Mike Trueblood- Yes, It's Still A Team Game

“It’s amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.” 

John Wooden

Mike Trueblood was long-time sports editor for the Galesburg Register-Mail. Mike combined several qualities that made him a good sports writer. He likes sports and he knows sports. When I say he knows sports, I am not talking about the rules, I am saying he understands what HS sports are about. And he really knows how to write. 

Several weeks ago, a coach sent me an article Mike wrote probably 10 years ago. The coach had saved the article, and said he shared it with the coaches in his program. The article describes two great Galesburg girls basketball players, and as usual, Mike captures the essence of HS sports. 

The article caused me to reflect on what I hope our basketball culture involved. So I want to share some of my thoughts, and finish by sharing Mike's article. 

 

During the women's and men's Final Four and then during the NBA Finals, half of the conversations are focused on who is going to win the MVP. The same is true in the World Series, Super Bowl, and All-Star games. It almost seems like the MVP has become more important than the championship. And the TV promotions for most games centers on Star A vs Star B. As a culture we promote individuals over teams. 

Often in HS tourneys, the ballots are collected the day before the finals. My understanding is that in the Olympics, the MVP ballots were due 48 hours before the championship game. So in some cases it is not about trying to get it right. It is about just picking someone, so you can have a big splash after the last game. 

I had mixed emotions about All-Tourney teams. If we won a championship, it took an entire team to win 5 games over 3 days. It was a grueling deal that only a team could accomplish. You win a championship and as a coach the first words to the team are that we won it as a team. You use that moment to reinforce your team culture and values by talking about the million little things individuals did in practice, the locker room, the weight room, and in games. The message is WE did this, all of you earned a piece of this championship. 

Often you can't even go into the locker room to talk. Instead team trophies are presented then they identify and honor the all-tourney teams. So much for WE won the championship. And what’s even worse is the the all-tourney is often just honoring the players who score the most points. The media never seems to include the player who scored only 4ppg but selflessly works their butt off to guard the best player on other teams, and consistently held players to half of their normal point totals. 

For much of my coaching career, we never gave any awards at the end of the year. In later years we gave awards for what I would consider "under-appreciated" and "under-recognized" achievements- most improved, best defensive, academic achievement, and bring it award. The players voted on these award, and as coaches we might choose as many as 3 of the top vote getters to receive an award. Ultimately, these individual awards were designed to include multiple players, and to recognize all the "little things" done that make a team successful.   

We never selected an MVP at the end of the season. We did present the Amy Crisman Award. The award was criteria based for All-Conference players and All-State Players.  I resented when local media would sometimes select an MVP for our team. The media was not in our practices, in our locker room, or our huddles. If there was an MVP, I felt it should have been reserved to us to pick, and we chose not to pick. The MVP award did not fit what I wanted our culture to be. 

The tough part for a HS coach today is that by the time players get to a high school level, they and their parents take it for granted there should always be an MVP. And what’s more, for many parents the MVP award and individual achievements are what they think are the most important part of their son/daughter’s participation. In short, for the HS coach who is trying develop a team culture based on the foundation of team first- some parents and some players may have trouble buying into it. 

Several years ago, the Register-Mail (remember when we had a local paper?) did a promotion where they were getting fans to vote on the all-time best boys and girls basketball players. The poll was looking at Streaks players over a 40-50 years period of time. Contrary to everything I have said earlier, now that the players are gone, I am more comfortable with this. It was an attempt to help people celebrate memories. Like any poll, it is going to be VERY, VERY subjection. 

The poll triggered a reaction from two Streak girls basketball alums. A short article that Mike Trueblood wrote, captured the essence of what I would like Galesburg Girls Basketball’s culture to have been. Here it is:

Yes, It's Still a Team Game 

by Mike Trueblood

The intention of the series of the Greatest in Galesburg Basketball stories and polls on-line and in print by the The Register-Mail was to revise the memories of the Silver Streaks glory days and get fans involved in being part of the process. But unfortunately, not everyone wanted to be involved in our project. 

I received a request from two GHS girls basketball players to have their names removed from the Silver Streaks polls once it was posted and published. One of them wrote via email:

“I would like to say first that I am honored to even be a part of the poll out there for the Silver Streaks. However, I am not very comfortable with this poll as it goes against every single thing that our coaches taught us over the years.”

“I did not do anything to deserve even my name mentioned. I can tell you what we did. We as a team pushed each other to our limits. We as a team took care of each other regardless of any differences on or off the court. We as a team ran play after play so WE could take care of business when it came time for the game. We as a team looked after each other because we were family. We as a team sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears TOGETHER.”

“Again, I am honored to even be considered, but I am asking with respect to be removed from this poll. I feel this is a shot at my teammates who were not mentioned on this poll. We as a team earn everything together.”

To still feel that bond, years after their playing days has ended is certainly impressive. As requested, their names were removed from the fan voting process, but appeared several times among the players mentioned by the panel of experts asked to rank their choices.

- Mike Trueblood

My finishing thoughts-

While it may be tougher today for some parents and some players to buy into a culture of team first, it is obvious these two players certainly bought into our culture of team first. And that is why they and their teams were champions, and that is why they are still champions today!