I was watching the NCAA tournament recently and former Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio was on and they were speaking about the Purdue men's job. For those of you that don't know, Coach Painter of Purdue sorta, kinda threatened to leave PU to go to the University of Missouri where he would receive more money. Now Coach Painter is well paid at Purdue and from what I understand this wasn't so much about money for him, but more money for his assistants.
But the comment that Coach Gaudio made I found interesting. "Everybody wants to win on Friday night, but do they want to win when it comes to helping in building better practice facilities, funding, donations, etc?". At first I thought of it only as a college comment, but it really isn't. It can be an example for high school sports also, obviously in different ways.
We all want to win on Friday night. But how many players have put the extra time in on their own? How many parents or community members of helped nudge them to work on their own? When gym time has been provided in the off season, how many players have taken advantage of it? How many parents/community members gotten the players to the gym when the doors were open or have they complained about all the extra time put in? How many kids have lifted weights on their own or taken advantage of gym time at school to do so?
How many players have put the time in during the summer when there has been practice or games? How often do the younger kids all the way down to the kindergarten age play basketball? How often do they practice?
This is not a condemnation or show of support for anyone or any community, but the statement has been made; "We really want to win on Friday night", but to win on Friday night takes much more than just showing up on Friday night to play. In some situations, it takes years of community and administration support. If those things don't occur (again not speaking of any specific situation, I feel supported by both here) how can we be held accountable for Friday night?
We may not be able to make chicken salad out of chicken...well, you know, but we can make it the best tasting...you know...that there has ever been. But is that enough? Is it enough for the community, administration, and even the coach?
