Month: January 2006 (page 5 of 5)

Some quotes to chew on today…

I’ve said it a hundred times, a great library is the heart of a great university, and if we want to remain a big league university, we’ve got to have a big league library.

Throughout my life, I have always had the ability to concentrate on what has to be done and not worry about things I can’t do anything about. If I can do something about it, I go after it and try to get it done by giving my best shot. If I succeed, fine, but if I fail I put it behind me.

The players who have been most important to the success of [our] teams have just naturally kept their priorities straight: football a high second, but academics an undisputed first.

What are coaches? Number one, we’re teachers and we’re educators. We have the same obligations as all teachers at our institutions, except we probably have more influence over our young people than anyone other than their families.

…we’re dealing with emotions; we’re dealing with commitment; we’re dealing with discipline, and loyalty, and pride. The things that make a difference in a person’s life — pride, loyalty and commitment — are the things that make a difference in this country. We’re teaching them (student-athletes) the realities of the competitive life.

Just winning is a silly reason to be serious about a game. For a kid still in school, devotion to winning football games at nearly any cost may cripple his mind for life. Institutions of higher learning don’t have the moral right to exploit and mislead inexperienced kids that way.

The purpose of college football is to serve education, not the other way around. I hound my players to get involved. Ten years from now I want them to look back on college as a wonderful time of expanding themselves — not just four years of playing football.

I don’t think our uniforms look that bad. I think they say something to kids about team-oriented play and an austere approach to life.

Money alone will not make you happy. Success without honor is an unseasoned dish. It will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good.

Not too shabby stuff for a guy who majored in English Literature at an Ivy League school, and who sits up half the night, as he did for years, doing ‘x’s’ and ‘o’s’ for the next day’s practice or next Saturday’s game, listening to opera.

..redneck style!

You readers will remember that I am a Moleskine fanatic. I also use a plain ol’ paper Day-Timer. There are a lot of reasons for this decidedly Luddite attitude…

• I don’t need to learn some fancy handwriting scheme
• I don’t have to worry about battery life
• I can always leave a note for Redneck Pastors, telling them that our lunch has moved down the street
• And of course, the main reason I don’t have a Palm or whatever is that I have my lovely and gracious wife, who knows and remembers everything and comes with automatic reminders on by default.

But now this takes simple elegance to a whole new level. The guy who posted this on the Getting Things Done forums commented…

No paper. No batteries. Always with you.

Seth Godin points us all to Scott Hampton’s blog about changing what we do in order to change what we accomplish. He includes this great paragraph…

Sometimes I use this as an example when I’m at client sites. I tell them the moral of the story, too: “If you can’t change the little things in your methods, you’ll never change the big things. Pick something, make it better. Don’t worry if it is just a little thing. If you lather, rinse, and repeat that a few times, you will have made a big difference. BUT if you wait for everyone else to change BEFORE you will, remember that everyone else is thinking the same thing, and so nobody will change anything. Don’t wait for permission, or worry about doing something different, or invent reasons why you don’t have authority. Somebody has to make the first move. It might as well be you. Change your world, today.”

Seth, as usual, drives the point home with this question…

If you aren’t doing anything different, how can you expect to accomplish anything different?

This idea is especially relevant at the beginning of a new year, when we are evaluating and planning. So many of the “resolutions” we make never make it past January 2, and so many of the big dreams and plans we have for our lives, our organizations, etc. never see the light of day. Why? In large part – and I’m speaking from personal and painful experience here – it’s because we keep on doing the same stuff, while expecting a different outcome.

Somebody blogged earlier this week about their New Year’s resolutions. One the top ones was…

Change something without getting permission.

I like that. Do you want to change your world? Change something. Today. Now.

The Georgia Dome in Atlanta hosted three big games over the last four days: the Peach Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons‘ season finale, and the Sugar Bowl last night (hey, Gary…how ’bout them Dawgs?)

Anyway, it takes a lot to get those kinds of events to work – a logistical nightmare, at best. The Atlanta paper has this pretty cool time-lapse movie of what happened to get the Georgia Dome ready for each game.

For you guys and gals out there who have to depend on setup/teardown crews, this just might help you appreciate what they do just a little more.

There’s a pretty good article in the Atlanta paper about Georgia coach Mark Richt’s relationship with his dad. The article includes this line, which has become my favorite quote of the year, so far…

The same holds true for Mark, who knows that no matter what happens on the field or what is shouted from the stands, he can look down just beyond the 35-yard line and see a proud father who doesn’t care about the game but about his son who’s in it.

One day, maybe, just maybe, somebody might write something like that about “The Boy.”

Here’s some stuff that’s been sitting in my draft posts pile…

• New Year’s resolutions for bosses.
• Wanna live a long time? Mind your own business! Link via Randy Bohlender
• A church in the middle of the marketplace
• New Year’s resolutions for pastors
• Be patient with yourself. Link via Phil Gerbyshak

Last week, I posted that we are now official card-carrying members of the brand-spanking-new YMCA in town. Now understand, I was your typical “band geek” in high school, and I’ve never been around the “gym culture” a whole lot in my life. In fact, if you take one quick look at me, you’ll soon discover that I really don’t know a lat pull from a lap pool. So I’ve been a tad uneasy/unsure about this Y thing.

But we’ve been a couple of times now, and it’s really not so bad. Here are some things I’ve learned so far…

• The indoor walking/jogging track is a lot easier than the hills in my neighborhood.
• Some people don’t care how they dress (undress?) to go out in public. (Corollary: A lot more people ought to care how they dress to go out in public, even if it is just a workout at the gym.)
• The lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” is still pretty hot in her Speedo, even after all these years!
• As for me and my Speedo…well, let’s just not even go there, OK? Just kidding…my Speedo is baggy and striped. But it is a Speedo!
• I’m not the only one who doesn’t have a clue what to do with all the weights, machines, etc.
• There are people who are paid to help you out when you don’t know what you’re doing.
• There are regular Joes and Janes who, while not paid to do it, are more than happy to lend a helping hand and a dose of encouragement – without laughing too much.
• There are poseurs everywhere you go – even in the local YMCA.
• Some people want to carry on a conversation in the locker room. Others don’t.
• The instructions on the machines really work!
• I’m really, really out of shape.
• So are a lot of other people.
• And some are in worse shape than I am. Go figure…
• Did I mention anything about the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” still being pretty hot in her Speedo, even after all these years?
• The whirlpool is, in fact, my “workout” of choice!
• I’m tired at the end of a session. But it’s a good kind of tired, and I’m already noticing I’m sleeping better.
• It’s awkward learning unfamiliar language and an unfamiliar culture. But if I can stick with it, it’ll be worth every minute and every dime to shape up.

I was flipping through the channels last night and I came upon Delirious? playing at what appeared to be some New Year’s Eve bash. They were doing their classic History Maker. And that has put me in the mood for some late 20th-century “modern worship.” All day today, I’ve had Delirious? playing either in my head or on some audio equipment somewhere.

So, in honor of my buddy Tony McCollum (and his now virtually defunct blog) the first Unwind (Wind-up, eh, Tony?) of 2006 is Delirious? from their Cutting Edge CD and from the Worship Together compilation Revival Generation: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever.

Saw this article over at THE OOZE this morning. Don’t have time to elaborate right now. Your comments are welcome. Especially yours, Gary, Andrew, Tony…