"Have you ever put your life in the hands of another man, and asked him to put his life in yours? We use words like honor, code, loyalty. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said 'Thank you' and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post."
What Jessup illustrates here is the disconnect with those who have never been on the frontline, "on the wall", where the battles are fought. They "have no idea how to defend a nation", however feel every bit qualified to criticize those who actually know what it really takes to win on the battlefield.
It's quite a stretch to compare military exercises and war combat to the battle on the basketball court. There is an obvious disconnect between the lawyer in the movie, Daniel Kaffey, and Nathan Jessup, because the former will never understand the military role and responsibilities of the veteran marine. Similarly, a basketball coach often experiences that same type of oppositional disconnect from others when he is doing his job the best way he knows how in preparing his team for success.
Many facets of coaching any sport involve a healthy dose of physical demands, coupled with a plethora of verbal commands, most of which would not be considered acceptable at the local PTA or appropriate at the church picnic. In a game where bones can be broken, noses get bloodied, and sweat fills buckets, it is the coach's job to prepare his players to compete under the toughest of mental and physical circumstances. Motivation is necessary. Physical demand is essential. Mental toughness is crucial. Self-sacrifice is a must. Discipline and loyalty are unwavering.
These are the components needed in the forming of not only a competitive basketball team, but of individuals who apply these learned traits to their lives off the court as well: In their relationships with others, toward their elders and authority figures, within their career successes and their family obligations. Hopefully, these are the learned lessons they take with them throughout their lives. Unfortunately for many young basketball players, there aren't enough coaches around who place much of a priority on using basketball as a tool in instilling these life lessons.
Colonel Jessup's demise came at the hands of a young lieutenant lawyer who knew neither infantry training nor combat. A good high school or college basketball coach sometimes sees his demise at the hands of the athletic director or administration, who often know neither about coaching nor competitive necessity. German author Thomas Mann once wrote:
The high school athletic director, and all parents of players, take great pride in the success of the sports team. They will attend the games, see the team working hard, competing, winning games. What they don't see and fail to comprehend are the many more hours of practice and what that involves, that ultimately leads to the team's accomplishments. It's all the blood, sweat, pain, and mental toughness brought about in practice that this success is dependent upon. If not for all the demanding, blood-and-guts work in practice, then any potential talent within the team goes untapped and ends up wasted."People want talent, which is an extraordinary thing. But often, when it comes to those things that are associated with it, or upon which it may even be dependent, it refuses them all understanding."
And it's the coach who's driving the boat. He's the one pushing, pleading, imploring his players--physically, mentally, and verbally--everyday, in the hopes that their discipline and work ethic will lead to success come gameday. The success seen by those who only attend the game--those who haven't a clue what it takes to bring about that success. Of course, there inevitably comes the time when an athletic director or parent hears something about the coach's teaching methods, or his means in getting the maximum out of the players (or his son), and takes exception. No matter the success that's seen on gameday, those who have never experienced what competitive athletics involves, become foolish critics:
Yelling isn't seen as demanding, but demeaning. Suicides (conditioning drills) aren't seen as corrective, but punitive. Repetition isn't seen as good teaching, but boring and simplistic. Gym vernacular isn't seen as motivation, but verbal abuse. Intolerance isn't seen as expectation, but harshness. Rules aren't seen as responsibility, but rigidity. Conformity isn't seen as togetherness, but the restriction of self-expression.
A good coach will always use the sport he teaches to help a player develop the necessary tools and background to be successful beyond the court or field. However, a sad commentary in sports today is how that type of coach is often criticized and maligned for doing just that, simply because the short-sightedness of others can't understand the benefits of that which the authoritative, critical, and demanding coach brings to the table. Parents can't fathom the idea that their son isn't already a five-star player and a perfect model boy. How dare another treat him as such. Athletic directors will espouse in principle the merits of commitment, sportsmanship, and good citizenship for all student-athletes, but undermine a coach's approach at establishing these traits because their main concern isn't that athletic department's noble mission statement, but instead, it's on image and the appeasement of parents.
A rarity these days are coaches who are unabashingly demanding and command the respect of their players. Less and less are there coaches who leave an indelible impression on those they coached because of the life lessons they taught using a tough-love approach. Gone are the Bob Knights and the Bob Hurleys, the ones who transform immature boys into successful men to be admired. In their place are the coaches who are either unable or unwilling to impart any type of substantial discipline and expectation upon their players. Influenced way too much by parents, A.D.'s, and perception, these coaches are the type who would rather be friends with the players than mentors or authority figures. Who would rather be liked than respected. Who would abandon their own approach to coaching for an approach that makes the players or parents happy. Gone are the days of "my way or the highway". Instead, we have, "my way, but only if it's okay with you". All that does is lead to a whole lot of traffic buildup and no traffic cop to clear it up.
The big difference today compared to yesteryear is that kids are treated too often as equals or adults by adults. Parents are much more lenient with their kids today than their parents were with them. They're much more concerned with establishing a "modernized" or "equal" relationship with their teenagers instead of an authoritative and hierarchical one. The dictatorial role of a parent has been replaced with one of compromise. Protecting and nurturing the self-esteem of a child has become a priority at the expense of allowing a kid to experience a few trials and needed coping skills on his own along the way.
All this has led to an era where the young and often spoiled athlete seems to have an entitlement clause in an unwritten contract that's held by mom or dad. Included in that clause is a mandate which allows the player or parent a say in how the coach should coach or treat the player. If it's not acceptable to the will of the teenager or his over-protective, self-esteem boosting parent, then the coach be damned.
Way too many good coaches have left coaching because of this culture of entitlement that is so prominent in today's sports world and society as a whole. Some leave voluntarily, fed up with having to replace their teaching style and personality with the latest trend in coaching philosophy. Many have left involuntarily for the same reason, and a gross understatement would be that that's unfortunate. Unfortunate for those coaches of course, for the integrity of coaching, and for the game of basketball itself. But mostly it's unfortunate for the players themselves, who will never have the privilege of being taught by the likes of a Bob Knight or a Bob Hurley. Who will never experience the many rewards and lessons that only an old-fashioned, strict, and demanding coach can impart on a player. Rewards and lessons that will never be experienced, because of the short-sightedness and ignorance of those who are unable or unwilling to understand the many lasting benefits of such an influence.
Like all the necessary good Colonel Jessup provided for his country and for his troops over so many years, so too does the unrelenting and indomitable basketball coach. Unfortunately, too often those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat*, are the same people allowed to make decisions that are against the best interest of the teenage basketball player. They are in no small way to blame for the continued prevalence of the behavioral and disrespectful problems of young men and athletes today.
In A Few Good Men, Colonel Jessup's last scene is him being apprehended in the courtroom after admitting his role in the death of a marine. In an attempt at teaching the marine a lesson about loyalty and "code", Jessup made a tragic mistake. Obviously justice needed to be served, and Jessup was rightfully arrested on the spot. However, as he was being arrested, his final words rang no less true. With the court's Military Police restraining him from attacking the lawyer responsible for his arrest and inevitable dishonorable discharge from an otherwise decorated military career, Jessup tells him: "All you did was weaken a country today, Kaffey".
Like Lieutenant Kaffey's role and responsibility led to the end of Colonel Jessup's military career, so too is a parent or athletic director's role in a coach's dismissal. Unlike Jessup's circumstance however, the reasons the parent or A.D. have are far from justifiable when the coach doesn't fit the mold of the modern day coach. When a coach teaches basketball using an approach that maximizes his players' talent, even if it refuses all understanding by the egocentric culture of the 21st century, it's a huge misfortune when he is dismissed. And when an athletic director and/or a parent is responsible for doing just that, words like respect, integrity, and commitment, become simply words that sound nice in theory, but in reality mean nothing to the hypocrites who are incapable of seeing them unfold.
Men like Knight and Hurley in the coaching world have become fewer and fewer because of the changes of today's current educational and cultural climate. And that's a grave misfortune, because all that has done is weakened the game of basketball. And most unfortunately, weakened the character and fortitude of the young men playing the game.
(*from "In The Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt)
Not bad coach..lot of life lessons to be learned for sure.
ReplyDelete