Second Intermission: My Thoughts On Our Season So Far

We are now three quarters through the season. I realize just how time consuming it is to coach a high school basketball team, have an engineering job and still have all of life's chores to keep. If you follow this blog, you notice that I haven't been writing as much since the season started. I would also say that the time commitment has been worth it. I see the great privilege I have to teach, encourage and lead these fine young men. They are some of the best that any man could ever want as a son. Many of them are high caliber basketball players and all have worked very hard to improve on their skills. I see them becoming men of God who can impact and lead in this world. As a coach I hope that I can impart whatever has been given to me from God and other men who have impacted my life. I also hope I don't blow it as I feel the great responsibility of this position.

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

I can't say enough about the assistant coaches I have working with me. Mark and Bruce are the highest quality of Godly men who keep me grounded and humble. Beyond that I can think of many times when their basketball input was invaluable. Bruce came up with the defensive scheme that helped us take on one of the top teams in this area and kept us close the whole way. Mark once spotted that a team's press was focused too much on the middle of the court and the sidelines were wide open. Stuff like that can elude me and they have the insight to countless occurences that helped the team. More than anything, I feel like we're on the same page with what we want to accomplish with the team. Leading them to see teamwork, hard work, fighting through adversity and winning shows the characteristics that God desires for the team to have in life. I am deeply indebted to these men for the help, wisdom and friendship.

Looking back in life, I see that one thing that I like to do is be analytical when it comes to watching sports. Perhaps it's because I was mostly a bench warmer or perhaps it has to do with my "geeky" side. Anyway, I find myself very much alive during the games. Seeing things and figuring out how best to get the most out of the team is really invigorating. I also love seeing the team succeed. It's funny, my competitive side is really strong, but I'm more passionate about the boys being able to succeed than just getting the win. I want so bad for them to get the taste of victory that comes from working hard as a team.

Running Rick Torbett's Read And React offense continues to amaze me. I continue to get compliments about how the offense flows. When it works and the team runs it well, it's a beautiful thing to behold. It's a scheme that can't be scouted and works well against all defenses. After two seasons, I think we're getting more and more into it. I realize that it requires a lot of conditioning to run this. With comfortability I hope that we can learn to outwork the opposition and hunt for those scoring chances. My secret hope is to see multiple staggered screens come to fruition. Then I'll be a little kid again watching  Rick Barry at Oracle Arena.

We now have installed four defenses. We have the standard 2-3 zone that work well against bigger teams. I maybe too stubborn to use it a lot. Perhaps it's so familiar I want to give the team's a different look. The chaser is something I really enjoy watching. It confuses teams and can really be effective. It's a matchup zone that requires an long athletic "chaser". I'm so glad we have two players who fit that role well. I'm surprised that we have been very effective in man to man. Considering the team's youth and relative lack of size, we have done quite well in it. I use it a lot more than I expected. It just goes to show how mature our team has become. We just added a half court trap. Right now, it's a work in progress. I think I need some tweaks to get it to work better. My hope is that this can work well when we're down and also get us some momentum at times.

Our practices were getting stale (as they usually do during the season). I'm so glad I read up on some coaches boards as one gave me the great idea of making practices a competition. Keeping score of each drill has taken the intensity and focus to a new level. I've even said the team that "wins" the practice is the starting team for the next game. Competition is in a man's DNA. It just took one tweak to bring it out and give our practices the next level of intensity that I was looking for. Nice to see the team completely gassed after a practice. I'm hoping they will see there's always a next level to achieve.

Isaiah 30:20
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.

Friday was perhaps a significant day for team team. We played Christian Academy of Knoxville which is ranked number 6 in East Tennessee. They have two players who have Division 1 scholarships and their best player is an underclassman. They have first class facilities and it was senior night. Considering we have a a small talent pool, no facilities and an all volunteer staff, games like this one can become embarrassing very fast. Not so tonight. We had the lead at the half. It was close for most of the third quarter. The coach tried at least four different defenses to stop us. I could tell the home crowd was very concerned. Sadly, they did wear us down and we ended up losing. But we gained so much more: we earned the respect of everybody in that gym; we proved to ourselves that we belong with one of the best in the area; and we do have a next level that we can achieve. I can never say I'm glad we lost a game, but it was something to behold knowing what we proved. It's like the first Rocky movie: he loses the fight but wins something deeper and more gratifying. I even got a my fan boy moment when Atlee Hammaker (former San Francisco Giants pitcher) took the time to come up to me to say how impressed he was with the team. I count that as a little gift from God that would mean something to me.

We are 10-20 right now but take away losses to the 2A and private schools and we're very close to .500. We are ranked #10 in the Southeast for home school programs! With four sophomore, five juniors and one senior, the future is bright!

Is Anybody Worthy?

One interesting thing about men is the need to determine who is the best. Men ten years older than me will debate whether Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays was the best center fielder of all time. For some reason, we are wired with the need to figure out the pecking order between each other. I think that's why sports resonates so deeply with so many men. Also, we need to know who "belongs". Are we good enough to be management material? Officer material? Management? Basically, do we merit? In baseball, there's no greater individual achievement than being inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Strangely (or perhaps not), for the second time in forty years, the Baseball Writers Association has decided that not one player is worthy for induction to the Hall Of Fame.This means that as of this writing, the all time home run king (Barry Bonds), the most decorated pitcher in history (Roger Clemens), a 600 home run hitter (Sammy Sosa), the all time hits leader (Pete Rose), the player with the third highest batting average (Joe Jackson) and two 500 home run hitters (Rafael Palmiero, Mark McGwire) all are not enshrined in the Hall Of Fame. All are considered unworthy (or in Rose's case ineligible) based on character. In some ways, I can't argue with the logic or morality of the decision. Steroids and other PEDs have tainted an entire generation of players and have painted a cloud of suspicion over any great feats in baseball. As for Rose and Jackson, the hint of fixing games, or being influenced by gambling causes a similar type suspicion.

I also can counter such reasoning with the fact that many cheaters (Gaylord Perry comes to mind) and low character individuals are already in the Hall. Reading Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" paints a picture of boozing, womanizing, greenie popping ball players including the revered Micky Mantle. There are players who would be considered racist, drug abusers, womanizers, ruffians, gamblers and scoundrels that have plaques in Cooperstown. Why single out PED users?

What this points back to is a tough reality. The Hall Of Fame is a man made institution. It's rules for induction are subjective. Even more difficult is the fact that frail humans are the judges of worthiness. This means the election process will be flawed. This can be the only reason why acknowledged greats, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle were not unanimous selections. I have to question any voter who would not vote for them. Perhaps even more puzzling is that this year someone voted for Aaron Sele (owner of a 4+ lifetime ERA). So I recall the reality of our human frailty. We are not created to judge and our judgement will be flawed.

Major League Baseball and the flaws that it exposes brings me back to 200 game winner Vida Blue. As a kid, he was one my heroes. He's a lefty and pitched for both Bay Area baseball teams. He's also a convicted drug trafficker. Perhaps the strangest circumstances with which I met a famous ballplayer was with Vida Blue. It was 1984 and I was at the Oakland Coliseum sitting in the cheap seats with my brother. I looked behind me and sitting among us bleacher bums was Vida Blue of all people. He was just released from prison and was now reduced to sitting with the rest of the fans that night. Just think, only a few years earlier he was the king of this place. He was the man we cheered for and the man that I wanted to be like. I got the courage to speak with him that night. He was gracious. I shook his hand - it was massive. I thought this was a man who could crush my hand if wanted to. I always wondered what he felt to be humbled to that level. I also wonder if his substance abuse is what prevented him from being in the Hall Of Fame. He went on to finish his career with the Giants and win 200 games along the way. Although he has battled alcohol abuse over the years, it seems that his legacy is solid. To me, he's still one of my heroes even with all of his baggage. He's human and a great pitcher.

All of this says that we are all not worthy based on character or some arbitrary sense of morality. We all are not worthy. The beauty is that God makes us worthy. He is the one who can heal us, forgive us, rehabilitate us and justify us. Our hearts can in fact be judged pure because our Heavenly Father fixed it all for us. To that we can find our worth and that we belong to God's Hall Of Fame.

The End Of The First Quarter

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I am the Boys Varsity coach for the Knoxville Ambassadors. It is an all volunteer organization that provides sports for students who are home schooled. We play at the 1A level but if one were to look at the organization, I think we'd honestly say that we are more of a small school. This statement comes mostly from the view that we have no gym, our budget is minuscule compared to other school programs, we have no professional staff, and no training facilities. Given all of that, we are extremely competitive while still having a heart of ministry.

Watching 30 For 30's "The Guru Of Go" got me to thinking that I should journal about what my impressions are of our ongoing basketball season. I've always been fascinated with Paul Westhead and his run and gun offense. Also, I knew a guy who knew Corey Gaines who played point guard during Westhead's time at Loyola Marymount. Westhead kept a journal of his thoughts given the unorthodox way in which he coached basketball. Considering I'm running the very unorthodox "Read And React" offense and at times a hybrid match up zone, I figured writing my thoughts down would come in handy for future reference.
We are now at the approximate first quarter of our season. We are a tough 4-9 with three games against 2A schools coming up. We just lost a double overtime game by 3 points. We got blown out by a couple of elite schools. We had a couple of heartbreaking losses. Just writing that sounds pretty depressing but in reality, I'm very encouraged.

First and foremost I ask myself is do I have my priorities straight? In that I mean am I here to glorify the Father; the One who has given me this opportunity? I see these young men and they are of the highest in character. This is obviously a reflection of the God honoring families that they come from. What I see is that I have this amazing opportunity to encourage the next generation of Christian men to be the stand up, high character men that this world so desperately needs. My hope is that they can be the ones who mentor, lead and impact this world. In the wake of the recent shooting in Connecticut, is it more obvious that we need engaged, high character mentors and leaders? So I look at my role and see that I need to teach them the need to persevere. I teach that it takes hard work, fundamentals and teamwork to achieve the important goals in life. I see that in victory or defeat, it's the heart of the individual that God measures. I know that I have lots to learn in these areas myself. After a tough loss it took a lot within myself not to act out in anger - not at the team, but just frustration on how the outcome wasn't what I wanted or what I wanted for the team. Perhaps I am growing in my own self awareness - progress!

As for the actual games and the team, I reflect and think just how much fun I can have with all of the stress and intense level of thought that it requires of me. It really is a crazy love it and hate it at the same time feeling. Perhaps hate isn't the right word, but more of a loathing. I love sports and I think that my whole life I tended to be more analytical about the games as opposed to being so physically involved in them. I'm sure being mostly a bench warmer makes a huge difference as well. I think that my desire to teach, mentor and be competitive adds up to the fire I need to coach the game. I love being involved in the game. I love it when the team succeeds. I love it when they fight hard no matter what.

On offense, using the Read And React system has been a revelation. I have been able to actually speak to its creator, Rick Torbett. I have seen this crazy philosophy come to fruition in an offense that resembles the Rick Barry led Golden State Warriors. The team is executing it at a higher and higher level. With that is the beauty of basketball. There's ball movement, player movement leading to exciting offense. The interesting thing is that a coach must learn to let go and trust the decision making of the players. Although I have a white board on the sideline, I rarely have to pull it out. My timeouts have become mostly a time to remind the team to stay in the offense. It's strange, but I feel a sense of mentoring and empowering to give these young men the chance to run the offense. It's not an extension of me, but an expression of their God given talent. Beyond that, it teaches them to trust each other, trust the coaches and in a much deeper sense, learn to trust themselves. I've had many compliment the team's exciting and disciplined execution of "my" offense. The strange reality is that it's all them. I'm only there to help them find what God has put into them.
My good friend John asked me if I'm enjoying myself. I think that would be an understatement. I feel that God has put me here for a reason. I say this and feel deeply humbled. I clearly have made enough mistakes in life and even leading this team that would easily cause many to think that I am unworthy of such an opportunity. It has become the ministry that I'm involved in at this point in my life. It causes me to lose sleep. I'm sure that in many ways I could let it become my obsession. For now, I'll call it my passion. Perhaps it will lead to something bigger for me (Coaching at a higher level? Heck, I can always dream), but right now my prayer is that it will be something big for the young men on the team. I hope that they can look back on their high school basketball days and think that they were good times; that they grew spiritually through it and that God was there in their midst. If so, 4-9 looks really sweet.

Happy Days

Fox,

Today you have given me one of the happiest days in my life. Today I can truly call you my son. It may cause you mixed feelings to hear that, but know it's what I feel deep inside. I know that this has been a long and difficult process for you and I know that many times I made things worse with my own stupid actions. Know that I have hurts in my life that I have to work through and sadly you get caught up in them. I will continue to work to be a better father and role model for you. I'm sorry if it embarrased you when I cried in front of everyone. Understand that a man can and should feel deeply even though society makes fun of men crying. I want you to know that I'm so happy and that I want the world to know how I feel about you.

On this day, there's a few things I want you to know:

Romans 8:15-16
"The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children."
I want you to know that being adopted may seem like you are someone who stands out and is different but that is far from the truth. We are all adopted since God our Father has adopted each one of us into His family. I know that this can be a hard label to have on you, but know that being adopted means that you were chosen. I chose YOU to be my son. You are the only one that I would pick for my son. I hope that you can let that sink in for a moment so that you can understand just how much I wanted you to be part of my family. Know that even more, God wanted you to be in His family. He wanted it so badly that He would literally die for you. You are loved and wanted that much.

Matthew 17:5
"... 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!'”
I want you to know that I am proud of you. When I talk to others I proudly say that you are my son. You show so much bravery through all of what you have been through. You are a strong young man who shows so much care to people. I know that so many adults are impressed with how much love and care you show to young children. That is a special character trait that you have. You are a very smart person who is just finding out how much potential that you have. There are so many things that you can be and the possibilities are endless.

Finally, I want you to know that I'm on your side and have your back. I will always cheer for you and encourage you. Sometimes, it may feel like I'm being hard on you, but know that I do what I do because I want the best for you. Sometimes what is best requires pain, hard work and patience. The most important things in life require that of you and I know that it's not easy. Please never give up and keep improving. The payoff is great when you put in the effort! I will be there by your side and rooting you on.

Thank you for giving me one of the BEST days of my life. I'm not sure if I can fully put into words what this day means to me. Just know that you are my beloved son with whom I am very proud of.

Love,

Your Adoptive Dad, Naka

Good Vibrations

I know that many have had the pleasure to see "their" team win the championship so my experience is not unique. I write this to get it off of my mind and in case you are a Giants fan, can share in the joy. Last night the San Francisco Giants won the 2012 World Series. My team is the champion of baseball!

I think that more than any other team, in any other sport the Giants are so closely ingrained into my life. Candlestick Park was where I got to see my very first professional sports event. It was at a time when the outfield wasn't enclosed, Willie Mays was heading into the twilight of his brilliant career and I was an impressionable child who saw the magical game of baseball. I remember seeing the green grass and larger than life stars of the day. I still can picture in my mind's eye Mays at the plate, McCovey's long stretch for the putout, the flamboyant Tito Fuentes flipping hit bat before stepping in the box. That sort of bond can last a lifetime. The players have changed, the stadium changed, but the game and the team are the same.

I remember being a fan when it wasn't cool. Those lean years of the Stoneham family trading off its stars (May, McCovey, Perry, Maracial, Maddox, Foster, Sarge Matthews) was such a trying time. There were some bright spots, Vida Blue became my favorite pitcher, Joe Morgan's home run kept the hated Dodgers out of the playoffs in 1982. After the horrible 1985 (100 loss) year, Roger Craig  and Will Clark brought on a great period of prosperity. I was just out of college, had season tickets and my team was winning:
1987 NL West Champions
1989 NL Pennant (my first playoff games, and my only World Series experience: the earthquake game).
1993 brought on the Bonds era with the last great division race, after that a baseball labor dispute and some up and down years. 2002 brought another pennant and a nightmare game 6.
I see that through all those years, I grew up, went to college, got a job, went to Cooperstown,  got married, had kids and even bought a campground. The one thing that was missing: a championship.
2010 fixed that:

46 years on earth and I finally got to see it happen. The Giants are champions! Stud pitching (Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner and Wilson) and timely hitting (Huff, Ross, Uribe and most of all: Edgar Renteria) characterized this team. Lots of unknowns stepping up along with a staff of arms that could be lights out. I strangely feel like in some weird way I can die in peace now.
Fast forward to 2012:

Even better pitching (Zito, Bumgarner, Cain, Lincecum, Vogelsong and Romo) with some clutch hitting (Sandoval, and Scutaro) and you have another championship. So today, I'm ecstatic. I'm wearing my Giants jersey to work. All those cold nights at the 'Stick, seeing Willie Mays traded, all those lean years, the embarrassment of the steroid era, the 2002 debacle, losing on the last day in 1993 for now all background noise drowned out by two championships. The joy of baseball is back and I'm again that little kid wide eyed and loving the good vibrations of it all.

Christ The Action Hero

Late August is a cool time to have a birthday. When I was a kid, it was a last hurrah before "back to school" became a sad reality. These past few years, those at Lionsgate have decided that late August was the perfect time to release The Expendables and its sequel, the creatively named The Expendables 2. It means that the question "What do you want to do on your birthday?" is any easy answer for me. I want to see a loud movie with some good old buddies from the past: Sly, Arnold, Bruce, Jet, Dolph, Jean Claude, Chuck and Jason.
The premise behind the Expendables is about as subtle as a jackhammer. It involves killing, explosions, killing, fist fights, killing, automatic weapons, killing, blood, killing, gore and killing. The plot is about as deep as puddle of water. Half of the stars have heavy accents (Jet, Arnold, Dolph and Jean Claude) that make them completely unintelligible the rest mumble and grunt their lines in an equally unintelligible way. I love it. For some reason, it gets my blood pumping. It's great to see bad guys meet their gory demise at the hands of some steroid pumped middle aged maniacs. Perhaps the simplicity of knowing who's the bad guy and who's the good guy can be refreshing in this post modern world we live in. What I also realized is that on the most basic level it has elements that all men crave for. We all need to belong with a bunch of like minded guys. We crave adventure (loud exploding and combative adventure) righting the wrongs of the world. We like having command over powerful things (grenades, Uzis, rocket launchers). I think that deep down we know that there's a fight to be fought and an evil to conquer and talking about our feelings isn't always the answer.

In looking back in cinema, even if the hero isn't a life sized action figure, Hollywood seems to have connected with that deep need in men's lives. The 80's had Rambo, John McClane and The Terminator. Going further back there was Dirty Harry, John Wayne, The Lone Ranger, Superman and one of my favorites Humphrey Bogart. The window dressing changes with the times, but each of them had something fierce within them. When looking at Christ I'm beginning to see that this is an ignored part of His character. Sadly for men, it weakens the appeal of the most important man to walk the earth. This in turn has seriously damaged the church. If we continue to see Jesus as a bearded guy in a white dress, it will continue to turn men away from the One who can truly engage us as men.

One thing that all these action stars have is some sort of code of ethics. Around our house I'm apt to ask "What's Gibbs' rule number nine?" This is in reference to the TV show NCIS whose lead is played by Mark Harmon. Gibbs' life is directed by a set of rules (by the way the answer is "Never go anywhere without a knife."). That's a rule that I want all my kids to follow. It means to be prepared (sound familiar?). A code is a great and simple way to find direction since life always has surprises.

I've read that Clayton Moore who is best known for playing the Lone Ranger was so deeply impressed with the character that he took on the Lone Ranger's code of ethics for his own life:
"I believe...

• that to have a friend, a man must be one.
• that all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
• that God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.
• in being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
• that a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
• that 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.
• that men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
• that sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.
• that all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
• in my Creator, my country, my fellow man."

That's pretty darn impressive. I'm considering using this one from the movie "Kingdom Of Heaven":
"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; that is your oath."
Best of all would be to find something from Proverbs or The Sermon On The Mount as this is pure wisdom. A life verse of course works well too. I love Hebrews 12:1-3:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Like I said before Humphrey Bogart is one of my favorite actors. Although he's played the bad guy, the crazy guy, and the coward, he's most famous for his heroic characters: Rick from Casablanca, Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon, Charlie Allnut in The African Queen and Phillip Marlowe in The Big Sleep. There's a sense of cool about him. He's the smartest guy in the room. He knows how to talk his way around things, shoot his way out of things and punch his way through things. There's a quiet confidence about him. I heard one guy lament how he wished he could have that sort of air about him. Not a phony facade, but a deep and settled peace that affected others. When I read the gospels now, I see that in Christ. No, he didn't punch people out, but he knew how to confront and even trash some scenery. Deep inside of Him is a fierce, tough confidence that should connect to all men. He feared no one and commanded respect. That's cool!

Back to the Expendables, I continue to marvel at how satisfying it is to just go out and kick butt. My therapist once said that I needed to find ways of being more of a bada** (he is a Christian by the way). Whether it's Jet Li doing some serious kung fu, Arnold cracking skulls, or Stallone raining bullets from an assault rifle, there's something really deep (and dare I say spiritual) about action. God has called men to confront evil. Sadly we're wrongly taught to only be nice boys who get along with everyone. There's a time for that and a time to fight (I think Solomon said something like that). What would happen if we let our sons and young men be fierce for Christ? If we instead of relegating them to virtual Xbox battles had them go out and really engage the world? Would it be scary, messy, dangerous and at times choatic? You bet! I also think that we would have stronger churches and Christ's power would be far more obvious to the world. Let's find ways to break free from our cultural norms!

Perhaps it would be a shock to many that Christ was the ultimate man. He was tough beyond our imagination, a "manly" man who could take on anything. He is nothing like the bearded guy in a white dress that we see so often in the church. Knowing that is a game changer for me. Beyond "little baby Jesus", the suffering Savior, and the Lamb Of God, He is a Warrior, and a Lion. I got to be up close with a lion once and it scared the life out of me. This was an awesome creature that possessed the power to crush and kill me in about a second. That is the One I want to be on my side in a fight: cool, fierce, grounded, tough and in command.
THE LION OF JUDAH!