Sisyphus and The Way I See It #76

According to a Starbucks’ cup that I read recently:

“The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around a rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.”

On the subject of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus wrote:

“Je laisse Sisyphe au bas de la montagne! On retrouve toujours son fardeau. Mais Sisyphe enseigne la fidélité supérieure qui nie les dieux et soulève les rochers. Lui aussi que tout est bien. Cet univers désormais sans maître ne lui paraît ni futile. Chacun des grains de cetter pierre, chaque éclat minéral de cetter montagne pleine de nuit, à lui seul forme un monde. La lute elle-même vers les sommets suffit à remplir un cœur d’homme. Il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux.”

So who’s right? The coffee shop or the Nobel prize winner? Qui dit la verité? Both messages are very similar, yet one is likely to garner more attention. Based on how our society has been watered down, it seems more people pay attention to the international conglomerate. Rather than contemplate Camus’ essays, they read a partially developed statement, think for as longs as it takes to finish the cup, and believe that they are making a difference.

Sisyphus commits to pushing the rock up a mountain so others won’t die: a self-less act. It seems that he has no alternatives, as he has committed to a life of endless toil. Yet he shouldn’t kill himself because he can still do better. He improves himself and is happy as a result.

There lies the problem with the coffee cup, it doesn’t acknowledge that the physical and mental are not separate, but complementary. Self-evaluation and analysis by the internal critic is not tyrannical but nurturing.  Commitment on the basis of somatic urges cannot defeat the fear of failure. It remains in any domain where the participant cares about the outcome. Understanding and managing the fear is the only way to control it.

“A la fin d’une vie, l’homme s’aperçoit qu’il a passé des années à s’assurer d’une seule vérité.”

If Sisyphus was merely present on the hill and pushed the stone up casually, he would still demonstrate commitment yet it is uncertain whether he would be happy. Only by defeating obstacles on a daily basis , intellectually, and overcoming absurdity will he guarantee personal satisfaction.

What I Hope to Learn this Summer, Part III

The new Roger Federer - the one who makes mistakes, occasionally fails, and realizes his limitations - is much more interesting than the old one. Last year’s Wimbledon between Federer and Nadal featured superior tennis but this year’s match between Federer and Andy Roddick was equally as tense.

To complete the French Open-Wimbledon double, Federer needed to honestly re-evaluate his game in order to improve it. At Roland Garros, his improved ability to slide on the baseline was paired with a new drop shot; at the All England Club he was forced to serve impeccably and persevere as his best shots were foiled.

Federer defeated Roddick because he knows how to overcome adversity and change. On the bright side, Roddick is finally a threat to win Grand Slams again because he has evolved his game to become more versatile. Increased mental and physical fitness also helps his cause.

The development of Federer and Roddick over recent months signifies that no athlete should ever stop improving. When the opportunity to increase their level of physical skill passes, an athlete can work on the mental side of the game.

Self-actualization demands continuous learning and I endeavour to learn more from other sports over the summer. There are many excellent resources and it is simply a matter of locating them, reflecting, and adapting them to the appropriate sport.

Managing My Life by Alex Ferguson another example of a thoughtful and persistent triumph. The Manchester United manager experienced a mixed bag of success and failure as a player and rose through the coaching ranks steadily. He was almost sacked as manager at Old Traffold a couple of times but persisted and attained the level of elite achievement where he resides currently.

In his mind, one of the integral components of his philosophy is his tendency to deconstruct every failure and learn what could be done better. Another tenant is the belief that no player, manager, or club should be satisfied with less than their best. Ferguson’s coaching career is forty years of learning from masters, treating others how he would want to be treated (sometimes a professional, sometimes a person), and continually moving forwards. He is a role model for all sorts of coaches and managers. Even his offensive strategy for soccer, based on rhythm and ball possession, contains elements that could influence a basketball coach.

Ferguson’s work the most eloquent book about sport that I have read. It shatters the stereotype that jocks must be dumb and challenges other athletes and coaches to do better. There is never any reason not to communicate in a dignified and respectful fashion.

I am also scheduled to read Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey, Inner Skiing by W. Timothy Gallwey and Robert Kriegel, and Football Scouting Methods by Steve Belichick because they emphasize sound coaching, mental training, and game preparation respectively. In the month of August, when I work on Task 4: Nutrition and other units at the National Coaching Institute, I hope to base my work on a theme such as “What Basketball Can Learn from Other Sports.”

The Audacity of Whatever

Now that Barack Obama has finally become President of the United States, he must put his plans into motions. Grand ideals must transform into nuts and bolts, a campaign of change into possibly a deficit budget.

Hyperbole has become acceptable discourse in politics. Rather than debate the details of Stéphane Dion’s carbon tax and how it would be implemented, Stephen Harper called exaggerated the policy and called Dion another tax and spend Liberal (if a government is going to tax, it should be a consumption tax). Rather than introduce his own policies, John McCain tossed key words like Socialist at Obama. Superficial discussions and ad-hominem attacks triumphed, like they do in everyday like.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson won two huge victories for the Democratic Party. Both enjoyed a honeymoon with the American public and both Houses of Congress and pushed through as much legislation as they could. Roosevelt over-stepped his authority and tried to expand the Supreme Court; Johnson was slowly overcome by the Vietnam issue. Neither finished their campaign of change.

It’s possible to work hand, take care of the little things, break the cycle, and exceed the expectations of others but difficult. Obama needs to do as he promised: ignore politics and make decisions based on their merits, use the information that’s available to make his country more educated, and be willing to change his mind if it’s necessary to take the best course of action. Reverse the political trend and put self-actualizaiton over self-importance.

Relationships and Individuals

Coaching is often described as relationship building, bridging people together. When two random squads play the team with superior talent, the players most physically and mentally ready to play, will win. Sometimes, the talent comes pre-packaged, hence the importance of recruiting and motivation in short-term scenarios.

When a coach possesses the luxury of time, what attributes become necessary? Does relationship-building remain paramount? When is it necessary to know the game and develop talent? Where do high standards fit in? A sophisticated project requires a sophisticated approach.

The Canadian National Soccer Team faces turmoil because certain key players were dismissed for reasons not germane to the pursuit of the World Cup. The players felt that they deserved a personal call from the Head Coach informing them of recent personnel moves; the coach felt that they shouldn’t have spoken out. Consequently, Canada will miss another World Cup and faces a dilatory qualification schedule remaining.

In a program, I think that it is important to develop talent. Players and coaches must improve continuously throughout the year. Student-athletes should take their responsibilities seriously and undertake the challenge of self-actualization; coaches should assign specific tasks to keep things simple and keep the team focused. Everyone should devise high standards and hold themselves to them, pushing each other to get better at game intensity.

It is not solely the teacher or the coaches job to make the class interesting or the practice fun. School or basketball shouldn’t be all work but individuals needs to find their own motivation. If it isn’t inside, it’s hard for someone to jam it in from the outside. Interest and fun can come from success, improvement, and Maslow’s self-satisfaction from being the best you can be.

If a coach can engender this sort of motivation, they can overcome a lack of relationship-building skill. An expert high performance coach can serve these players well, but they must want to be served. It is a relationship founded on respect.

Of Mice and Men and Method Acting

John Steinbeck’s East of Eden retells the story of Cain and Abel, depicted by the Trask family as generations move from Connecticut to Salinas, California. East of Eden was also adapted to the screen, directed by Elia Kazan and featuring James Dean.

Although Steinbeck and Kazan have achieved the peak of their professions - the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Academy Award for Best Direction, respectively - Kazan clearly outshines his literary counterpart in bringing the oft-repeated story to life.

Two main differences: Steinbeck challenges the Bible for length whereas Paul Osborn’s screenplay focuses on the last third of the novel and the book loses realism by starkly depicting the characters in black and white extremes as opposed to the film which permits the characters to exist in shades of grey.

James Dean’s immense skill, combined with his untimely demise, has made him a Hollywood icon and he carries this picture. If it were solely up to Steinbeck, one wouldn’t care much about Caleb Trask but Dean’s performance demands the sympathy of the audience.

The book was a chore, the film a joy. Kazan didn’t do much relative to his potential but his use of CinemaScope to make Eden (Salinas, California) come to life and askew camera angles to illustrate the turmoil felt by Caleb, the film’s protagonist. As usual, I don’t see why Dean’s character is the out of control scoundrel that others accuse him of being and feel that he’s one of the most rational people in the film.

Obviously, the parallels to the Old Testament foreshadow the miserable conclusion but there remains a positive message that any Choice Theorist would approve of. The film excludes the character of Lee, the Chinese servant who is more literature than any of the Anglophones who employ him, and consequently loses a large part of Steinbeck’s philosophical contemplation.

In the novel, when confronted with dozens of examples of good and evil distributed along a timeline nearly a century in length, an interlocutor like Lee is valued for serving as a bit of a philosopher for dummies and for curtailing the reader’s urge to throw the book out by imparting interesting ideas largely lacking throughout the text.

Nevertheless, whether audiences experienced East of Eden on film or as part of Oprah’s Book Club, everyone can get the message. “Timshel”, Adam Trask’s last words to his son Cal, a Hebrew excerpt from the Bible meaning “Thou mayest” or “you have a choice”, are applicable to any athlete, student, or person. In the end, you’re responsible for yourself, nothing is pre-ordained, and there’s always a chance to make things better.

A remake of the film is scheduled for release 2009. This production serves as an example of how there is always a choice to pull the plug on a project like this and preserve a perfectly good legacy.

Individual and Team Honours

“I think back to the people who would drop by my office and say, ‘keep your head up’ when you’re feeling down. Publicly, when I was out and about, I kept my head up, you’re never going to show people that you’re struggling with things on the inside, but when you’re sitting in your office by yourself and you’ve lost three or four in a row and people come by and say kind words, you remember those times.”
- Sam Mitchell

The Toronto Raptors bested the New Jersey Nets 89-83 in Game 2 of a first-round series and Sam Mitchell claimed the Association’s Coach of the Year Award today. The former far supercedes the latter because it is the first playoff win in five seasons but Mitchell’s citation is also meaningful because it is significant of team effort and was earned because Toronto’s coaches and players kept their heads up and succeeded despite adversity, illustrating a number of clichéd verses written over the years.

April is the cruelest month. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry he could not travel both, Sam Mitchell finds a thrill in bucking fate and riding down the endless odds. Il a mis son manteau de pluie, parce qu’il pleuvait, et il est parti sous la pluie. His is not to make reply, his is not to reason why.

Oh, all the places he’ll go. If he can dream - and not make dreams his master, if he can think - and not make thoughts his aim, if he can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, his is the Earth and everything that’s in it.

“It is the eye which makes the horizon.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Preparation and attitude are two of the few things that a coach or athlete can control on game day. I’ve found the offensive sets that the Raptors run to be completely anemic occasionally (Tuesday’s win was encouraging because it shows that Toronto can compete with New Jersey and won’t settle completely for a perimeter game if faced with a combination of a zone defence and crucial no-calls) and Mitchell’s brief experience means that he has much to learn about coaching.

H.A. Dorfman comments on the fine line between athletes who are focused on accomplishing goals and those worried by negative self-talk. Greg Maddux’s mantra is to “execute pitches”; Dorfman believes that pitchers should try to “control the strike zone” or “attack the hitter” because those who fret that “they don’t have good stuff” are doomed to be hit hard.

Likewise, Sam Mitchell has been instrumental in helping this younger team come together and reach their potential. Mitchell has modeled how to remain positive and self-evaluate correctly and the team has benefited from his perspective. Coaching in the Association is exceptionally difficult, as Bob Hill demonstrated when he got a pink slip as Mitchell was getting the Red Auerbach Award.

There is room for improvement throughout the organization and it’s possible that the best path through the yellow wood is the one that Sam Mitchell is traveling. Also, props to my 2007 Championship pick, the Phoenix Suns, for not repeating last year’s mistakes and running the Los Angeles Lakers off the court during the first two games of their first-round series.

La Dolce Vita

I’ve been told that you need to watch the adjacent Fellini films - The Nights of Cabiria and 8½ - to truly appreciate it, but I didn’t have a problem with the loose narrative of La Dolce Vita. In fact, the plot, seemingly unconnected at times, is essential to the themes that Fellini wishes to address.

“Rome: a tranquil jungle where you can hide.”
- Marcello Rubini

Uttered by at the opening of the film by Marcello, a tabloid journalist, these words endeavour to explain the motivation of the protagonist Marcello and the director Frederico Fellini throughout La Dolce Vita.

Marcello wanders from one distinct event to another, seeking a purpose for himself in life. In the end, he discovers that despite his attempts to find love, religion, or family, he is still alone, unable to connect with anyone in a meaningful manner. Trite sexual encounters, flamboyant parties, and a pretentious circle of friends and acquaintances seem to illustrate success on the surface but he is empty inside.

Disparate adventures explore the definition of beauty and the meaning of life. Marcello maintains his casual attitude when meeting his father despite knowing that he is falling short in life.

“I should change my environment; I should change a lot of things.”
- Marcello Rubini

Juxtapositions abound throughout the film, as in life. Chaos follows peace and quiet, love succeeds hate and vice-versa. The real world that Marcello struggles to navigate is replete with voyeurism and scandal; what caused controversy during the 1960 release is now commonplace.

Encounters are marred by miscommunication or a total lack of communication. The characters may interact often but they rarely understand each other.

Religion is often rejected in favour of the material world. Marcello and his friend are following the delivery of a sculpture to the Vatican yet stop in order to try to pick up some women sun-bathing on a rooftop. Leaving a party at dawn, the group encounters a procession heading to mass.

What can be learnt from a prescient black and white film? It’s difficult to find oneself and what passes for self-actualization for one person may be entirely unfulfilling for another.

La Dolce Vita was certainly worth the rental price and late fees. Considering I paid twenty-five dollars to watch an appalling display of basketball by the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks, Bay Street Video provides exceptional value.

Why Do We Coach?

Paul J. Meyer once said: “You never work for someone else. The truth is someone is paying you to work for yourself.”

Someone recently suggested that coaching for the purposes of self-actualisation was possibly selfish. In the end, don’t all humans choose their actions in order to satisfy a need (physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation)? Even those employed in an altruistic occupation do so because helping others meets their belonging, esteem, or self-actualisation needs.

The suggestion was made with a somewhat negative connotation. I couldn’t disagree more. People are free to act as they wish and no one can tell someone else how to make the most of themselves. Conventional wisdom is very popular and a revelation that all action is incentive based (economics is merely a model to understand life) can be hard to accept.

Why do we coach? Obviously, we love the game and the people - players, coaches, referees, and fans - who play it. But don’t coach to indulge ourselves; there are many ways to satisfy our basketball jones without affecting the lives of young people. We chose to assume positions of influence in the lives of student-athletes because we wanted to give back and make a difference.

Basketball (or any sport) is the vehicle, personal best sand self-actualization are the destinations. Since we coach because we want to help players become the people they aspire to, how do we make the biggest difference?

Leadership and Star Wars

After a second viewing of Revenge of the Sith, I wanted to comment about the leadership styles of the Jedi and the Sith. The Jedi alienate Anakin Skywalker when they cease to model the way and ask him to spy on the Supreme Chancellor. The Jedi Council distrusts Palpatine and his motives but their clandestine actions render Skywalker more susceptible to the overtures by Darth Sidious.

Meanwhile, Palpatine senses Skywalker’s self-actualisation, loving and belongind, and power needs and speaks to them. In Skywalker’s mind, the Chancellor has enabled him to reach his potential, in contrast to the rules and dogma of the Jedi. Darth Sidious motivates Skywalker differently than Darth Maul or Darth Tyrannus and he engenders great loyalty in his future employee as a result.

Employees are happy when they feel that their talents are valued, they value their organisation, and they feel that they organisation is valued by others. Palpatine encourages Skywalker’s abilities, undermines his feelings for the Jedi Order, and nurtures his allegiance to the Galactic Republic/Empire.

Palpatine’s remark, “Good is a point of view,” is a pertinent reminder to keep perspective. Darth Sidious may be one of the most evil fictional characters ever, but he makes an effort to practice good leadership and reaps the benefits - at the expense of his soul and billions of lives.