Super Bowl Running Blog

I'm picking this up with 3 minutes to go in the first half. My player of the game so far is the Giants' kicker, Weatherford. His 3 punts have been stupendous.

Who would've thought New England's first play would have been a safety? I wonder what the odds on that would have been?

The Pats seem fairly out of sync so far. They can't really get in a groove.

Mr. Quiggly Skechers commercial was pretty funny. Cuban touch was nice.
Favorite commercial so far has to be the Doritos Dead Cat and the VW new bug commercial.

2:00 to go in the half - Pats driving and have completed 3 straight passes. Make that 4. How tall is Woodhead again? Can he get into the fetal position and fit inside Wilfork's stomach? I would say yes.

1:00 to go - 3rd and 4 from the G's 45 - Completed to Hernandez. How about that head wrap takedown by 54 of the Pats? I kept waiting for him to give JPP a noogie.

:28 to go now - Doritos' grandma baby slingshot: cute. What's the deal with all the alienfied films lately. Can we not make just normal films anymore?
"Justin Tuck's facemask is killer until he tries to put in his mouthpiece." Quoted by my brother, Tyler.

:18 to go - JPP with a heck of a play on Woodhead. Collinsworth just said he is not a "normal human being." I think people could say the same about him.

:08 to go - If you have all the time in the world anyone can make that pass. Nice drive. Just erased the safety they gave up early on.  Giants needed to add at least another score in the first half besides that first TD score.

:04 to go - great hit there by Fletcher. Wanna get known as a special teamer? Knock some heads on a kickoff.

Halftime - Can't wait to see the adjustments made by both teams in the second half. I'm not too excited about seeing Madonna perform. I'm just not a fan. I'm not really a Mellencamp fan, but I think he should have got the job because of his Indiana roots. (While in college at IUPUI, he had an art exhibit on display at the Herron School of Art that I wasn't too impressed with. He should probably have kept to writing music.) Hulu Plus commercial with the doctor's mini skullett at the very end was pretty funny-lookin.

Madonna - Over excessive Greek"pullers," How bout Pegasus' wings. I think she should have struck a pose  a little more. Guy dancers during the "Music" part stole the show from her. LMFAO just brought it down another notch. I don't even call what they do music. It's more like white noise. Wanna know why our kids have such a hard time spelling today? You just got the answer....LUV. Best part so far is the stage. That's pretty cool. Cee Lo was worrying about how he looked and if his costume was on ok. So....Madonna's home is beneath a stage? I'm confused. Nice touch with the World Peace except I don't think any of the songs were about world peace.  Kind of reminded me of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality when she just throws that in there because its the thing to do to appease people.

Eastwood - tells it like it is. Finally, a commercial with a real message about real things and real life. Speaking of Eastwood in car movies, you should see Gran Torino. One of my favorite movies.

2nd Half starting - If the Pats keep rolling like the ended the half, it could turn quite quickly. Brady went 10 for 10 to end the half and he's up to 12 in a row now. Benjarvus Green-Ellis, The Law Firm and all the associates, used to run the ball for IU. If you would have told me that he would have been the starting RB in a Super Bowl, I would have probably slapped you in the face and walked away. I never would have thought that.

12:35 3rd - Pats rolling on 3rd and IN. First Down. Giants have to get pressure on Brady if they want to be successful tonight. Pats score. That looked way too easy. Were the Giants even out there on that drive? My brother, Nick, wondered why the Giants kick-off kicker can't kick off into the endzone for a touchback.

Xfinity commercial - I guess those houses had wifi, since they were on wheels?

11:00 3rd - Good run back. Wilfork kisses people? I don't believe it. No one can get that close. That gut is in the way.

7:28 - I thought Nicks was going to keep that one tucked in. Nice hit by Chung.

7:10 - Wasn't that 3rd and 10? Why only a 5 yard pass?

7:00 - Tynes - at least the Giants got on the board this time.

Fiat commercial - totally had me on that one!! The only problem is that no one would ever think that about a car that me and a couple of my buddies could pick up and move with our bare hands.

Pepsi Max commercial - Coca-Cola hasn't done anything to bring their ultimate competitor down in their ads so far. Why did you have to put another company down.

Oikos Greek Yogurt - Never heard of it. Nice commercial. I bet John Stamos will remember it though after that headache. Have Mercy! Ha. Full House reference.

6:26 - JPP down. Not a good sign for the G-Men.

5:50 - first sack of Brady. He's like Peyton. If you get to him, he's not nearly as good. I'd contribute the throw away and the sack to the secondary coverage.

Bridgestone - good stuff with the football and basketball commercials comparing their tire tread. Nick said it was cool they used Duncan and Nash as opposed to like Bron Bron and Black Mamba. I would have to agree on that.

4:00 - FUMBLE. Gotta keep your hands around the ball.

3:28 - Good seeing Jacobs run straight ahead for a first down.

:35 - Bradshaw horrible job of running on the one that Collinsworth pointed out. Giants needed a TD there. they need TDs over FGs in the red zone. How do the Giants not stop the 3 guys rushing. 5 on three there guys.

:32 - Deion Branch is the Pat's best receiver and you don't matchup with him? I'd like someone to explain this logic to me, because I'm missing it.

Beginning of 4th Qtr. - The stage is set. What is going to happen? I'm saying Giants will pull it out.

14:00 - INT by Blackburn 40 yards downfield. I can't believe he could run that far. Way underthrown by Brady.

13:50 - Fumble!!! Giants lucky there right after they just picked it off. Good start to the final quarter. Making it a little exciting.

Great CPR commercial by Hyundai. Wonder how much money Hyundai dropped on all these.

Here Wego - I could definitely insert this into my daily vocab. Actually, I do say it a lot in my classroom, although, a dog never brings me anything.

10:58 - Manning to Manningham. What a bullet! Nice encore from the pass before that to Cruz.

9:35 - Manningham ran right out of bounds. Perfect ball from Manning. You caught it in bounds and then stepped out. Giants are burning their timeouts like they've got 12 of them.

9:24 - HUGE NO CALL ON THE INTERFERENCE. I don't know how that wasn't called. I know it's easy to miss those in real time, but seriously. You have to get these right. Weatherford again pooches a nice kick.

5:00 - Giants can't make the stop on 3rd downs. Now the Pats are going to run some clock.

4:00 - Welker just missed a fair catch there. Collinsworth with the words of wisdom "Welker makes that catch 100 out of 100 times." Michaels with the nice jab, "That must have been the 101st time."

3:46 - 88 yards to score or 98 for a FG (to the back of the end zone posts). Manningham makes up for his run out early. Nice way to get his feet in. Belichick is challenging. Stripes make the correct call on this one.

2:00 Minute Warning - Giants definitely in FG range now. I'd keep trying to put it in the endzone leaving as little of time left on the clock.

NBC really working their series commercials now.

1:20 - Nicks should have stayed inbounds and kept the pressure on the Pats.

:57 - I think Bradshaw thought someone was going to hit him on the 2nd level there. NEXT QUESTION - WHERE IN THE WORLD WAS BRANDON JACOBS ON THE 2 POINT CONVERSION?

:56 - Pats ball - Giants escaped one here by Phillips tipping it.

:52 - Drop by Hernandez. Right in his hands. Brady put it right there. A pass isn't a pass unless it's caught.

:46 - Sack by Tuck. Must be the facemask. Pats out of TOs.

:32 - First down to Branch with :39 left. Another First Down.

:09 - 12 men on the field. Ran off time though.

:05 - Last play of the game. Hail Mary. And it's going to be............

:00 - Giants survive!!!! The game was fairly uneventful, yet drama-filled in it's own right.

Manning will get MVP, I imagine. I think it should go to Weatherford. He kept the Patriots making long drives by his punts. Who would have thought that Eli would have more Super Bowl wins than Peyton. It just goes to say that having a defense has it's benefits.

And that's that. I found this very refreshing and fun to do this as the game played out.

What is Mental Toughness?

Great article here on Mental Toughness. I have always thought that mental toughness is more of a being able to execute what needs to be done under the most pressure-packed moments in time. I don't think being mentally tough is fighting through a long conditioning sprint. Yes, I will agree, that it takes take some mental toughness to fight through some pain and keep going, but I think mental toughness is more than just that and I think this article does a great job of breaking down mental toughness. What do you think is the definition of mental toughness?

Patriots vs Giants – Which Team Is More Mentally Tough?

by Pamela Enders|February 3rd, 2012

As we near Super Bowl Sunday and the much-anticipated rematch between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, the talk is not only about which team will win but which one is more mentally tough.

This begs the question: what is mental toughness? Everyone from sports writers to fans throws that term around – sometimes incorrectly.

Sport psychologists coined the term years ago when they discovered that 50 to 90% of success in high-level sports could be attributed to mental factors, known collectively as mental toughness.

Ok, so what are those mental factors?

Well, first, let me tell you what they are NOT:

Mentally tough is not…

• Acting mean and aggressive
• Knocking the bejeezus out of another player just because you can
• Talking trash
• Thumping your chest or strutting like you’re “the man”
• Playing when injured (if doing so can cause further serious damage)
• Staring down your opponent in an effort to scare him
• Playing dirty

In other words, toughness or a display of toughness is not the same as being mentally tough.

Super Bowl Coaches Coughlin and Belichick have their own definitions which Mark Cannizzaro reported on in his article on mental toughness in the New York Post. According to Cannizzaro, Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin said; “I’m very impressed with our mental toughness. We preach it from Day One and try to explain what it is – a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in.”

Adding a slightly different spin, Coach Belichick of the Patriots referred to mental toughness as “…doing your best for the team even when everything’s not going right for you personally.” Pat’s quarterback, Tom Brady, said that the team has demonstrated resiliency over the season. “Even in the games we’ve lost we fought until the end. We’re always going to fight until the end.”

These are all elements of mental toughness, which is not any one thing but includes a number of mental factors. Sport psychologists have their own definitions of mental toughness. I like this one:

Mental toughness is the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of competitive circumstances. It is the constellation of psychological and cognitive qualities that determine one’s competitive edge.

I’ve come up with 8 psychological and cognitive qualities that I think are associated with mental toughness. And by the way, mental toughness isn’t just for athletes. We can all work to strengthen our mental toughness. So, take a look at each factor and consider how you would rate yourself. Let me know what you think.

Mentally Tough Is…..

Championship mind-set

• Willing and open to seeking feedback about your performance
• Eagerness to learn and improve
• See critiques as information, not personal indictment
• Open to ongoing learning/coaching

Concentration

• Ability to get and stay focused on task at hand
• Ability to manage internal and external distractions
• Flexibility in shifting focus as task demands change

Composure

• Staying cool and calm in the clutch
• Poise and self-assurance even in high stakes situations
• Ability to perform well in high-pressure, competitive situations

Come-back from mistakes

• Ability to bounce back from set-backs and mistakes
• Ability to let go of disappointments
• Seeing mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve

Clarity about motivation

• Motivation gives purpose/direction to behavior
• Motivation is your “why”
• Not what you desire but the reason you desire it

Commitment

• Dedicating yourself to a course of action
• Clarity about your why drives action
• Creating SMART goals facilitates commitment
• Agreeing to be accountable for your actions

Confidence

• Your belief in yourself to perform well
• Positive expectations for favorable outcomes
• Sweet spot between arrogance and despair

Courage

• Quality of spirit that enables you to face danger
• Not absence of fear; triumph over it
• Heart, spirit

As the two teams meet on Sunday, we can be guaranteed of an exciting game. Both teams seem to exhibit great mental toughness skills but we will learn which team has the edge on Sunday.  What do you think…..which team has the mental toughness to win SuperBowl 46?

Same Set for BLOBs

Baseline-out-of-bounds (BLOBs) and Sideline-out-of-bounds (SLOBs) should be used to take an advantage of. Some teams just want to get the ball in. Others use the out of bounds plays as a scoring opportunity. My high school coach really stressed scoring out of BLOBs. Got this in my inbox today and wanted to share.
Same Set BLOB.

Season's End

Well, our season ended this week. The "A" team finished with an 18-1 record. We lost our only game in the semi-final of the county tourney to a team that we had previously beaten by around 20 points. It was our 6th game in 7 days. I think it finally just caught up to them and seemed a little sluggish throughout the game. We had an undefeated season and captured the conference tourney. Definitely, a successful season.
My "B" team, the team I coach, finished 4-4. Being a "B" team coach, you never really know who you're going to have to play night in and night out. Thankfully, I normally did. I tried to get the guys as much playing time as they could and still let us be successful. I think we only lost to one team that I think we should have beaten.
This was probably the most fun year I have had coaching. It's not because we won a lot of games. It's because of the kids. Everyday, they came to practice with smiles on their faces and a hard working attitude. We had fun, but we also got down to business. I had a lot of fun getting to know them.
Some things I learned this year -

• There is no substitute for not having 2-3 ball handlers. If you don't have a ball handler that can handle the ball and get your team into a flow offensively, you will not win many games. People always talk about whether to pick a point guard or a center. I will always vote point guard. 
• One of the most underrated things is the ability to handle pressure.
• Another of the most underrated things is the ability to get open.  If you don't understand how to get open, things will be bad for your team. 
• A coach must continue to stress process over product.  This is what you can control. If you can get your kids to buy into the process of winning vs. just winning, you will be more successful.  Better Every Day is a good philosophy. Or Improve Daily.
• KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. One thing I learned is that less is more.  Teach kids to play basketball vs. teaching kids to run plays. I think we did this this year. 

I hope to continue this blog a little more often now that the season is over and I can watch some college games. 

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment if you'd like. 

End of 2011 wrap up

So, I'm getting ready to wrap up this year. As of right now our 8th grade "A" team is sitting at 9-0. Our "B" team is 1-2. We've got a lot of work to do. Both of our teams have 5 more games until our conference and county tournaments. One thing that I always try to do is to be playing the best basketball at the end of the year. Yes, it's always good to pick up wins along the way. Being undefeated is never something that you shouldn't be proud of accomplishing. I'm concentrated on daily improvement and making the team better. If you played your best basketball in November, then what have you been doing since then? I have enjoyed this break from school. We gave the players a week off over break. I think they know that they should be doing some conditioning over break because Coach Allen will be sure to remind them that they should have working out over break. I'm going to work with the bigs when we get back on finishing around the bucket and being strong with the ball. We tend to let the ball be slapped away by the pesky little players. Always something to work on.

I picked up some books to read over break.
You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned by John Wooden
http://www.amazon.com/Havent-Taught-Until-They-Learned/dp/1935412086/ref=pd_sim_b_6
Inch and Miles by John Wooden
http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Miles-John-R-Wooden/dp/0756914108/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Soup by Jon Gordon
http://www.amazon.com/Soup-Recipe-Nourish-Your-Culture/dp/0470487844