Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Saturday, January 8, 2005

WHO AM I?

I know that there are those out there who think I am a shorter, balder version of the famous and infamous Bobby Knight, former basketball coach at Indiana, now at Texas Tech. Those people think that I just run around practice screaming and degrading the players mercilessly, but really that is only a small part of what I do.

THE FAMILY GUY

I do not throw chairs like Bob has been known to. I have pounded a stick handle into the ground. I have thrown my game pacifier, stick and gloves, once or twice, but I do try to confine most of my tantrums to practice and only in front of the team.

I do not slap or berate pedestrian non-lacrosse-playing students who do not bow down to me in reverence when they cross my path. Coach Knight seems to scuffle with others as a hobby, and that is not part of my "thing". I do slap my players from time to time, but I think we both usually enjoy those moments.

I do not ever get into verbal discourse or confrontation a la Bob at the salad bar with the top University administrators. This is at least partly because I don't get invited to lunch over there very often. If and when they do (invite me), I swear I will act humble, grateful, and gracious.

I do not look at our team as a secret covenant that outsiders cannot be a part of, the way it seems that Bob Knight's programs operate. We are and aspire to be a family that does its best to welcome new relatives as much as we can. We like to "share".

THE WIZARD OF WESTWOOD IS MY HERO

No, the truth is that if I aspire to be anyone as a coach it would be John Wooden, the UCLA basketball coaching legend. And why not? Ten championships in 12 years with hardly a discouraging word ever being heard is something I consider amazing in any era. His ability to teach and love his players is a model to emulate.

On the flip side of the coin, Wooden's biggest discipline challenge was making center Bill Walton get his shaggy red hair cut in the 70’s. It was a simpler time then somehow, in spite of the whole Hippie vs. Establishment thing that was going on. As large as the Generation Gap was, issues today seem somehow far more complex.

WHEN THEY SAID THROW CHAIRS I THOUGHT THEY SAID THROW HAIRS
And now I don’t have any

I will admit that I have had my darker Bob Knight moments inside, but I try not to let too many of them show. It is my hope that the day that I am responsible for bringing any kind of shame to myself, my team, or the school we represent by how I act will also be my final day as a coach. I say this in awareness of all the potential peril that lurks somewhere behind or near every move we make.

Next Entry | Previous Entry


Flip Started Blogging Before it was Cool, Read Over 400 of His Entries Since January 2001
Jump to a Period:
2006: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
2005: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2004: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2003: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2002: Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2001: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Sept Oct Nov Dec