A Follow-up!

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Jim Tunney Ed.D

ken-blanchardOn The TunneySide of Sports April 16, 2018 #688 Up next…A Follow-up!

After further review…” This column/blog is fortunate to have many readers who respond to the message presented each week. While we try to answer, we do not often share the fortune that has befallen these folks. This column is an exception. We are following up on the “Stepping Up” column that appeared April 9, 2018 #687.

Here’s what this reader wrote:

“My senior year I was co-captain of our high school basketball team. While I was a really good shooter, I wasn’t a speedster. So, when our coach decided to have a running game, I would shake hands with the other captains and return to the bench, only getting into the game at the end when it was obvious that we were going to either win or lose. Our first three games were on the road and we lost two of the three.

We had been drawing big crowds the year before and our bandbox gym at our high school was turning away people. My father, a high ranking Naval Officer in the area, was able to secure the Naval Armory, which could hold bigger crowds for our home games. Prior to our first home game there, the Commander of the armory called our coach and said, “I notice you are not playing Blanchard much. His father is my boss, so please get him in the game earlier this Friday.” We were playing our arch rival that night, who was favored to win the league. In the middle of the third quarter, we were down by twelve points and the Commander signaled my coach to get me in the game because we were going to lose anyway.

With that, he sent me in the game and the first four times I had the ball, I sank long jump shots from the left side. The crowd went wild and we gradually caught up with the other team. The game went into overtime. Then a second overtime ended in a tie. Now the referee said we had to go into sudden death. Whoever got the first two points would win the game. At the tip off the other team got the ball but lost it out of bounds. So, I told the other forward to go down the left side where our opponents were waiting for me and told the playmaker to give me the ball when he got to half court, which he did.

I stopped about 30 feet out ready to shoot when our coach yelled “NO!” as I let if fly. It hit nothing but net and I was carried off the court with my mother and father in tears at the sidelines. I started every game after that and we won the league championship.”

That player, ‘Blanchard’, named above, is Dr. Ken Blanchard, a friend and colleague, a best-selling author who wrote “The One Minute Manager” as well as some sixty other books. In addition to being a world-famous author, his company, The Ken Blanchard Companies has helped millions of leaders and entrepreneurs achieve success.

Will you see the importance of stepping-up to help your T*E*A*M?

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To contact Jim, go to JimTunney.com or email Jim@JimTunney.com.

NEW: Jim’s new Podcast ‘TunneySide of Sports’ will be up and running shortly. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, he is available for speaking engagements. His bobblehead and books are listed on his website.

Jim’s books are full of inspiration and interesting stories. Please visit his online store to learn more.

Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports

Be sure to get Jim’s book ‘Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports’ by clicking this link or using the email above to contact Jim directly.

These TunneySides take issues from real-life situations and relate them as inspiration for the betterment of others.

Jim is available for speaking engagements on leadership and T*E*A*M Building. His books are available for $20 which includes shipping and tax. The Tunney Bobblehead is available for $30. Please visit JimTunney.com. Thank you!

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Stepping Up!

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Jim Tunney Ed.D

On the TunneySide of Sports April 9, 2018 #687 Up Next…”Stepping Up!”On The TunneySide of Sports April 9, 2018 #687 Up next…Stepping Up!

After further review…” Throw the ball to me” said # 24 Arike Ogunbowale, point guard of the University of Notre Dame women’s basketball T*E*A*M in the huddle with three-seconds left to play in the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship game played at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. When the Fighting Irish inbounded the ball from their front-court, Ogunbowale was at the top of the key, broke to her right around a set-screen, caught the pass, drove to the right corner and, closely-guarded, launched a three-point shot that hit nothing-but-net as the buzzer sounded making the final score Notre Dame 61, Mississippi State 58.

Notre Dame is the 2017 NCAA Women’s Basketball Champion! But wait – the scorer indicated that when Arike’s shot hit the bottom of the net, there was one second on the clock. Too late, the floor was flooded with the Irish celebrating their championship. The officials huddled at the replay monitor and decided that, indeed, one second was yet to be played. Rules are rules and the officials bought both teams back on the court for that one second. Ridiculous, yet it had it be done. When the Bulldogs inbounded the ball, the clock expired as soon as it was touched.

The major issue here is: would you want the ball as Arike did or would you be afraid of the risk and responsibility? Each of us in a lifetime will undoubtedly have those challenges. How we respond may determine our success or failure. Failure, in the sense of avoiding an opportunity to help our T*E*A*M. That situation confronted me in a high school baseball game. I was the second baseman on our Alhambra High School team. We were playing El Monte High School and whoever won the game would be in first place in our league. It was Friday afternoon at El Monte’s field, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded and 3 & 2 on their batter. At that juncture, racing through my mind was “don’t hit the ball to me.” I mean, if the ball were hit to me and I mess it up, we may lose the game with the blame on me!

When I matriculated to Occidental College, I reflected on my “loser” attitude. I had to change my mindset, and I did. Each time I had the chance playing ball at Oxy, I affirmed to myself “Hit the ball to me, I can make the play.”

Will you adopt the mindset to step-up and accept responsibility to help your T*E*A*M?

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To contact Jim, go to JimTunney.com or email Jim@JimTunney.com.

NEW: Jim’s new Podcast ‘TunneySide of Sports’ will be up and running shortly. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, he is available for speaking engagements. His bobblehead and books are listed on his website.

Jim’s books are full of inspiration and interesting stories. Please visit his online store to learn more.

Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports

Be sure to get Jim’s book ‘Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports’ by clicking this link or using the email above to contact Jim directly.

These TunneySides take issues from real-life situations and relate them as inspiration for the betterment of others.

Jim is available for speaking engagements on leadership and T*E*A*M Building. His books are available for $20 which includes shipping and tax. The Tunney Bobblehead is available for $30. Please visit JimTunney.com. Thank you!

Posted in Sports, Tunney Side of Sports Columns | Tagged | Leave a comment

The LOB!

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Jim Tunney Ed.D

On The TunneySide of Sports April 2, 2018 #686 Up next…The LOB?

After further review…Perhaps we need to change the game of basketball from “shooting” to “lobbing” the ball toward the basket! Never have we seen so many, what we used to call – poor shots — become so dominate in scoring. Having played basketball since I was a kid and well into my 30’s, I shot many a ball that was off the mark. Today those are called lob passes and some behemoth catches the ball about 11-12 feet in the air and slam-dunks it into the basket! “Oh my,” as my friend Dick Enberg so often said. However, when Enberg was broadcasting U.C.L.A. basketball at Pauley Pavilion and I was on the court refereeing, Lew Alcindor was not permitted to dunk the ball. Those days are gone – forever. So are many other facets of the game.

Ponder this about today’s game: The physical contact permitted by NCAA rules has allowed more contact in the game than it was intended to be. Let’s not place the blame on the men and women in striped shirts! I’m sure that given the proper direction from rule makers these fine folks would prefer the allowable contact be removed. Once the rules makers allowed “tactical contact,” the line drawn was hard to enforce.

Charging and blocking has always been a hard call to distinguish. Now, the NCAA has a perimeter arc inside the 3-second lane. The philosophy, as I understand it, is that if a defender is stationary inside that arc before the offensive player leaves his feet and contact occurs, the foul is “charging” on the offense. First, it is difficult for the defender to remain completely stationary, so any slight movement makes the defender the guilty one. Second, driving offensive players take the chance that the call will go their way.

The play of the center with his back to the basket has allowed the charging of the offensive player into a defender with little regard as to who is the guilty player. On another note, we’ll avoid the obvious disregard for traveling and/or carrying-the-ball.

Finally, at least for now, the congratulatory hand-touching (don’t know what else to call it) is a poor effort in sportsmanship. If players want to show respect for their opponents, let them avoid screaming and pounding of their chest after they make a basket or exceptional play – just get back and play. Respect for an opponent can be shown in many ways other than the perfunctory hand-to-hand touching after the game.

Will you log-in on your thoughts about today’s game of NCAA basketball?

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To contact Jim, go to JimTunney.com or email Jim@JimTunney.com.

NEW: Jim’s new Podcast ‘TunneySide of Sports’ will be up and running shortly. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, he is available for speaking engagements. His bobblehead and books are listed on his website.

Jim’s books are full of inspiration and interesting stories. Please visit his online store to learn more.

Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports

Be sure to get Jim’s book ‘Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports’ by clicking this link or using the email above to contact Jim directly.

These TunneySides take issues from real-life situations and relate them as inspiration for the betterment of others.

Jim is available for speaking engagements on leadership and T*E*A*M Building. His books are available for $20 which includes shipping and tax. The Tunney Bobblehead is available for $30. Please visit JimTunney.com. Thank you!

Posted in Sports | Tagged | Leave a comment