Home Video Time

On Christmas Day, since I had mentioned that I had wanted to hook up my camera and break down film from my last game earlier in my visit, my parents and sister all said to hook it up and we'd all watch it. After all, they've never seen any of my games.

I was a little shocked to see how much they were contributing to my analysis - in a good way. "He looks like he's nervous in that spot." "Have you worked with him on his crossovers? He'll be good if he can get that one step." Granted, most of their comments were things I've already keyed in on to work on, but it was good to see that I was seeing things that were actually problems and not just figments of my frustration with our struggles as a team. Allow me to clarify - I am not frustrated by any one particular player, and I don't want it to be taken as such. I am more frustrated by the fact that I believe in my team, and just haven't quite found the winning formula for them yet. And when you are frustrated, you see things and can easily make a mountain out of a mole hill. It was assuring to hear them spot the same issues I did.

It was also great to hear the comments from them after the video was over. It was 19 - 2 at half time and we ended up only losing by 6 in a great second half effort. "That was a pretty good comeback. They need some more practice time, but they need to hear from you and their parents that they have people that believe in them. A lot of the issues and problems were just that they are unsure about so much that they overthink and underperform." Didn't see that coming. But its true. In the past, my teams just needed to know that they weren't in first place or feared to keep working, so all I had to do was remind them that they lost by X points to Team A and they would refocus. New team, new approach.

We play tonight assuming that my flights and the weather cooperate. While we didn't get an opportunity to practice since that game, based on the emails and quick conversations I've had with the parents, I feel good about how we'll perform. Maybe just that one extra vote of confidence will give us the edge we need. If so, that will be just one more way my family has found to continue to support me in my journey. Thanks Mom, Dad and Nikki. Again :-)