First my tip for the day: pay cash for purchases at Target.
Grandson Mitchell is the starting center for the Middleton “cardinals” JV basketball team. He wears number 23. Micheal Jordon wore number 23. The difference is that Micheal Jordon (MJ) could not make the sophomore basketball team and Mitchell plays every game. Move over MJ. Your Mom and I watched the Middleton Cardinals defeat the Sun Prarie Cardinals 43-33 last night. Mitchell defended, rebounded, scored, and made some great passes. He is easily the best defender on the team. Oh, and he does the starting center jump because of his height. Where does that come from?
I listen to Grasshopper No.4 espouse the skills required to be a successful coach. It requires discipline and clear objectives. No compromise! There is an autobiography out on John Wooden, maybe the greatest basketball coach in the history of college basketball. He had rules. “It was his way or the highway”. His most famous player was Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabar) in the late 1960’s. Talented or not, Alcindor would not get special treatment. Wooden insisted his players eat steak, potatoes and a vegetable before a game and drink two glasses of milk. Alcindor showed up and drank soda instead of milk. Whoa. Talk about defiance. Wooden the coach did nothing. If a player was late for the team bus starting a road trip, he was left behind. Alcindor was late but the Athletic Director personally picked up Lew from his apartment and drove him to the airport in time to catch the airplane. Wooden said nothing. You get the idea. The greatest coach of all time bending the rules for the greatest player of all time. I’m sure Grasshopper No.4 would not approve. Maybe UCLA losing one game in 3 years would change No.4’s mind.
The cold weather went north.
Love,
Dad