Friday, September 30, 2011

A Coaching Lesson From The Tampa Bay Rays!

On September 2nd we were 9 games behind The Red Sox – NINE games in September!!!!  I remember because we got our packet from the Rays asking us to BUY playoff tickets.  I remember because… we bought them.

Zoom forward to Wednesday night. The last game of the season. (BTW, there are 162 games in the season – it’s a long season)
We are now tied with the Red Sox to get into the playoffs. We must win and they must lose.
It is now the bottom of the 8th inning (my son Kyle and wife Rhonda and I are at the game) and we are BEHIND 7 to 0!!!!!  It is the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs at the Red Sox game and they are AHEAD 3 to 2.  NOT GOOD!

In the bottom of the 8th we scored 6 runs – it is now 7-6.
In the bottom of the 9th with one pitch left in our season – we have a pinch hitter at the plate – Dan Johnson – he only played in the first week or our season that I can remember and was replaced because he played so bad. He has one home run for the season – now he appears as our last hope for the season. What did he do? He hit a home run to tie the game in the 9th inning.   After midnight – in the 12th inning Evan Longoria hit another home run to WIN the game!!!
Over in Baltimore – The Red Sox – in the bottom of the 9th – Red Sox ahead 3-2 against the Orioles (the last place team who was out of contention – this game meant nothing to them) The Orioles were up to bat for the last time – they had 2 outs against them – the batter had 2 strikes against him – this is it – one more pitch and Red Sox win. The Oriole hit a fly ball to left field – The Red Sox outfielder couldn’t catch it – he misses the ball and the Orioles score 2 runs in the inning.  Orioles WIN!  Red Sox LOSE – and the Rays are IN the Playoffs!!!!!!!  The outfielders name? Carl Crawford – The Rays star outfielder for years before being traded this year to the Red Sox.

Today – The Rays are in the Playoffs against the Texas Rangers!!!!!
We have our tickets!
AMAZING – INSPIRING – UNSTOPPABLE!

Why am I telling you this story?
How do YOU react in YOUR game with the 5 Year Plan?  How do you react when they get behind in your 5 year plan?  Do you quit? Give up? Or play out the season until the last pitch? Do you play your hearts out to win the 5 year plan? How long?  5 weeks – 5 months or 5 years – to the last day of the 12th month in the last year.
We could learn something from the Rays – they truly never quit – played their hearts out – and oh, yeah – they WON!!!!!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

With Integrity,

Keith Maule
integritymanagement.com
savechiropractic.com