Coach: A new pic, good health and some words of wisdom
It's a three-parter to finish the year 2021.
First, as you can see from the picture adjoining, our fine paper has finally updated my photo.
The good news? No more glasses (thank you Dr. Stein and the wonders of cataract surgery).
The bad news? I got older. By a lot. That's all.
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Second is this, and every athlete or fan of sports, know this: Staying healthy and injury-free is by far the most important thing.
Winning games and competing successfully while achieving individual goals is all great and part of the sports experience, but as we come to the end of the year it is important to note what is absolutely first and foremost. And that, with an exclamation mark (!) is good health.
Any athlete who has had to sit out of games because of injury - and watch frustratingly from the sidelines or the bench - knows this well. Losing is painful, but not as much as having to sit and be just a spectator knowing you could be out there helping your teammates. That is a pain that can't be described, or prescribed, for that matter. But it is real, and any athlete who has been in that "wait and watch" situation can well-relate.
So as we settle in on these final days of 2021 and look hopefully to a new and exciting year ahead, it is important to remember: All of our resolutions, our goals, our dreams for the coming year - be it personal, professional, family or friend - are a distant second to having our health.
It is the foundation upon which all other good things happen.
Here's to all of our readers being in "the game" next year and not having to sit on the sidelines.
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Finally, some words of wisdom (insert question mark) from some great coaches of days gone by:
"I make my practices real hard, because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game."
- Bear Bryant, Alabama football coach
"I never graduated from Iowa, but I was there for two terms ... Truman and Eisenhower's"
- Alex Karras, Detroit Lions football star and movie actor
"I could have been a Rhodes Scholar if it wasn't for my grades"
- Michigan State football coach Duffy Daugherty
"Son, you got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel."
- Bobby Bowden, Florida State football coach (to a potential recruit)
"I'm all for it!"
- USC Coach John McKay, when asked what he thought of his teams execution following a 51-0 loss to Notre Dame
"If lessons are learned in defeat, then our team is getting a great education."
- Murray Warmath, Minnesota University coach
"We live one day at a time, and scratch where it itches."
- Darrell Royal, Texas University coach
"He doesn't know the meaning of fear. In fact, I saw his grades and he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."
- Urban Meyer, Ohio State University coach on one of his players
"We are only going to dress half our players this week. The other half will have to dress themselves."
- Jim Harbaugh, University of Michigan coach
"He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."
- Houston Wide receiver Joint Jenkins
"We can't win at home, and we can't win on the road. My job is to figure out somewhere else to play"
- Philadelphia 76er GM Pat Williams
"You can sum up this sport in just two words: You never know"
- Boxing promoter Lou Diva
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they say practice makes perfect. I wish they would make up their minds."
- Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain
"We didn't tackle today, but we made up for it by not blocking."
- Tampa Bay Buccaneer coach John McKay
"My sister is having a baby, and I'm not sure if I am going to be an aunt or an uncle."
- NBA 7'4 center Chuck Nevitt
"Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical"
- Yogi Berra
"The drivers have one foot on the brake, one foot on the clutch and one foot on the throttle."
- Race car announcer Bob Varsha
"We have a wonderful bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all of our games are played indoors"
- 1930s basketball coach Weldon Drew
"I've been big ever since I was little."
- Chicago Bear William "The Refrigerator "Perry
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
- UCLA legendary coach John Wooden
"I dunno. I never smoked AstroTurf."
- New York Mets pitcher Tug McGraw, when asked whether he liked grass or AstroTurf
"The key is not the will to win. Everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important"
- Bobby Knight, Indiana basketball coach
"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
- Michael Jordan
"GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND ALL THE BEST IN THE COMING NEW YEAR!"
- Jon Cohn, writer, Daily Herald
• Jon Cohn of Glenview is a coach, retired PE teacher, sports official and prep sports fan. To contact him with comments or story ideas, email jcsportsandtees@aol.com.