them, you just add insult to injury. There is no place for that in scholastic sports, period. And if you think that this kind of behavior is acceptable, please stay away from my son. I would even hope that you would move to Philadelphia or to another planet where that kind of boorish behavior is welcomed. I cringe when I see it around here.

I’m not sure how good sportsmanship should be introduced and taught on the scholastic level. I would hope that it would be a high priority to all of our area superintendents and principals. Perhaps they could meet with all of their coaches and find out what they are currently doing and suggest some ways to implement positive sportsmanship modeling and mentoring. Positive reinforcement can go a long way in setting the stage and the mood for a sportsmanlike environment.

It should also be discussed at any mandatory parents’ meetings that are held in conjunction with athletics. It should be voiced at those meetings in no uncertain terms that any abusive behavior toward any coach, player or official will simply not be tolerated; and that, should it happen, security and or law enforcement officials will be called. The fact that some of this kind of stuff is taking place in our area literally sickens me. That is why I’m willing to take such a bold stand now.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, I have not always been the best example in the past myself. Usually I restrict myself to going berserk only at Illinois games. I shouldn’t be doing it there either. Even though I appear to be very entertaining to the rest of the people that sit in my section, I usually don’t stop to think what their little kids or grandkids might be thinking of the loudmouth from Lincoln. I will try to do better. I would like for us to be known not only as a great sports town but also as a community of good sports.

(Note: This article will conclude on Saturday.)

[Jeff Mayfield]

(To Part 3)

By Jeff Mayfield
[SEPT. 14, 2000]  Now that the fall sports season is upon us here in Lincoln and Logan County, I thought it might be good to review why sports programs even exist to begin with. I should point out that I am not an expert in this field. I am not a sports psychologist, although I’d love to play one on television. I have no credentials. I am not endorsed or sanctioned by the ISHA, the NCAA (thank God, talk about the kiss of death...) or the NBA. I have never received expressed written consent for any accounts or depictions of any games by Major League Baseball. However, I do think I have as much experience in this one little area of life and more than most of my 40-plus-year-old counterparts. I have noticed a disturbing national trend when it comes to scholastic sports competition. Before we begin covering this year’s plethora of games in our region, the LDN will try to remind athletes, coaches, parents and fans the reasons that we participate. I hope that from this point on, Lincoln will be known as the town that bucked the trend...that in our area, kids learned the fundamentals, developed character and skills like teamwork, and also that they had a lot of fun along the way.

If sports are not fun, you shouldn’t play them. If anyone is forcing you to participate in a sport, you should report him or her immediately. No sport is an absolutely mandatory activity. I think everyone should try sports; you might like ’em...you might not! Some people and sports are not natural friends. You still might have fun participating. Many people have posted memos or letters to the editor that it can’t be very fun having a losing season...or several losing seasons. I disagree. In fact, I point to the 1964 George and Ann’s Pirates, the 1969 Sunnyvale Spiders and the 1973-74 Mount Vernon Mountaineers. I was a star bench-rider for all three of these teams.

My Pirate teammates and I not only did not win a single game, we never even came close. If you remember The Bad News Bears "before" team...that was us. As a baseball purist, I could tell you that we were pathetic. Our pitching staff was a joke. We had no one that could throw strikes. We led the league in walks, hits, home runs, hit batsmen and players who cried for their mommies every week. As a stellar second baseman (I hit an eye-popping .250 in that, my first, year of organized ball) I remember looking out into right field one particular game. Our outfielder was not paying any attention to the game (and we were only down about 21-3 at the time). He had caught a big black snake and he was trying to get it to bite him. I wondered if major leaguers did stuff like that when they were bored.

You would think that losing some 20 games in a row would have a devastating effect on such a group of serious ball players. But our coach (who will remain nameless for awhile) knew something that I wish coaches in the new millennium could know. No matter how sad or sorry our performance...no matter how much crying he had to put up with...no matter how much abuse he took from the parents...he held the key to our hearts.

After every game, lose or annihilation, he quickly gathered us together and took us to the ice cream stand. I couldn’t wait for that moment every game. In fact, while I was eating my ice cream there were times when I would enter a state of consciousness where I wasn’t even sure if we had won or lost. I would have run through a wall for that man.

One Saturday after we had just completed a six-game losing streak our coach took us to a professional baseball game in San Diego. As we entered the ballpark I saw a ball whiz past me and the rest of my teammates. I sprinted through the seats until I made eye contact with the ball. I had to knock over a couple of old ladies and push some little kids out of my way, but after the dust cleared and most of the bloody stumps were retracted I had come up with my first baseball (I think I have about 11 of them in my collection). As a wily 8-year-old, it was the proudest moment of my life...until I decided to keep the ball away from my teammates by sticking it in my jacket with the zippered pocket. When the coach asked me to produce the ball, the zipper was stuck, and I never got the ball out ’til my Mom (don’t you just love moms) rescued me when I got home! So even though I helped lead my team to a perfect season, we STILL had a lot of fun.

(To top of second column in this section)

Another example of my theory is the ’69 Sunnyvale Spiders football team. I was the starting quarterback on the newest team in the Bay area. They were lucky to get me, as there were several gangs negotiating for my services. I decided that the football team is exactly what I needed...that, I would be just the guy to lead them to the San Jose PAL title. If you remember how Stallone looked at the end of Rocky...that’s how I looked after every game. I led that team to an amazing 0-11 record, and I was instrumental in every one of those losses. As bad as we were, we got to see a lot of cool stuff in the San Francisco area. And since a lot of teams had been around for a while with their old uniforms...we had brand new ones very similar to the ones worn by the Oakland Raiders. I wore No. 11 (back in those days every one wanted to wear No. 12) because I didn’t want anyone to confuse me with any No. 12s! My stats were terrible. Our offense was bad and our defense was worse. But we had more fun that year than I probably did my junior year in high school when we advanced to the Missouri State championship game!

Lastly, I submit as evidence C, the ’73-’74 Mount Vernon Mountaineer basketball team. I had bided my time throughout my high school career waiting for my turn to play point guard for Mount Vernon. Earlier in my career I had dominated the competition on the JV level, just hoping that our varsity coach would see me and give me a chance. He never did until he had to, when graduation depleted our squad. I was one of five seniors left...and he simply started the seniors. We had a spectacularly mediocre season that did include an upset of the No. 4 ranked team in the state, the Lebanon Yellow Jackets. Halfway through the season, I went into a slump. It got so bad that I couldn’t hit water if I fell out of a boat! After I had waited my whole high school career for my big chance, my coach benched me and told me that my season was over after the 16^th game. It was hard sitting there for the final eight. But my teammates rallied around me and tried to help forget about my problems. I still had some fun even though it was a bitter pill to swallow.

I haven’t even told you about the dozens of times that I played on teams that achieved a measure of success. I pointed out these disastrous seasons to prove my point...that you can have fun in any situation. It’s all about the attitude that you bring to practice and to the games every day. I am NOT talking about goofing around and not getting your work done. In fact, I love the way that Railer coach Neil Alexander handles this aspect with his hoopsters. He drives them to perfection. He demands proper execution on both offense and defense. He does not dole out compliments very often. But as an assistant coach working as a team with our players, we would all occasionally get it just right...and the look on his face was worth a million bucks.

I like what former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said to Wildcat player Richie Farmer. Richie wanted to quit because he said basketball was no longer fun. Coach Pitino said that hoops is not supposed to be fun; that’s why they call it work. The fun comes when you run out in front of 24,000 people. He went on to suggest that he should quit along with Farmer. Farmer said, "Coach you can’t quit," to which Pitino responded, "Neither can you." Together, they made it to within one point of making it to the Final Four in the NCAA National Championships and had a lot of fun doing it, I might add!

(Note: This article will be continued with postings Friday and Saturday.)

[Jeff Mayfield]

(To Part 2)

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