Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.
As a former college basketball coach, March Madness is my favorite “holiday” (insert eye roll from my wife).
I love the intrigue, excitement, and storylines. My wife always shakes her head when I plop down on the couch for days at a time.
There are really three kinds of basketball teams when March rolls around…
“Some people want it to happen, other people wish it would happen, but successful people MAKE it happen.” (Michael Jordan)
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I remember the first and only time I stormed the basketball court as a fan.
It was my 8th-grade year and I just watched the high school team win the District championship.
Lots of teams hoist a trophy during March Madness but not every team wins it on the opponent’s home court. Fewer still win in a dramatic fashion with a comeback for the ages.
Fred VanVleet got paid. I mean HE GOT PAID!
FVV’s contract of 4-years $85 million might not be the largest contract in NBA history but it is the largest contract ever for an undrafted free agent.
Bet on yourself. That has been Fred’s mantra – his philosophy – for a long time.
In fact, he even has his own Bet on Yourself apparel line.
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” (Milton Berle)“March Madness” is my favorite holiday! My wife says that it isn’t really a holiday but then again she wants me to celebrate “Sweetest Day” 🙂
Regardless, this is a great three-week period that caps off the college basketball season. The tournament is a win-or-go-home event. It is a true reality show with plenty of intriguing story lines and drama. Plus, who doesn’t love filling out a bracket?!?
Of this year’s four #1 seeds, The University of Virginia was the tournament’s top overall team going into the tournament. They have a great coach and the team thoroughly dominated the regular season. This past Friday, they made history! Just not the kind they were anticipating.
UVA became the first-ever #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed. The University of Maryland-Baltimore County wasn’t even the best team in their conference but they got hot during their conference tournament and pulled off an upset to qualify for the NCAA’s. They were 22-point underdogs going into this game against Virginia. Instead of losing by 22, they won by 20! If you watched the game, you would have been impressed by the way they took advantage of every opportunity. They played to win – not to lose – even when they got up big and the game was winding down. They played with confidence and swagger.
Virginia might have been the better team overall, but this past Friday, someone out-performed them. There are many lessons that can be learned from this but the NCAA Tournament once again provides some madness in March. It provides a reminder that we need to be prepared for our opportunities. The Retrievers from UMBC believed in themselves and that is all that mattered. Abraham Lincoln used to say “I will prepare and perhaps one day my chance will come.”
What about us? We may be grinding day-in and day-out and the results might not be what we’d want. The odds might seem to be stacked against us. We might be 22-point underdogs to life. But, just like UMBC, we can believe in ourselves and keep preparing for the day that our opportunity comes. I am reminded of the Jacob Riis’ quote concerning rock sculptures…
Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.
Just like the stone cutter, you don’t always know when good things will come to you but you do know that if you quit, it will never come! Be encouraged today and know that even though life might sometimes seem like a tough #1 seeded opponent, the underdog still has a chance to win! Success is a choice. What choice will we make today?
Keith Lipscomb has been at ESPN.com for 20 years. He is currently the Senior Editor for Fantasy Football. He has served many roles through the years, including editor, writer, on-air talent and podcast host for the ESPN Fantasy editorial team. He works closely with the Fantasy Focus Football 06010 podcast that is hosted by Matthew Berry, Field Yates, and Stephania Bell. This podcast is regularly listed among Apple’s Top-100 most downloaded podcasts. Keith has been an editor for Sports Nation and one of ESPN’s NBA researchers. He writes an article every year prior to the NCAA Tournament that outlines all the information that you need to know for completing your March Madness brackets. He was a star baseball player and communications major at Hiram (OH) College prior to going into journalism full-time.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
March Madness is upon us and people are getting ready to fill out those pesky brackets. We love this time of year because of the drama and possibilities that exist when Davids meet Goliaths. Will this finally be the year that a 16-seed defeats a 1-seed? Who will make it to the Final Four? What team will become the Cinderella story of the story? Who will be cutting down the nets when “One Shining Moment” is playing on CBS? Who will be the underdogs you will be rooting for?
(originally posted on March 1, 2016)
March is finally here. If you are a basketball fan like I am, you are excited because it is MARCH MADNESS. We’ll soon be filling out our brackets. There will be 68 top-notch teams in the NCAA basketball tournament. I heard an announcer on ESPN say that this year’s tournament might be the most even tournament in NCAA history. Half of the field has a shot at winning the whole thing.
Talent alone will not set these teams apart. There are so many teams that have fairly equal talent. Just like our team that has started their quest for an 8th high school state championship. We are talented but so are other teams.
What is going to take us from talented to good? What is going to give us an advantage over other talented teams? What differentiates us from the competition? Successful people do things differently. Here are a couple of ways that we can gain a winning edge:
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| Westmont’s Tugce Canitez vs. Sue Bird |
(originally published on March 17, 2013)
March Madness is upon us and eyes are glued to the TV watching conference tournaments to see who’s bubble bursts and who’s dreams come true. However, there is some madness going on in Frankfort, KY that is under-the-radar. The NAIA women’s basketball national tournament is down to its’ final four teams. The “Fab Four” games will take place on Monday. Westmont (CA) University will join three teams from Tennessee: Lee University, Freed Hardeman University and Cumberland University in the Fab Four. This tournament may be lacking UCONN or Brittney Griner but it certainly is not lacking excitement, talent or story lines.