Still looking for players to reload our team for next year and so when I received an email this morning asking if I had seen the YouTube video of Susan Boyle yet, my first reaction was "What team does she play on?" I was hoping that she was long, tall, andstill unsigned.
When I started to watch the video of "Britain's Got Talent" I saw a middle aged, frumpy woman who looked and acted more like a cartoon character than a legitimate contestant in a talent competition. Evidently many others felt the same way because as Susan Boyle walked out onto the stage and started talking to the judges about her dream of being a professional singer, everyone in the theater reacted with smirks and laughter. Sitting in front of my computer, I laughed out loud too. I was expecting to see a crash and burn type disaster of epic proportion!
But what happened next was simply amazing and I have thought about it all day. If you haven't seen it yet (over 35 million people have watched it so far!) take a couple minutes and watch it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY (Titi Takai watched it in the basketball office today and said it gave her "chicken skin," which is what Hawaiians call "goosebumps.")
I couldn't help but think how similar this is to some really great basketball players. Many times players are overlooked or underestimated because they don't fit the cookie cutter image that big time athletes are "supposed" to project. They are thought of as too short, too thick, too gangly, or too thin and are initially dismissed because they don't "look" like players. Some of the best players I have ever coached have fit into this category. They might not have necessarily looked the part but when it was time to step up and perform, they were extraordinary!
We are now in the midst of recruiting season and the reminder to look beyond the obvious when judging talent could not have come at a better time! Thank you Susan Boyle - for both the song and the life lesson!!
No comments:
Post a Comment