The Two Wolves

I heard this old Cherokee story the other day.  I thought you might like it.

A young Cherokee boy, angry about being mistreated and not knowing what to do, went to his grandfather for advice.

The grandfather told him:

I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.
But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

"It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

But the other wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.

Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for they fight to control my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one that I feed."

Which wolf will you feed?

Big Time Timmy Jim - Tim Lincecum's ESPN Commercial

EVERBODY Needs Practice

The San Francisco Giants won their first baseball playoff game in 7 years last night. The Giants earned their spot in the playoffs mostly on the strength of their pitching, which in terms of Earn Run Average (ERA, or Earned Runs per 9 innings) was the best in the National League this season.

The winning pitcher was Tim Lincecum, also known as "the Freak". Lincecum has won the National League Cy Young Award, the most prestigious award a pitcher can earn, two years in a row. He is one of the most feared pitchers in the league, has lead the league in strikeouts for three consecutive years and is the first San Francisco Giants pitcher since Juan Marichal to strikeout at least 200 batters in a single season three years in a row. He even has his own ESPN commercial.

One of the reasons for Lincecum's success was his practice routine, which was taught to him by his dad. Lincecum's dad supervised his workouts right up to the time Tim became a Giant.

Lincecum started the 2010 season with a 5-0 record and a 1.76 ERA. It looked like he was headed for another great season, but it didn't quite turn out that way.

After that great start, Lincecum began to struggle.

In August, when the Giants were trying to gain ground on the first place Padres, Lincecum didn't win a single game. He has an ERA of 7.82. He was so ineffective the fans worried that something was wrong with him. His fastball, which he was throwing at 94-95 miles per hour at the beginning of the year, was down to around 90 miles per hour. Lincecum said that he felt fine, and that he should probably go back to doing some of the things he'd been doing earlier in his career.

Lincecum was referring to his practice routine. Sometime after the beginning of the season, he'd stopped practicing some of the things which made him successful. In late August, he started doing these things again. In September, when the team needed him most, Lincecum won 5 games and lost only one.

The lesson here is a simple one: Everyone, no matter how good, needs to practice.

PE is a class where kids learn new physical skills, then practice them. When we are learning a team sports unit, like football, it is very important that everyone be given a chance to participate by playing different positions. This helps students to understand the game and try new skills. The more chances a student gets, the more likely they will experience success. Success gives the students a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Some of you do an outstanding job of sharing responsibility. On your teams everybody gets a chance to play every spot and experience some personal success. The members of those teams became excited about playing football. I had several students from those teams tell me "I understand football now!" and "this is fun!"

Unfortunately, this isn't true of every team. The members of some teams get so wrapped up in winning or showing off how much they know or how good they are (at least in their own minds), that they neglect to give other teammates a chance. This is selfish. It prevents students from learning. Several students from those teams told me: "I don't get football," and "this is boring".

Kids, I need your help on this. Kids can't learn if they aren't given a chance to go so. The next time we have a team sports unit, please, please give everybody a chance to contribute. Sharing responsibility makes everybody feel good. It keeps people's buckets full.