Super Chargers

This is by no means a sports blog, and I have no intention of changing that, but I think that sports can offer life lessons if you are paying attention.

As you can probably determine by the title of this blog entry I am a fan of a football team called the San Diego Chargers. Last year this team had a great season, won fourteen games and only lost three. They even had the MVP playing for them, LaDainian Tomlinson, who set numerous NFL records during an amazing season. Unfortunately they are not playing as well this year. Currently they have won four and lost four, and yesterday's game was a debacle. What has changed and how can I use this in my life? What are the life lessons?

Well, one thing that has not changed is the players. They are almost exactly the same, just a year older. If they were an old team then you could then have an 'ah ha' moment, and say the team got old. That theory won't hold water too well due to the fact that they are not an old team, by NFL standards they would actually be considered a young team. So we will have to look elsewhere. Coaching.

The Chargers had their top offensive and defensive coaches leave to take jobs elsewhere, they then fired their head coach. Their top three coaches from last year were all allowed, or encouraged, to leave. Why did they fire their head coach you ask? Good question, the head coach and the General Manager (usually the head coach's boss, also the guy who obtains the players through one method or another) did not get along. At all. One of the excuses for the firing was the lack of success in the playoffs. You see, one of the three losses last year was in their first game of the playoffs against New England. It was an ugly game, lots of poor plays by the players, but the Chargers still had a great shot to win it. But they didn't.

Still haven't gotten to any of the life lessons! Get to the point! Hey, you get what you pay for with this blog. If I want to write a dissertation you will just have to suffer through it. Either that or stop reading.

Life Lesson #1: Leadership Counts
Same players, worse performance, leadership seems to matter. As I was coming into work this morning I was thinking that the same thing applies to my boys. My boys are who they are, my job as a parent is to give them their best chance to succeed. Daniel and Sammy are very different from each other, they both have their strengths and weaknesses, but different strengths and weaknesses. Suzy and I have a job that requires we help the boys figure those strengths and weaknesses out, and how to emphasize the strengths, and be able to handle the weaknesses. If we do a good job with that then the boys will have a better chance at growing up to be productive members of society. If we do a bad job, then they will have more hurdles to overcome. Leadership matters. It can help, or it can hold back.

Life Lesson #2: Don't Overreact
The Chargers partly fired their coach because they weren't winning in the playoffs. They had an amazingly successful year, but lost at the end and that was too bitter of a pill for the management to swallow. Now they are paying for it. My boys really are good kids. Ninety plus percent of the time they behave just how I would want them to. One of my flaws as a parent is that I overreact to the less than ten percent of the time when exceptions occur. I need to be better about appreciating and enjoying the ninety plus percent of the time. Things aren't always going to go perfectly, as a parent I should be able to handle the 'blips' and move on. Don't overreact, don't hold a grudge. The Bible says don't let the sun go down on your anger.

Life Lesson #3: Stay Calm
It seems to me that disasters happen not as a result of one thing going wrong, but a series of things going wrong, one leading to the next until you are standing in a Tijuana jail thinking you had one too many shots of tequila. The Chargers lost their playoff game, they then lost their offensive and defensive coordinators, and then they lost their head coach. If they had stayed calm and dealt with the situations is a dispassionate manner they may have had more success in navigating that difficult time. Instead they acted in the heat of the moment, and now are paying the price. One of the areas that I struggle most with as a parent is staying calm. Nipping problems in the bud, so that they don't become full disasters. Staying calm in the moment. Easier said than done.


So, if you are still reading that means a couple of things, you weren't turned off by the sports analogies, you survived my preachy blogging, or you are my wife. Congratulations on any of those three things. I hope that people out there who don't enjoy sports now better understand that sports can offer things beyond the superficial. At least for me they can lead to reflection, and hopefully some improvements in my parenting. Go Chargers!