WISE WORDS FROM A WESTERN WRITER

A little bit off the beaten path.  Coach Bob Knight in his book, "Knight: My Story" said that he great enjoyed reading Louis L'Amour.  Then I was rereading some notes from a PGC/Glazier Clinic a few years ago, and going over things I'd written down while listening to Dean Lockwood speak and he had quoted L'Amour so I did a little checking and came up with a list of wise words from the author.

"A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat."

"Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more."

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning."

"Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value."

"To disbelieve is easy; to scoff is simple; to have faith is harder."

"Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content."

"No one can get an education, for of necessity education is a continuing process."

"The water doesn't run until the faucet is on."
  

QUOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICE

Because it's that time of the year, here are some great quotes on the value of practice:

"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching." -Mahatma Gandhi

 

“When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win” - Ed Macauley

"It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts: it's what you put into the practice." -Eric Lindros

“Practice is the best of all instructors.” -Publilius Syrus

“We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.” -Martha Graham

“Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.”-Vince Lombardi 

“Don't practice until you get it right. Practice until you can't get it wrong.” -Unknown

“Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” -Mary Tyler Moore

“We have all the light we need, we just need to put it in practice.” -Albert Pike

“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” -Michael Jordan

“Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.” -Beethoven

“I've always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” -Will Smith

“My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more.” -Pete Rose

“Practice is everything. This is often misquoted as practice makes perfect.” -Periander

“Everything is practice.” -Pele

“I'm a strong believer that you practice like you play, little things make big things happen.” -Tony Dorsett

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” -Anton Chekhov

“I am playing the violin, that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.” -Itzhak Perlman

“Before we can talk about a championship, we have to practice like a championship team.” -Mike Singletary

“Practice puts brains in your muscles.” -Sam Snead

 

10 QUOTES ON OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

"Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has."
-Billy Graham

"Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you."
-Jeffrey Gitomer

"You may not realize it when it happens, but at kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."
-Walt Disney

"Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings."
-Ralph Blum

"I would never have amounted to anything were it not for adversity. I was forced to come up the hard way."
-J. C. Penney

"The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration."
-Confucius

"There is no education like adversity."
-Benjamin Disraeli

"Adversity builds character and character makes us stronger."
-Mark Wilson

"When it gets dark enough you can see the stars."
-Lee Salk

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
-Michael Jordan

 

QUOTES FROM BEAR BRYANT

On our last road trip, I took the opportunity to re-read one of my favorite books, "The Junction Boys" by Jim Dent.  It's a very well-written account of how Coach Bear Bryant took over a struggling Texas A&M football program and transformed them into champions.

Here are a few of my favorite Bear Bryant quotes from the book:
"If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride -- and never quit -- you'll be a winner.  The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards."

"In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody.  They're going to find you anyway."

"In life, you'll have your back up against the wall many times.  You might as well get used to it."

"You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load."

"Sacrifice. Work. Self-discipline.  I teach these things and my boys don't forget them when they leave."

"I can reach a kid who doesn't have any ability as long as he doesn't know it."

"I don't care how much talent a team has -- if the boys don't think tough, practice tough, and live tough, how they play tough on Saturday."

"The first time you quit, it's hard.  The second time, it gets easier.  The third time, you don't even have to think about it."

"When you win, there's glory enough for everybody.  When you lose, there's glory for none."

"Winning isn't imperative, but getting tougher in the fourth quarter is."

"You have to be willing to outcondition your opponents."

"Football changes and so do people."

"When you make a mistake, admit it; learn from it and don't repeat it."

"When we have a good team, I know it's because we have boys that come from good mamas and papas."

"One man doesn't make a team.  It takes eleven."

"If anything goes bad, I did it.  If anything goes semigood, we did it.  If anything goes real good, you did it.  That's all it takes to get people to win football games."

"No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts."

EXECUTION

Today I dedicated my tweets to quotes on execution.  Here is a recap of those tweets along with some additional quotes:

"A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Success doesn't necessarily come from breakthrough innovation but from flawless execution. A great strategy alone won't win a game or a battle; the win comes from basic blocking and tackling.” -Naveen Jain

"Vision without execution is hallucination." - Thomas Edison

“You don’t win on emotion, you win on execution.” –Tony Dungy

“Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing hows and whats, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability.” — Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

“Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“An average plan vigorously executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done.” -Brian Tracy

“Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything.” -Scott Adams

“I don't want to hear ideas. I just want to see the execution.” -Derek Sivers

“In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you don't execute your ideas, they die.” -Roger von Oech

WARREN SPAHN: ONE PITCH AT A TIME

I'm very privileged to be spending the next four days with Coach Don Meyer so I will share from time to time some thoughts that he shares with me as well as blogging about his speaking topics as he is in town to speak at the Texas A&M Distinguished Lecture Series.  There were many things we talked about while driving back from the Austin Airport, sitting at dinner and around my living room but here are two that resonated with me.

The first one is a story that Coach Meyer told about Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn, who once told him that whether he was warming up in the bullpen before a start, or throwing his warm-up tosses before each inning, that those throws were made with the very next hitter in mind.  His thought process was that if he concentrated all his efforts and energy on the first batter and was able to retire him, that it would be much more difficult for the opponent to have a big inning. 

As basketball coaches we constantly talk about one possession at a time.  Spahn was one hitter, one pitch at a time -- truly focused on the process.

The other gem that Coach Meyer shared with me was a quote from Mark Twain:

"Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

GREAT THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

"The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on."
~Walter Lippman

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Leadership is action, not position." ~Donald H. McGannon
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
~John Quincy Adams

"Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than when they teach."
~Rosabeth Moss Kantor

"Good leaders must first become good servants."
~Robert Greenleaf

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it."
~Marian Anderson

"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves."
~Ray Kroc

"To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone."
~Harry Truman

WINNING WORDS FROM DALE BROWN

In honor of my friend and mentor, Coach Dale Brown, who celebrates his birthday today, I will post a few blogs with things I have learned from him.  Below are some of the wise words that he has shared with so many:

"One will not find the true fiber of a man in times of prosperity or success, but only in his resiliency and attitude through times of failure and adversity."

"If you let adversity whip you it's because you allowed it."

"You can or you can't.  It's all up to you and what you think."

"The greatest power in the world is your power to choose."

"A good attitude and being honest to yourself will relieve you of your self-doubts."

"The boldness of faith gives persistence the ability to whip anything."

"Failure will never overtake you if your determination to succeed is strong enough."

"Defeat depresses some, but stimulates others to greater heights."

"Confront your fears head on.  Ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen?  Failure will not kill you, but fearing it might."

"You are a success if you have done your very best."

"If you are good, be better."

"Large doses of love sprinkled with discipline is true leadership."

"The best potential of ME is WE." (my favorite)

COACH MEYERISMS

The following is list compiled by Steve Smiley that can be found in his book, "Playing For Coach Meyer."  Steve is currently the head coach and athletic director at Sheridan College.  His book deals with the life lessons he garned while playing for Coach Don Meyer at Northern State University.

“You can measure somebody’s character by how they treat people that can’t do them any good or can’t fight back.”

“You don’t have to win a championship to be a champion.”

“A fool despises instruction.”

“People don’t like you for what they see in you but what you see in them.”

“The greatest feelings are expressed in silence.”

“You can play with all the intensity of a mad dog in a meat house but if you aren’t smart, sooner or later you’ll get a bullet between your eyes.”

“Start slow, get a rhythm, go fast enough to make a mistake.”

“Make practices tougher than games.”

“Confidence comes from demonstrated ability.”

“Champions don’t look at it like a sacrifice; champions do what needs to be done.”

“When the pupil is ready the teacher will appear.”

“It’s not what you achieve, it’s what you become.”

“Know who you are and what your game is.”

“What you accept in victory, you accept in defeat.”

“Do the ordinary things extra ordinarily well.”

“Make practices like games and games like practices.”

“Happiness begins when selfishness end.”

“We have net the enemy and he is us.”

“We must practice and play with the intensity and poise of a national championship team.”

“Sometimes a good enemy is better than a good friend.”

 “It’s not what you teach it’s what you emphasize.”

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON COACHING (PART III)

FAILURE

SPARKY ANDERSON: "I think my whole career, the thing that drove me to try to do things right, was the fear that I would fail, not only myself, but fail a player."

FAMILY

PETE NEWELL: “Regard your team as a family. Give the same attention to the bottom guy as you do the top guy. You have a responsibility to all of your players."

FLEXIBILITY

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: “I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments.”

FUNDAMENTALS

BOB KNIGHT: “There are some fundamentals that have to be adhered to and mastered in any business. Some people grasp those fundamentals, and teach them or learn them, and others don't. And those who don't are never as successful as those who do.”

GOALS

PAT SUMMITT: “We always make sure that our plans for the season can be achieved. Setting goals is incredibly important to success. But if you set a goal that seems impossible to achieve— if you go into a year saying your goal is to win the national championship—then you risk losing morale, self-discipline and chemistry if you falter early.”

HABITS

PETE NEWELL: "I believe you can never change a habit, or create one, with a word or a piece of chalk. You can talk all day, put all sorts of diagrams on the board, but a habit is not going to change. It's a conditional reflex, created by a repetitive act. Habits are created through physical acts."

HUMILITY

JOHN WOODEN: "Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

IMAGINATION

BOB KNIGHT: "Imagination is one of the most important things a basketball player can have. If you don't have an imagination, then it's very difficult to recognize and anticipate."

INTEGRITY

DICK BENNETT: “I can’t sacrifice integrity for talent.”

INTELLIGENCE

PETE CARRIL: “Whenever two players or teams of equal ability play, the one with the greater courage and intelligence will win.”

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON COACHING (PART II)

DETAILS

JOHN WOODEN: “It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

DETERMINATION

GEORGE HALAS: “The team that has the greatest desire to win will win if the two teams are evenly matched.”

DISCIPLINE

NICK SABAN: “Discipline is getting people to do what they are supposed to do, when they’re supposed to do it, and the way it is supposed to be done. Discipline is not punishment. Discipline is changing someone’s behavior to get him to do what you want him to do.”

DREAMING

KEVIN EASTMAN: “In order to reach our dreams we have to first deal in reality; reality is the foundation of fulfilling our dreams.”

EDUCATION

RICK BARNES: “Get up every day knowing nothing. Be like a sponge and learn each day. You never know it all. Be a good listener and ask questions.”

EFFORT

GENO AURIEMMA: "I tried to explain to my players it's impossible to be perfect, but we can try hard every day to be as close as we can. If you could only see all that goes into this, it's unbelievable."

ENTHUSIASM

BILL WALSH: "One of your responsibilities is to generate interest in and excitement for a given matter among your players. The most effective way to accomplish such an objective is to utilize a high level of energy and show ardent enthusiasm for the subject when discussing it with your players."

EXCELLENCE

DON SHULA: "If you don’t seek perfection, you can never reach excellence."

EXCUSES:

VINCE LOMBARDI: “Don’t succumb to excuses. Go back to the job of making the corrections and forming the habits that will make your goal possible.”

EXECUTION:

JOHN WOODEN: “It isn't what you do, but how you do it."

EXPECTATIONS:

BO SCHEMBECHLER: "I say, whatever your philosophy, whatever your standards, whatever your expectations, you establish those on Day One. Don’t waste a second! Let them adjust to you, not the other way around. You can always soften up if you need to, but you can’t get tougher later on."

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON COACHING (PART I)

ACCOUNTABILITY

BILL PARCELLS: "Not every team has enough talent to win the Super Bowl, but any competent coach can field a team that is strategically sound, that plays with discipline, that doesn’t beat itself. If any of those components are missing, it’s the coach who must be held accountable."

ADVERSITY

BOB KNIGHT: "If we don't force our players to react to things: if we don't put them in tough situations, then it's our fault they can't react to them in ball game."

ATTITUDE

SCOTTY BOWMAN: “Probably the most important thing is attitude. I really think that there are a lot of things you can’t change, that are out of your control, but your attitude is in your control. The right attitude is something that will help you be successful. There are not many successful people that don’t have the right attitude. There are other things you have to have: You have to have some patience, you have to have perseverance obviously, and you have to maybe have had some adversity too. But the main thing I’d say is attitude. You can always do something to help your attitude.”

BEING A COACH

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: “I'm a basketball coach all the time. That's what I do. I don't play golf. I chase my dog, or he chases me, and I whack down some trees and bushes and play with my grandkids and drink a little bit of wine."

BELIEF

JOE PATERNO: “Your players tend to become what they believe you think they are.”

CHAMPIONS

DON MEYER: “You don’t have to win a championship to be a champion.”

CHARACTER

JOHN WOODEN: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. You character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

CHEMISTRY

MUFFET McGRAW: "It's also difficult for me to respect anyone who tries to undermine the team, and, unfortunately, it only takes one player with a bad attitude to destroy team chemistry."

COMMUNICATION

PAT SUMMITT: "The foremost thing we require from our players, before anything else, is that they make good eye contact...eye contact is a sign."

COMPLACENCY

SUE GUNTER: “We must use our tradition to motivate us to build on it and not as a crutch to lean on where we might stumble and fall.”

CONDITIONING

VINCE LOMBARDI: “It’s usually the best conditioned team which usually wins the game. I’m going to expect a 100 percent effort at all times. Anything less than that is not good enough.”

CRITICISM

LARRY BROWN: “Know the difference between coaching and criticism. That is the only way to develop trust with your players.”

WHAT WE ARE

"What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are, and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline."

-H. P. Liddon

QUICKLY SEEING THINGS AS THEY ARE

Read the following quote this morning and thought all the ways if could be applied to coaching:

"Intelligence is quickness in

seeing things as they are."

-George Santayana

Motion Offense Execution: The sooner you learn to read the defense and not worry about where the ball is, the better offensive player you will become.  It takes discipline and intelligence to "things as they are" on the floor.

Good Individual/Team Defense:  This is also the ability to see what is unfolding on the court -- understanding where the ball and your man is at the same time as well as the ability to anticipate screens and cuts.

Roles: You could actually change the wording a bit by saying "Intelligence is quickness in see YOURSELF as you really are."  This may be one of the most difficult things for players to do.

Recruiting:  It is important that coach can quickly yet accurately understand the ability of a potential student-athlete but also that's players ability to fit in with your system, your method of teaching and the chemistry of your team.  In many cases, you must also "see things as they are" in terms of whether you can successfully recruit that particular player. 

Game Adjustments: The quicker you can ascertain the success or lack thereof in regard to a game plan, the more effectively you can make the necessary adjustments to help your team succeed.

Practice: The best coaches have a great feel for what is needed in practice on a daily basis.  They know when to pull back to save legs...they know when to push forward to develop toughness. 

Relationships:  Each person in your "family" is different.  They were raised differently -- coached differently.  They have various motivating factors.  The "quicker" you "see THEM as they are" the better you will be able to communicate and build trust.

NO GREATER EXAMPLE OF "SERVANT LEADERSHIP" THAN FROM THE MANY HEROES OF 9-11

It is not lost on me that earlier this week I had the opportunity to listen to a coach, a courageous coach, speak about the importance of "servant leadership."  Coach Don Meyer talks about the highest level of doing for others.  And now, on the anniversary of 9-11, let us not forget those who paid the ultimate price 10 years ago.  Let us especially not forget the number of stories of courage and supreme sacrifice and the many who took "servant leadership" to the ultimate level!


"To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own."
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh


"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."
-Albert Pine


“Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness - great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.”
-Jim Rohn


“You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
-John Wooden


“You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.”
-Unknown


“I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
-Nathan Hale


"It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich."
-Henry Ward Beecher


"Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?"
-Martin Luther King Jr.


“Many persons have the wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”
-Helen Keller


"Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much."
-Erich Fromm


"Only a life lived for others is worth living."
-Albert Einstein

THE IMPORTANCE OF IMAGINATION/VISION

I once heard Coach Bob Knight at a clinic say that the greatest thing a player can have is an imagination.  I've always extended that to coaches as well.  An imagination quite simply is a wonderful tool to help you solve problems.  Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.  It is frightening to think where we would be be without men and women with imagination -- it is solution oriented thinking.  Without the ability to see what we have never seen before, technology would not exist, we would not have walked on the moon or cure various illnesses.

An imagination in coaching is about handling problems such as:

...no or little staff
...facility issues
...budget problems
...personnel matters (team is to small, to slow, not deep, etc)
...team situations (lack of chemistry or ability to shoot)

It will be your imagination that will allow you to envision where you want to be -- and then your determination and persistence that will allow you to get there.

Here some thoughts on imagination:

"Imagination is everything.  It is the preview of life's coming attractions." -Albert Einstein

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers." -Orison Swett Marden

"All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose." -Brian Tracy

"I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel." -Peter Nivio Zarlenga

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." -Michelangelo

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." -George S. Patton

"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." -George Orwell

"Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life." -Simone Weil

"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young." -W. Somerset Maugham

"Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity." -L. Frank Baum

"Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything Godlike about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything." -Henry Miller

"Imagination rules the world." -Napoleon Bonaparte

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere." -Carl Sagan

QUOTES ON READING AND BOOKS

“A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.” -Abraham Lincoln

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.” -Abraham Lincoln

"If you can read this, thank a teacher." –Anonymous

“A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.” -Edward P. Morgan

“The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.” -James Bryce

“A good book has no ending.” -R.D. Cumming

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” -Charles W. Eliot

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.” -Mark Twain

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." -Oscar Wilde

"Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life." -Helen Exley

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” -Richard Steele

KEVIN EASTMAN'S TWEETS: PART I

I'm really getting excited about Coach U Live next week and thought this would make a great blog post.  A special thanks to my twitter friend @NYC_CoachO for sending me a master list of some great tweets from Coach Kevin Eastman.  Here are just a few I pulled for today:

"Circles" are so important to your personal development. Like it or not they influence us; in good ways or bad. It’s YOUR choice! Who's in your circle? That group you are with or talk to on a very consistent basis. Make sure they challenge you & stretch you!!

We had a saying with our team that we used as a reminder on down days: "Hard Work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard".

Interesting thing about the best leaders is that they immerse themselves in both teaching and learning. Growth [comes] by both!

Pressure always hits hardest when you are unprepared. Preparation is pressure's greatest obstacle. Be prepared every time; in every way!

Often the biggest competition we all will face is competing against ourselves. Competing to be what we could or should be!

If you want to be good at something you must spend time on it. If you want to be "the best at it" you must spend more time on it than others do!

The ABC's of success are evident in each of the Final Four teams: ATTITUDE, BELIEF, and CHEMISTRY. Think about your team. Did they have these?

The ability of a leader to gain [the] trust of those they lead is proportional to the time they spend building relationships!

Heard this said about UConn Women's [basketball] team: that they played with "relentless consistency"; this is something all teams should strive to do!

Leadership is a DAILY exercise in moving others forward; helping others improve; getting closer to the ultimate vision; in time it rewards you!

When it comes to studying success - it's vital to be curious; find out what others (who are where you want to be), are doing & what they did do to get there.

All successful people have a way of proving their worth every day without having to let everyone know; no boasting - they just get results.

Sincere praise is actually pretty easy to give if you understand how powerful it's effect can be; if given out properly & w/ sincere feelings!

Coaching is a year round exercise in sustained thought & career improvement; don't stay where you are; become more simply because you’re capable of it

The best teams are usually the ones that are the best at the little things!

Coaching U Live info: http://coachingulive.com/

SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY BEFORE YOU -- NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR HOW BIG

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities.  Seize common occasions and make them great.  Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them."

-Orison Swett Marden

THOUGHTS AND PHILOSOPHY FROM VINCE LOMBARDI

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.”

“If you settle for nothing less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your life.”

“If you really want something, you can have it if you are willing to pay the price. And the price means that you have to work better and harder than the next guy.”

“The fourth dimension that determines success or failure is selfless teamwork and collective pride, which accumulate until they make positive thinking and victory habitual.”

“It’s usually the best conditioned team which usually wins the game. I’m going to expect a 100 percent effort at all times. Anything less than that is not good enough.”

“Don’t succumb to excuses. Go back to the job of making the corrections and forming the habits that will make your goal possible.”

“No leader, however great, can long continue unless he wins battles. The battles decides all.”

“The difference between a good coach and an average coach is know what you want, and know what the end us supposed to look like.”

“Adversity is the first path to truth. Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is greater.”

“The important thought is that the Packers thrived on tough competition. We welcomed it. The adrenaline flowed a little quicker when we were playing the tougher team.”