Well I'm no Marvin Lewis apologist but I think I finally understand those blank "are you Effing kidding me" stares we Bengals fan have become so accustomed to seeing week in and week out... It's his "Game Face"... or weak attempt of keeping one. Even for the best of coaches, it's somewhat difficult to remain poised and stoic when you watch your game-plan unravel as your team begins to crumble on the brink of defeat.... I'm learning that.
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| What does Marvins' "game face" say really? |
I entered 2010 with such a solid game-plan or so I thought.... Simply to find full-time employment, iron out long-term plans for WiMi with their mom, and be the best father I could be. and while I didn't take a commanding lead... I was able to keep the score close.... (I hope you all with bear with the football analogies) While in search of full-time employment... I was able to spend sometime with my boys. give them most of the things they needed and some of the things they wanted, and have one of the best summers ever. As October approached it looked like I finally was building up the momentum to end the year on a winning note... two promising job interviews and things were looking good as far as the holidays were concerned. I guess you could say I had the ball in scoring position.... So November rolls around and I take a big sack with a terrible accident that sent me to the hospital... things could have been a lot worse, I am thankful to recover from that. Most recently I found out that one of the jobs I interviewed for; they decided to go "in another direction" as they put it. This was a particularly tough set-back as I had put a lot of time and energy into this particular interview because of not only what the opportunity it meant for me , but for the boys considering I would have been working at a local exclusive prep school which would have eventually meant practically free tuition for WiMi, plus a great above average education. What's worse is that [they] called only a few days after my accident to let me know.... That has got to be what it's like to not just be sacked...but fumble and have the other team run it back and score a touchdown I thought to myself....
Getting back to Marvin Lewis and his "game face" I think why the Bengals are in such despair now is that the players can read his face.... They've lost confidence.... Heck....I can read his face and I've lost confidence. He doesn't look poised... he doesn't look confident or look as if he has confidence in him players... and when you start to show you lose confidence in your players... they start to lose confidence in themselves and ultimately YOU... That's why as difficult as its been... while I grimace with the physical pain of recovering from my accident...and the emotional let-down of the coveted job... I do my best to maintain a "game face" for my boys... never letting on the my game-plan is unraveling and I don't have the momentum I once did.
I'm learning that as a parent/coach it's important to maintain that winners "attitude" you have to act and think like a winner even when it seems like you're losing. Because when you're a parent , your family is your team and your team will only be as good as it's coach. I don't want my boys to subscribe to the culture of "losing" as we have seen with our "beloved" Bengals.... in life and even on the playing field and I want them to believe that they are winners even when down big.
So as I approach the end of 2010.... I may not have got that job I wanted... or scored the big winning touchdown(if you'll bare one more football analogy) but at least as I approach 2011 , I know what parts of my game-plan I need to tweak or scrap so that I can go in with a different approach and come out a winner next time. In the meantime for myself and for my boys... I'll keep on that "game face" that says "Just win baby"
Thanks for listening,
Who-Dad!
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