The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East division title last weekend and the world is right again with Bill Belichick.

Belichick, the Patriots coach, took a lot of heat from the press and fans a month ago when he decided late in the game to go for it on fourth and 2 from the Patriots own 28 yard line. The Patriots were up by 6 with 2:08 left in the game against the Indianapolis Colts and the common sense play was to punt the ball away. As you all probably know by now, the Patriots didn’t make the first down and Peyton Manning took the Colts in for a game winning touchdown.

The criticism was immediate and intense. The Monday Morning Quarterbacks and sports pundits argued that Belichick should have punted the ball to force Manning to go the length of the field. They said he should have gone with the percentages and wondered if he had lost his mind.

But regardless of the game’s outcome, I believe that Belichick made the right decision to go for it. He took a calculated risk based on his knowledge of the game and his team. He knew that his team had given up 2 touchdowns already in the fourth quarter and were tired. It was obvious to Belichick that giving the ball back to the Colts with 2:08 remaining in the game would leave plenty of time for Manning to deliver the ball down the field. And making the first down would have ended the game.*

The bigger picture here is Belichick’s strong leadership skills. His decision might have gone against conventional wisdom, but that is what makes him a great coach. He trusted his instincts and didn’t worry about how he would be judged or by what convention would say to do. He has the unwavering confidence that leaders need and the courage to stand by his decisions.

* By the way, here’s an interesting analysis showing that Belicheck’s call was actually the higher percentage play. Let me know what you think.

Jim

Athletes are competitive by nature especially during the prime of their career. However, many reach a point in where they either feel too old, or are told that they are too old for the game. They fall into a sedentary lifestyle as armchair athletes who only feel capable of cheering from the stands.

Mike Chanenchuk, 53 years old, was not one of those players. A former three time Lacrosse All American at the Naval Academy, he was sitting in the stands in July 2009 to watch his son play for the Whitmore Group team (a team that I sponsored) in the championship game of the 2009 Lacrosse Summer League. Only nine players showed up for the game, which wasn’t enough to field the team. Vincent Sombrotto, the player coach for the Whitmore team looked around for what to do. Sombrotto, a 4-time USA team player and national lacrosse hall of fame member who was 50 years old himself, went into the stands and asked Chanenchuk to dress for the game so that his son’s team wouldn’t have to forfeit.

So Sombrotto and Chanenchuk, both in their 50’s, were competing against college players in the prime of their careers. More amazingly, they stayed on the field for the entire game since the team had the minimum number of players and no substitutes were available. Thanks to their willingness to push beyond their limits, the team went on to win the game and the championship.

Interestingly, during the same month that Mike Chanenchuk saved the day for his son’s lacrosse team, 59-year-old Tom Watson tied for first place after 72 holes at the British Open Golf Championship at Turnberry. While he eventually lost in the playoffs, the accomplishment of getting this far was stunning for a 59 year old since the oldest winner of a major golf championship was a full 11 years younger. That player was Julius Boros who won the 1968 PGA championship.

Athletes considered past their “prime” can still play at an elite level if they don’t buy in to perceived limits. Limits are often imposed on players, or the team that they play for, based on generalities – not the specific player. Those that stay in the game and push beyond any limits often prove that there are still glory days ahead of them.

Many businesses fall into the same inertia as athletes. As they become mature businesses, they may buy in to the notion that they can’t be as nimble as smaller or younger competitors. They become stagnant, complacent and sometimes fat. But companies that ignore conventional wisdom, set high goals and continue to innovate may find that age is just a number.

Jim

One of the things that I love about sports is the rules. Clearly defined rules that make sure every aspect of the game - the playing field, the number of players, the boundaries of what you can and cannot do – is consistent and fair. Everything defined so that the best effort from the best athletes almost always wins.

But every once in a while something goes wrong. A referee misses a call or blows a call. Suddenly the fair fight we were in seems not so fair. And note here that bad calls are not the same thing as bad bounces. Bad bounces might also change the outcome of a game, but it is easier to see that bad bounces will eventually balance out. With bad calls, we start to wonder whether the call was just a stupid, human error, whether the rules aren’t being applied consistently, or worse, whether it was an intentional attempt to change the outcome (or speed up the game).

Bad calls can get into your head and affect your performance if you are not careful. Losing your focus and battling the referees instead of your opponent is almost always a recipe for disaster. Over adjusting and playing differently because of the call weakens your game.

So the number one thing I have learned from this is patience. Don’t change your game plan. Stay the course, use the outrage of the unfairness to pump yourself up, but don’t get out of your game because of the unfairness of the call. Just relax, have patience, and usually over the course of the game – and definitely over the course of a season - the bad calls on both sides of the field will balance out.

Jim

I learned that the “experts” are not always right, and
sometimes you have to look beyond ordinary indicators to find the extraordinary.

Here’s the story:

Vinnie Sombrotto was instrumental in my nephew Rob Pannell’s matriculation at Cornell University.  It was truly fitting because Sombrotto, like Pannell, was under recruited and overlooked by college coaches when he played high school lacrosse in the mid 1970’s.

Although both Sombrotto and Pannell excelled at the highest levels as high school lacrosse players, most lacrosse “experts” considered them too small and not fast enough to compete with best at the Division 1 level. Boy were those “experts” wrong.

Sombrotto, after his Chaminade high school lacrosse career was concluded, went on to become one of the best college players and a Division 1 All-American. At Hofstra in 1980, Sombrotto scored 37 goals and totaled 54 points in 13 games AS A MIDFIELDER on the 1980 Hofstra team. He was equally accomplished as a defender and a ground ball machine.

Incredibly, Sombrotto raised the bar as a LI – Hofstra Club Player, U.S.A Player and professional lacrosse player. He is a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and was named to Newsday’s All-Century team along with Jim Brown, NFL Great and former Syracuse All-American lacrosse player.

Pannell concluded his high school lacrosse career at Smithtown West. The “little general” managed to eke out a Long Island’s best 130 points and was selected to the Boy’s high school All-American team. He attended Deerfield Academy as a PG in 2008 and went to work immediately. He shattered the school’s 40 year old scoring record with 6 games left in the season.

But it was not until the great Sombrotto called Cornell’s Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach, Jeff Tambroni, that Pannell would get the chance to showcase his lacrosse skills at an elite lacrosse program. Sombrotto told Tambroni, “the kid plays a lot like me”. Tambroni replied, “I’ll take him”. The rest is history.

Sombrotto and Pannell with an assist from Metzger.

P.S. - By the way, all Pannell did in his freshman year at Cornell; First Team All-Ivy, Ivy League Rookie of  the Year, Ivy Scoring Leader, 3rd Team All-American, NCAA All-Tournament Team, leading scorer in the NCAA tournament, Cornell freshman scoring record with 67 points.

I walked away from the game of lacrosse in prime of my athletic career following my sophomore year. I vividly recall the day I entered my coach’s office to inform him that I would not continue as a member of the lacrosse team. In fact, I told him that I would not be “matriculating” at the university, for the spring semester of my junior year. I was a spectator from a distance that year and I remember watching in frustration as the team finished with a 3 – 8 record. As painful as it felt to watch the season unravel, I know that my off the field issues in my personal life made it impossible to be down on the field.

After I played my last lacrosse game at Hofstra, I never picked up a stick, never played in a college alumni game, never again watched a college or professional lacrosse game. I played lacrosse from the 7th grade until that last game at Hofstra and that was it – I was done with one exception. A few years ago, I attended a Long Island Lizards professional lacrosse game to watch Vinnie Sombrotto play. One of my nephews was playing at halftime. I sat in the stands and watched Sombrotto – well into his 40’s - play the game I abandoned a long time ago. I left the game in the third quarter, I couldn’t watch any more. On my way back home to Manhattan, for the first time in my post lacrosse career, I felt a painful reminder – it was surreal – of how I abruptly left the game and never looked back.

In Bill Bradley’s book “Values of the Game,” there is a chapter called Passion where he describes the sights, smells and sounds that he loved about playing alone in his high school gymnasium. How grabbing the ball by the seams and the feeling of sinking ten in a row – which made him want to sink 15 in a row…and then 25 in a row – was the greatest feeling in the world. He had the passion for the game and I completely understand him.

My favorite part of the chapter is at the end. Upon reading it the first time, I thought of myself. Bradley cites a post game function in Chicago during the 1970’s where a gentleman approaches him and asks him if he really likes to play basketball. Bradley replies” Yeah, more than anything else I could be doing now.” To Bill’s response, the gentleman says “That’s great” and that he “knows what you feel.” He proceeds to tell him about his love for playing the trumpet. In fact, he was so good at playing the trumpet that he was part of a band. His band was very good, as well. They were so good that they had offers to go on tour and make records. All of the band members wanted to accept the offers except this gentleman. He said his father didn’t believe that type of career was secure enough and he agreed with this father. A transient life that involved traveling from town to town and without any guarantees of future gigs didn’t “fit into the life plan.” He ultimately gave up the trumpet for law school where he successfully graduated and became a lawyer. Once his law career began, he no longer had time to play on even an occasional basis.

Bradley asked him: “Do you like the law?

The gentleman’s response: “It’s okay. But it’s nothing like playing the trumpet.”

I learned early on that it feels good to win.  But one of the secrets of how to win consistently came to me later.  That’s when I really understood how much easier it is to win as a team than to win as a group of individuals.  Cliché?  Maybe.  But it’s sometimes hard to see this - and believe this - in the heat of battle. 

Think about it.  Doesn’t this idea go against another time-honored cliché that great athletes step up and want the ball when the game is on the line?  Didn’t Michael Jordan win all those championships by taking control at crunch time?   Well actually that wasn’t the key.  Michael Jordan – the greatest basketball player of all time - didn’t win it all until he learned how to keep his entire team in the game.  Michael struggled and his teams didn’t make it to the top until Phil Jackson taught him that his job was to make his teammates better.  After that Michael went on to win six world championships.

The bottom line here is that great athletes take control and score when they have to, but throwing an extra pass to a teammate and setting up a goal does even more.  It keeps everyone on the field alert, keeps them in the game and keeps them motivated.   

My business has thrived for many reasons and I am very fortunate.  But I am convinced that a key ingredient to this is our attitude that you get more millage out of setting up successes for business associates than trying to take over and score each goal yourself.

So for my money, when we pour over the stat sheets, let’s pay special attention to guys who lead their teams in assists.

JCM

I learned early on that it feels good to win.  And the secret is that it is easier to win as a team than to win as an individual.  What I have learned and what I try to communicate to my professional team as well as young salespersons  beginning a life in commercial insurance is that sports teaches us is the importance of the team.  Sure it’s great to score that goal yourself and hear the crowd applaud your effort, but in the long run, it’s the final score that counts.  Did we, (not I) win the game.  This concept of team comes usually comes later, however my epiphany to this crucial idea came early  when I experienced first hand how important my team mates were to me as friends as well as sports comrades.  This has been my philosophy over the years and continues to provide the reference in my pursuit for professional development and marketing excellence in the field of insurance.  Yes, I would rather have an assist than a goal and this is one of the items where Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Business I Learned On The Sports Field!

Don’t get me wrong - I hate to lose.    I go into every game wanting to win and expecting to win.  But somehow along the way I learned a valuable lesson about losing.  I learned how to face what happened, figure out what happened and then execute a revised game plan based on the errors that I made losing the game. 

Losing also teaches you something about yourself.  As one of my favorite Hofstra Professors, Dr. John Tantillo a frequent guest on the Fox News and Business Channel used to say: “Jim you can learn a great deal about someone, not when things are going well, but when things are going wrong.”  Losing helps you to understand what you have done to lose the game and makes you realize that you must be better prepared for the challenge the next time you are in the arena.  Darn it’s hard to lose, but it’s better to win the next game knowing that you have become better along the way! Yes, I learned how to lose  and this is one of the items where Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Business I Learned On The Sports Field!

Sure winning is great.  One of my idols, the legendary Vince Lombardi once stated that  “Winning isn’t everything–but wanting to win is.”  After reading that quote what else can one say.  Plenty if you are a competitor. 

Winning means that you and the team have put together a successful strategy as well as executing the plan that generated results.  Does this sound like a successful plan for the assertive business professional.  You bet it does.  Being prepared as well as executing the plan equals successul both on the field and in business and this is why I believe  Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Business I Learned On The Sports Field!

And one last thought that Coach Lomardi leaves for those who dare to care about outcomes: “If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?”  I guess that says it all!  Thanks Coach.