Teachable Moments
by Bruinut on Jan 8, 2012 8:30 AM PST
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[The subject of teachable moments is a Las Vegas-sized buffet of ideas. It's nearly impossible to choose which aspect to "eat," and even more difficult, which aspects not to eat. In writing this post, I found it difficult to limit myself to one main topic (teaching), and to limit myself to two examples. This may be the first part of a multi-part sequence on teachable moments. I did not label this post "part 1," giving myself an out :-), but leaving open the possibility of exploring other aspects of teachable moments in the future.]
I'm a sucker for underdog sports movies. Rudy, Hoosiers, Miracle, all of 'em. I'll watch one or two, for the umpteenth time, every year. I'll empathize with the underdog. I'll fear the overwhelming opponent. I'll hope that the underdog isn't embarrassed or humiliated. I'll ride the roller coaster of hardships and dismal odds, sprinkled with pinches of inspiration. I'll cheer when the underdog gets off the mat/field/court. I'll feel the energy surge within him. After getting hammered all game, I'll feel the underdog realize, perhaps for the first time, "Hey, I can do this." Then, I'll bask in the glow of his accomplishment, if not victory. I swell with teary pride every time I see movies like this. I fall for it every time.
I haven't played a lot of competitive sports, and nothing beyond high school outside of tennis and softball, but I have played enough to recognize that competitive sports are about a lot more than skills and playbooks and plays. Another, often under-appreciated aspect is will and desire. Another is the value of a good teacher, that is, a good coach.
A good teacher teaches lessons. A great teacher teaches lessons and inspires. Inspired players develop will and desire that leads them to play at a level beyond what they, or anyone else, thought they were capable of previously. A great coach recognizes hidden talent, and presses the right button at exactly the right time to nourish this hidden talent and cause it to sprout. At least, this is the way it works in the movies.
Teachable moments, you see, are generally not announced affairs. There is no build-up, no fan-fare, no "get ready; here it comes" warning. They just happen. And, once they happen, either they are seized or they are not.
When they are seized, teachable moments become teaching moments. In their aftermath, they become taught moments. More often, though, teachable moments come and go without a ripple. Further, once teachable moments are gone, they usually stay gone. Teachable moments have very short shelf lives. They don't wait around for someone to act on them. If they occur and no one seizes them, they pass into oblivion with no guarantee whether or when they or any others like them will come around again.
This is what makes great coaches so special. Great coaches recognize teachable moments, and seize them, at least occasionally. Though, no one bats 1.000 with teachable moments.
But, back to sports movies. In my sappy love of underdog sports movies, there is a common thread, aside from the David vs. Goliath theme. It is that each of these movies contains one or more teachable moments that are seized courageously, without hesitation, and are forcefully planted in the, often unwilling, students. I love this. In my very limited experience with high school football, even I came to appreciate a Drill Instructor-type coach who would be a hard-ass 99% of the time, but every now and then would say or do something that would open his players' eyes, and help them rise above their current limitations.
I'm going to give two examples of teachable moments. The first is from a movie (Hoosiers), the main story of which was based on reality. The second could be a movie, though it happened in real life.
In a scene from the movie Hoosiers, the star player (Jimmy Chitwood) for Gene Hackman's character (Chitwood's coach) was the only player on the bench. Although he was the team's best player, the coach had yanked him out of the game earlier for having violated his coach's principles of team play. This, on its own, was a teachable moment. You don't play my way, you sit. But, Hackman's character had not yet begun to teach.
The game was in the closing minutes. Close game. Every second mattered. The whistle blew. Foul, the fifth on one of Hackman's players. The dejected player ambles to the bench. The only remaining player, Chitwood, gets off the bench, preparing to go into the game. This is where the clip picks up.
[Note: The publisher of this video clip has not allowed the clip to be embedded in this post. To play the clip, either click on this link, or, under Windows, right-click the image below, and select Watch on YouTube.]
My team is on the floor.mov (via ckhaynes79)
The next example is from Coach Bob Knight, by way of author John Feinstein. I'll apologize in advance for the shoddy, third-hand reporting of this example. I have not (yet) read Feinstein's book (One on One), which I presume consists of multiple chapters, each of which relates stories about Feinstein's personal experiences with and observations of particular athletes and coaches.
Feinstein was a guest on the Jim Rome show, to which I do not have a subscription, so I cannot get the quotes right. My "reporting" of this anecdote is a product of my own, quite-fallible memory. Therefore, I will not use quotation marks, indicating that this reportage is a very rough paraphrasing, meant to capture the gist of this anecdote.
Another disclaimer: I may have the facts wrong. The entire team had recently been over to someone's house for, I think, Thanksgiving dinner. I think that the house was Coach Knight's, and I think the preparer of the meal was his wife. I might be wrong about these details, but the gist remains.
In the interview, Feinstein describes a scene of Coach Knight, in the locker room with his Indiana team following a November or December practice. Coach Knight was exasperated. All practice, he had tried in vain to get his players to do what he wanted. The players had probably been trying hard, but they hadn't satisfied Knight. So, he addressed his team.
Knight: You cannot be good basketball players if you are selfish people. I'm not talking being selfish players. I'm not talking about making an extra pass, or setting a screen, or helping on defense. I'm talking about being selfish people. A week ago, all of you came to my house for dinner. You probably don't know it, but Mrs. Knight had spent four days preparing that meal. She selected and bought groceries. She cleaned the house. She planned dinner so that it all came out at the right time. She cooked the dinner. She served you.
Knight, after a lengthy pause: Now, let me see a show of hands for those who took the time to send Mrs. Knight some flowers, or wrote her a note, or called her to thank her for going to all that trouble for you.
Team: Complete silence; no hands raised.
Knight: That's what I thought. (pauses) You cannot be good basketball players if you are selfish people.
Feinstein: And, with that, Knight turned and left the dressing room. The players stared after him in silence.
Feinstein, pausing several seconds to let that sink in: Now, THAT is coaching.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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The embedding issue is not a problem actually
That is something the video publisher did it from his (or her?) end. Since that person has disabled the embedding code, we can’t do anything here (at least not that I am aware of). But linking to it seems fine to me.
I see
Thanks. I’m learning. Slowly, but learning. I revised the text to indicate this.
There was another clip of this scene on YouTube. This other clip may have allowed embedding, but it was shorter, and didn’t include the fouled-out player going to the bench.
I have also read John Feinstein's books too
…. including his Pulitzer prize winning " A Season on The Brink ". To me, it was a definitive book on Bobby Knight’s volatile personality and its adverse effects on his coaching as his career approached the twilight years.
Knight was the brilliant tactician of his time, manipulator of his players’ collective psyche as he prepared them for battle. Too bad that as his NCAA career reached its zenith, his disposition towards basketball seemed to take an irrational detour. The perfect championship season in 1976 & the inevitable letdown the following season, after those seniors departed, was the tipping point for him. If winning, and winning in an ultimately prohibitive fashion was the only way to keep the lid on the personal demons from his own shortcomings as player in his younger days, then losing close games now with freshmen & sophomores, talented yet unseasoned for Knight’s utmost game level drove him, ever the perfectionist beyond a fault, closer & closer to meltdowns.
It manifested in his comments & behavior, increasingly controversial & colorful.
Feinstein chronicled numerous episodes of Knight’s tempest towards players & others in the athletic department. As his winning ways in the 70’s & 80’s evolved into bitter disappointments and early tournament exits in the nineties, Knight became disillusioned with the Hoosiers’ program as much as the program or, for that matter, the university administration itself did with their fiery, acid tongued coach now struggling on the court.
We know the rest of the story.
I like Indiana’s disciplined, defense oriented strategies in its heydays. The late Gene Bartow experienced first hand, in his first game as Coach’s successor when UCLA’s defending national championship team, stocked with Coach’ s players, felt victim to Indiana on national TV in a preseseaon game at St. Louis.
Some say the loss doomed Bartow’s reign in Westwood.
When knight was at his best, nobody coached better than him in crunch time. Jim Boeheim can tell you that. The last Indiana championship team in 89’ had less talents than Boeheim’s Syracuse squad. Even Keith Smart, Knight’s forward with a banged up knee who made the winning shot from the deep corner, was not expected to start, let alone play as well as he did in bringing Knight his last championship trophy.
But I have deep reservation for Knight the tempestuous coach, the irascible, rude person that knew no boundaries in decency & protocol. To him, winning excuses everything.
Remember now, he did not shake Howand’s hand in their first tournament meeting in Howland’s first season. Knight continued his singular quest to diminish UCLA when Texas A & M trumped Howland’s freshman dominated team. For him, Coach’s stellar accomplishments unjustifiably eclipsed his at Bloomington.
That was the rub.
Wow, thanks for all that Htse
I, too, have been alternately blown away by Bob Knight’s coaching and appalled by his behavior. It makes no sense to ask, “Which is the real Bob Knight?”, because the answer is invariably “Yes.”
The nice thing about focusing on particular incidents, like I did, is that you don’t have to consider context. Foibles and demons aside, Coach Knight had many encounters with his players that, at one and the same time, seemed to have both nothing and, yet, everything to do with basketball.
I find these life lessons fascinating and inspiring. When a coach can teach players about life, as well as about basketball, I can’t help but respect that.
It’s a shame that Coach Knight’s demons wouldn’t allow him to respect Coach Wooden or UCLA like they deserved. Thank you for sharing your perspective and observations.
Age & retirement from the rigors of coaching may have mellowed the guy
Perhaps you also knew that the court also dismissed his wrongful termination suit against Indiana. But he never really have the legal grounds to challenge the university when Myles Brand, its late chancellor, also president of NCAA, summarily sacked him after he violated the zero tolerance policy on his personal conduct.
In some way, his coaching philosophy intertwined with his coaching methodology.
When he was at his best personally, he could outcoach an all star team and beat it flat out. Michael Jordan’s 84’ North Carolina team counted James Worthy among other heralded TarHeels as teammates. You know their hall of fame headcoach too. Knight dispatched them handily with his undermanned squad at the tournament that year.
When he felt his Hoosier basketball invincibility slipped, coaching aura challenged, he turned desperate, even maniacal. Berating his players courtside descended into forcefully grabbing the jersey of someone flubbing a designated play before he unleashed some expletives laden tirades commenced in that kid’s face.
NY Times once printed a full size picture of it in the sports column.
Many other episodes you probably heard or knew. But the last straw came not with grabbing an Indiana styudent’s arm on campus and demanded to be called coach. Instead, it was a lunch time, fateful encounter at a salad bar inside a supermarket in Bloomington when the explosive coach crossed path with the chancellor and his AD, also buying lunch at the same time.
Maybe not meaning to tease, in any negatively way, the coach and his team’s performance lately, but the awkward conversation with a tense Knight, already on the ropes, started exactly the way he dreaded when the chancellor casually askedhow the team was doing.
It was like pulling a hand grenade’s switch.
The ensuing heated arguments turned the AD into a referee, mediator if you will in full view of other lunch time shoppers. How many of us dared to talk back in our boss’ face, let alone
screaming with obsenities and physical challenges even in our worst of the worst, uncontrolled moments ? Knight did.
That was when the chancellor realized his coach did not belong. With his next encounter, Knight was gone.
" When Knight Falls ", written by a pair of Bloomington news reporters, themselves die hard Hoosiers, painstakingly detailed the spiraling events of the coach’s last few months. They made it clear, and you will find it noteworthy to know too, that they too respected Knight’s unyieldingly disciplined ways that built players’ characters for life after basketball, in addition to being athletes with well rounded skills to compete on the hardwood floor.
For many Indiana kids, he accomplished it. For himself, he crossed the line.
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