Mattoon- More Pictures

Three All-Tourney players.

Casey driving for big late basket vs. Salem.

First Year Coach

John Hanlon was captain of my first cross
country team in 1974. He was a ref at the
Mattoon Tourney this winter. 

My first coaching job at GHS was coaching boys cross country in the fall of 1974.

My understanding they had asked the last coach to leave over some conflicts. I was told one of three reasons was that he had chosen to purchase blue and gold sweats for the team, and blue and gold uniforms for the team. He was told if he wanted blue stuff to go coach at Quincy, Galesburg school colors were silver and gold with black.

You have to realize this was a different era, an era of great school pride, and of great dislike of Quincy. This was a time when we had pep rallies in the gym where the entire student body of 2200 kids jumped to their feet and started clapping when the band played Hi Yo Silver.

I was introduced to the returning runners one evening in late summer by the AD. It was nice of him to come and do this, but his intro was not what I had hoped for. He told the boys, "He has never run cross country, he doesn't know about it but he will work to learn." It was accurate but I wish it was not how I was introduced.

Mattoon Pictures

We had a good weekend on and off the court at Mattoon. It resulted in a championship after going 5-0. The following are some pictures- some from Mr. Henning and from Kathy Boydstun.

Haley, Shayli, & Sabrina receiving all-tourney awards- and Sabrina
with MVP award!

Bill Allen's Christmas Eve Letter

Christmas Card sent by William Allen
to his little brother Ben. 

The following is a letter written by Bill Allen to his Aunt Mabel on Christmas Eve, 1944. This would be Bill Allen's last Christmas, and it was to be spent in Germany away from his family. Bill Allen was my wife's uncle.     

                                                                                Germany           

                                                                                    Christmas Eve, 1944

Dear Mabel,

   I should be writing home tonight, but my mood is not conducive to uplifting homefront morale.  Maybe you’ll understand; so I’ll spend the evening answering the several letters which I’ve received from you lately.

  I’m thinking of all the Christmases of the past and what the day has always meant to our family.  Partly because I’m sentimental and it’s such a hard time of the year to be so far away from all those I love and the prospects of ever returning seem so remote and partly because I needed the emotional release after living under so much tension of late; I took advantage of the opportunity a while ago and sneaked off by myself and shed a great many tears.  I’m good for another year now and do realize that I’ve been one of God’s favored.  To be alive and whole is all one can ask for these days, and that is my blessing.

Championship Culture

The following is good article on the 6 Traits of a championship culture.

http://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/janssen-blog/6-key-components-of-a-championship-culture/

Championship Practices

I believe how you practice will determine how you play. Teams who are inconsistent usually are teams who practice in an inconsistent fashion- work hard one practice but not another, or work hard one drill but coast the next.

I believe how you play in the first three minutes of a game reflects how you practice.

When good teams go to practice, you focus on basketball. Coaches don't have to focus on motivation, players are motivated. Coaches and teammates don't have to try to figure out moods, players are focused. I have been fortunate to have many good "practice teams", who won many games as a result. One of our absolute best was our 1995 team- as coaches we focused on basketball, the players took care of effort and motivation and chemistry.

Success & Failure

From Fitness Girls

Toughness by Jay Bilas (The Book)

Several years ago Jay Bilas wrote an article on toughness which went viral in the basketball world. High school and college coaches all reprinted the article and shared it with their players. (I have it reprinted on this blog.) Bilas said the motivation for writing the article was a reaction to how a commentator used the word "tough" to describe a physical and perhaps a dirty player. The basic premise of the article was "toughness" is more about an attitude and a self-discipline vs. a physical characteristic.

In his book on the same topic, Bilas looks at the characteristics of tough people. He seeks out people in sports and business who are tough in their approach to sport and life.

Toughness Can Be Learned
"Toughness isn't physical. It has nothing to do with size, physical strength, or athleticism. It's an intangible, an attitude, a philosophy. Some people may be born with the aptitude to be tougher than others, but I believe that true toughness is a skill that can be developed and improved in everyone."

One Word by Jon Gordon

Even Willow knows the concept of One Word.

One of the best courses I ever took was Behavior Modification at the U. of Wisconsin-Madison. It was one of the most practical courses I have had. As anyone who is familiar with operant conditioning can attest- a lot of behavior modification is pretty common sense. The course provided me as a young teacher with ideas to make my classroom, my teams, and myself better.

One of the topics was on self-modification. The professor claimed self-modification is much harder to accomplish than the modification of other people. He went on to claim the problem for most of us when it comes to self-modification is we start out wanting too much change in ourselves. We know the target we want to reach and we try to get there today. So we have not been reading but we want to get to where we are reading 100 pages a day- we start with a plan of reading 50 pages. We want to lose 30 pounds so we set out to lose 5 pounds per week. Usually with the plans we start out great but we cannot maintain. This is the problem with the classic New Year's resolutions. The lesson was keep it simple and be patient.

American Cemetery in Margraten Holland

Rubbing sand from Omaha Beach on William
Allen's stone. 

In World War II American military leaders made a promise that no American soldier would be buried on enemy soil. Most American soldiers were buried in cemeteries near the battle field where they were killed- many in France. As the War ended, American soldiers had invaded Germany and were fighting on German soil, in some cases approaching Berlin. The soldiers who died in Germany were all removed and taken back to Margraten Holland.

Each family of the fallen soldiers was given the choice to have the soldier buried in Margraten or to be returned to the United States to be buried in a private or national cemetery. Once the decision was made by the family, the decision was considered final and could not be changed.

At one time there were over 17,000 soldiers taken to Margraten. Today the cemetery holds only American soldiers, and it has over 8,000 fall US soldiers from WW2 buried there.

William Allen's grave.

My wife's uncle, William Allen was killed at the end of WW2 and is buried in Margraten. We had an opportunity this summer to visit the cemetery. The assistant supt. of the grounds took us to visit William Allen's grave and to also visit Bob Arnold's grave. Bob was Bill's brother in law. We were escorted by Frans and Pauline Roukins. Pauline's family has cared for Bill and Bob's graves for over 60 years.

We had the opportunity to place flowers on the grave. The Supt. then explained a special practice they do with families of the soldiers. The stones of white marble with engraving are very difficult to photograph. To help them be more photographed, they provide sand for the family members to rub over the name so it can be seen. The sand is shipped in from Normandy beach. The significance of the the sand is that the soldiers who are buried in Margraten all started their invasion of Europe at Normandy beaches in France.

Over 8,000 fallen US soldiers are
buried in Margraten.

Our visit was a very emotional experience. It certainly makes one appreciate the sacrifice made by these soldiers.

Massey Roots

This is a picture of Gun Inn as you get off the
bus in Hollingworth. 

One of the courses I have taught at Galesburg HS is Diversity Studies. We look at different groups in America and their history- Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans. One of the focuses of the course is to look at the immigration process and the lives of immigrants. Even as we studied immigration, I never looked at that process and how my family had been impacted by immigration.

When I went to grade school in a different era, one of our lessons had to do with our ancestors country of origin. The teacher would have you find the origin of your ancestors. Then we would do work with fractions, you were 1/4 Irish, 1/2 English, and 1/4 Welch. As we did the work, my ancestors might as well have come to America in 1612 for all I cared- it was a long time ago.

Player Impact Estimate

Story on stat used to evaluate NBA and WNBA players....

PIE In the Sky

Anthony Oliva, WNBA.com

Tamika Catchings is the reigning WNBA MVP. She's a versatile forward that can score, rebound and distribute the basketball. LeBron James, the 2012 NBA MVP, can claim the very same.

And in the past, the comparisons between these two superstars would have stopped there.

For the 15-plus years that the WNBA has been in existence, drawing parallels between WNBA and NBA players ended up as an exercise in subjectivity. The styles were different. The rules were different. Maybe above all, thegame clocks were different (the NBA plays for 48 minutes and the W goes for 40). So, when you wanted to measure an NBA player against one in the WNBA (or vice-versa), you had to use some imagination. Until now.

NBA.com/stats has developed a new rating called the Player Impact Estimate, or PIE, that calculates a player’s impact on each individual game they play. Because the formula accounts for a player’s influence relative to each specific game, it eliminates statistical biases created by league, style of play or even era.

And now, thanks to PIE, we can make a definitive link between Catchings and James.

2003 State Finals

2003 State Finals-
Press conference
with 6 year old Allen.

Tony Bennett's Core Values

Coach Tony Bennett at the University of Virginia doesn’t believe in having a lot of team rules.

Instead his teams are taught 5 core values that must be constantly demonstrated both on and off the court.

These same values were used by Coach Bennett’s father, Coach Dick Bennett at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay for over 20 years.

1. Humility

Knowing who you are – not thinking too highly of yourself but not thinking too little of yourself either.

Purdue Pictures

Team Building- untie the knot.

Team Building- helping each other stand up.

Salem Trip

This is a picture taken after the last game vs. Salem at the Salem Tourney. This was the group who played in the varsity division.

Matt Wheaton- Galesburg Summer League

The following is Matt Wheaton's article on Galesburg Summer League. It is the second longest running summer basketball league in Illinois (behind Maine West). It is the largest downstate league in Illinois.

It’s not really hard for Galesburg High School girls basketball coach Evan Massey to figure out how long he’s been organizing the Galesburg Summer League. 



“This is the 27th year we’ve done it,” said Massey, who is entering his 36th season at the helm of the Silver Streaks. “The only reason I know is you put it at the top of the sheet and the next year you change it.”

Massey started the league for a simple reason.

Trip to Salem

Salem gym was a neat old gym with balconies around it.
Veteran Streaks fan, Steve Bryant said it reminded him
of old Steele Gym in downtown Galesburg.

This past weekend we went to Salem to play basketball. It was one of the best run tourneys/camps we have been to. Very good facilities, on time, good competition, and well officiated- it was very worthwhile.

It is always nice to go some place where you play people you don't see. I think this enables players to be more focused on their game and their team vs. being worried about other teams. The competition level in southern Illinois is outstanding.

Jason Shay Works w/ Teams

Jason Shay was back in Galesburg for "vacation." He spent about 10 hours in Thiel Gym working with the Streaks varsity boys and girls basketball teams.

William Allen- Teacher & Soldier

The following is a sermon which was given at First Presbyterian Church in Galesburg on Memorial Day 2013 in honor of William Allen who gave his life for his country in WW2.

Time To Remember

I did not attend theology school but I will have you know, I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express. Some probably expect me to give a sermon connected to sports. I did think about a sermon entitled “Jump Shots and Jesus”, but my wife vetoed that. I even thought about one entitled “Wisconsin and Heaven- The Same Area Code”, but Carl Strauch warned I might be excommunicated.

I really appreciate the opportunity to speak this morning. I am going to share a story involving the death of a soldier in war. This week we saw a tremendous tragedy take place in Oklahoma. The story of my soldier and of the Oklahoma tornado, beg the question, ”Why?”  In the book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” Harold Kushner states, “It is not because God intended it or planned it. Bad things happen to good and bad people because we live on earth, and earth is not a perfect place.”

Mark Retiring

Brother Mark is retiring after 39 years of teaching in the Clinton, Ia schools. Mark is a 1967 grad of the prestigious Savanna High School. (It was really the Illinois Math & Science Academy first). He went on to be a political science major at Knox College. Upon graduating, he took a variety of jobs before deciding to get a teaching certificate. He chose to go to the University of Arizona at Tucson for his degree as at that time they did not have out of state tuition.

He applied in Arizona as well as in the Savanna area. He was hired to teach at Lyons Jr High in Clinton. Ironically it is where our mother got her first teaching job. After a few years, he transferred to Clinton HS, where he has been since.

Sunday, May 26

This is a picture of Bill Allen with his
12 year old brother outside the family
farm in Alta, IL before Bill left for Europe.
This would have been the last time Ben
saw his brother. 

Sunday, May 26, I have the privilege of delivering the sermon at 1st Presby at both the 9:00am and 11:00am services. With this being Memorial Day weekend, the theme of my message is going to be talking about Bill Allen. He was a Knox grad, who taught at Galesburg High School. He chose in 1943 to enlist in the Army to fight in WW2. His division fought in every major battle in northern Europe.

He was a prolific writer and wrote letters to his parents, his family, and to friends back in Galesburg. The Allen family kept all of the letters and shortly after the war, they published the letters in a book.

The letters describe life from boot camp in Georgia, staging in England, liberating France, and fighting to within miles of Berlin. Bill Allen was killed in April of 1945, just 19 days before V-E Day. His story is a story of courage, commitment and sacrifice. His letters give a first hand account of life as a soldier.

I would like to invite you to attend either service on May 26 as I share this story.

Peyton Manning's Lesson for Basketball

This is article compares the simplicity of the "Manning passing game" with the simplicity of the ball screen offense. The comparison could be made to a lot of styles in sports. The philosophy is the Bob Knight philosophy- do a few things really well vs. the Dean Smith philosophy try to do a lot to be able to surprise the opponent. This could be true also of the philosophy of Syracuse- we are only going to play 2-3 zone, but we are going to play it really well.

By Beckly Mason

Peyton Manning is often described as a wizard, and genius, and all that may be true. But as Grantland’s Chris Brown writes, he didn’t earn that reputation by mastering complex plays.

His story on Manning and the Bronco offense that No. 18 imported from his time with the Colts got me thinking about, what else, basketball, and specifically about the effecitiveness of the spread pick-and-roll offense.

Butler Use of Stats

Article from SI.com on Butler's use of the area of statistical analytics.....  by Pete Thamel.   VERY GOOD STUFF!!!!

The formal basketball career of Drew Cannon ended in eighth grade as the sixth man of his junior high team. In college at Duke, Cannon's only hoops experience came from an intramural team called the Norse Forse.
When Cannon graduated with a degree in statistics last spring, he had modest expectations of finding a job right away. "We were hoping he would not be living in the basement," said Jim Cannon, his father. "That was our goal. And his."
Instead of toiling in the basement, Cannon spent the season on the Butler bench and will be with the team when the Bulldogs play Bucknell in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. Cannon's experience interning with recruiting analyst Dave Telep and his advanced writing about basketball analytics gained the attention of Butler coach Brad Stevens, who offered him a job as a graduate manager this summer.

Jay Bilas- Book on Toughness

Jay Bilas has come out with a book on toughness. The following are exerpts....

Successful players and teams don't just assess themselves by records or statistics, but by a standard of excellence that goes beyond a final score.

Self-evaluation takes honesty, and the toughest teams and players do not con themselves. When I was playing for Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, he was often harder on us after a win than after a loss. He would identify areas of concern for our team and for individuals as "slippage" from our standards, and he was quick to point out that a lesser performance might have beaten our latest opponent, but it would not beat the best teams coming up in the future.

'Toughness: Developing True Strength On and Off the Court'

What does it take to succeed? Jay Bilas' new book looks at the true meaning of toughness. It isn't about bravado. It is about meeting challenges head-on and not shrinking from them.

Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

We weren't just playing against an opponent; we were playing to a standard. And it was a standard of excellence.

Coach K expected us to give championship effort in every minute of every game, and in every drill in every practice. Even if we were ahead by thirty points and just mopping up, there was no such thing as "garbage time" for Coach K. Every minute of playing time was earned, and it was to be valued. And if we were down, Coach K expected his players to fight to the last possession and play through the buzzer to the highest standard.

IBCA All-State

Jessica Lieber was selected to the 3rd team for the IBCA All-State team.

Some of the players we played against or from the area....

First Team
Sarah Livingston- Morton
Jaqui Grant- Maine South

Second Team
Olivia Elger- Richwoods
Ashton Williams- Springfield

Daniels Advances

Freshmen Lexi Daniels advanced in the 3 point shooting contest at Dunlap. Lexi sent home 8 three pointers to tie for first place in the Regional.

Haley Kelso, Jess Lieber, and Allison Mangieri each knocked down 5 threes to just miss advancing.

Lexi will next shoot at the Washington Sectional on next Thursday at 6:00pm. If she advances, she will be going to Redbird for the state finals!!

Right Voices

My mother was wonderful. I know I am biased, but my mother was wonderful. The thing my mother was so good at was to make me feel good about myself. Yes, she sometimes was critical of my choices but she never seemed to be critical of me. She had the ability to separate my behavior/choices from me as a person. Quite simply she was supportive, loving, and full of praise.

I remember when I got a D in French. It was the last term of my junior year. I figured summer vacation was not going to be good. While she was supportive of me, she was not supportive of not working and doing well in schoool. This was my only D in school. 

She was not home when I got home, so I just left the report card on the kitchen table before going out with my buddies. That evening the only thing my mother said was, "Evidently foreign languages aren't your thing." I was shocked, but I think she recognized that I knew I had screwed up.

Jessica Howard Recognized at Knox

Jessica Howard received recognition this past week for her performances. A nice article here....

http://prairiefire.knox.edu/news/2013/1/30/GEN_0130134009.aspx?path=general

Senior Week- Sabrina's Look

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked the underclassmen to talk about the seniors…

This is from Sabrina.

Who is a senior you really did not know going into the season but have really got to know them this season?

Going into the season I really didn't know Dani Teel but now I have really gotten to know her this season. 

Senior Week- Chloe Anderson

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Chloe Anderson.

When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

            My mom always used to play basketball with me and coach my YMCA basketball teams. She really inspired me because she used to play and it was something we could have fun doing together. All my brothers and I used to play pig and around the world in the driveway so I wanted to play to be with my brothers too. Lastly, watching my two older cousins, Claire and Lia, play Girls' Varsity Basketball for the Streaks really inspired me to further pursue playing basketball.

Senior Week- Dani Teel

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Dani Teel.

 When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

When I was younger, I always watched Illinois basketball (obviously) and for some reason I just loved Corey Bradfort.

Senior Week- Lexi's Look

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked the underclassmen to talk about the seniors…

This is from Lexi.

Who is a senior you really did not know going into the season but have really got to know them this season?

I didn't really know Sharron.

Senior Week- Allison Mangieri

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Allison Mangieri.

When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

When I was younger, I looked up to Libby White. For some reason, I was obsessed with her haha.  She gave me her number at one of the camps and told me to call her if I wanted to go shoot around at the YMCA with her.  I was always too scared to call her because I didn't want to embarrass myself!

Senior Week- Jessica Lieber

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Jessica Lieber.

When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

A basketball player I always looked up to was Deron Williams! I learned a lot of things from watching him on tv and mostly in person! The way he handled the ball and was a leader to his team really inspired me!

Kansas Weekend

Not often have a break in the middle of basketball season. But after two weekends in a row with 2 games on Saturdays, our schedule gave the girls and the coaches the weekend to freshen up for the stretch run. When I saw this coming over a month ago, I made some calls. Everything worked out and we were headed to KU.

So Friday evening, my brother Mark, Allen, and myself headed to Lawrence Kansas. We picked up nephew Evan in Osceola, Iowa. From there we headed down to KU. The total trip took us about 6 1/2 hours. We arrived in Lawrence at 1:45am. After a short rest, we were up and headed to the University Bookstore on campus. I cannot say how much we spent for fear my wife will find out. Let's just say we were good customers.

You Make the Call

Several weeks ago, we had a game where the following happened....

1- The ball went out of bounds off of a Moline player. The ref signalled it was Galesburg's ball.

2- Galesburg was subbing five players so there was confusion or at least a pause in the action.

Big Brother Retiring

My brother Mark who has taught and coached in Clinton for 39 years turned in his letter to retire. Our family is certainly proud of him. He has been a good big brother. He has done a good job giving me confidence when I needed it and criticism when called for.

He supported me when I was an athlete, and we have counseled each other during our teaching and coaching careers. There has been a lot of time spent on the phone.

I would like to say I have enjoyed watching his successful volleyball teams play- but the sport makes me too nervous. Good things and bad things seem like they happen too quickly in volleyball. And I don't like watching and wanting the River Queens to win but not having any control. It is a stroke waiting to happen.

Congrats on a good teaching career!! We are all proud of you!

The following is from Mark's facebook page....

Mark Massey

Yesterday via mobile

This statement has been released in conjunction with my acceptance of district's early retirement pckg. "I have tremendously enjoyed my 39yrs teaching & coaching in the Clinton School District & I hope to be able to continue to serve the community and the school district in a variety of capacities. As AJ Hanafan might have said, “I'll always be a wildcat and a River King.” 

Both of my children are CHS grads. I've worked with many wonderful families, assistant coaches & administrators. The students/athletes I've had a chance to work with have been & are fantastic. I’ve always been appreciative of the confidence that Bill Holmstrom showed in me, way back in June, 1978. I think that we've built a solid program that the community & school can be proud of since then. “Do I plan on coaching in the future?” …. “I think I still may have quite a bit of coaching in me.”

Thiel Gym- Lots of Memories

Even Willow likes Thiel Gym.

Thiel Gym has provided a lot of memories for many people in Galesburg. Galesburg over Richwoods in boys bb in 1976. Galesburg over PND in girls bb for the Sectional title in 1995. The list of great games could go on. If you asked a sports fan in Galesburg, they could all name different games with exciting memories.

I have been to many games in Thiel Gym. I am not sure but I am guessing I have spent more time watching practices and games in Thiel Gym than anyone. And I am not sure that is really something the average person would be impressed with. The reality is that Thiel Gym has given me a lot of memories besides just the games and practices.

Massey Coaching College

Brother Mark when he coached Mt.St. Clair in the 1970's. In this picture 
complete with leisure suit. He definitely took a relaxed approach to things. 
I remember the games I attended, he always had a bag of popcorn on the 
bench. They travelled to away games by vans and cars. And yes, being a '60's 
guy, Mark had a volkswagen van to take the majority of the team on the road. 

Which do you like best?

Bench celebration- Sectional 2011

Crowd reacts to 3- Sectional 2011

Buzzer beater- Dunlap 2011

Celebrate Regional title- Regional 2012

Which of the following do you think is the best photo?