Sports Illustrated’s Behind the Mic is cool. There’s a lot of good tidbits and insights from people who have been around their sport for a very long time. I like what Cal Ripken, Jr. has to say here because he sums up a lesson that I came to learn after a season of coaching UVA: team meetings are usually boring and monotonous for players. For a coach or captain, it’s really easy to feel like if you could just get everyone to sit still and listen to what you have to say, the team will emerge on the same page and do a better job with whatever you wanted to address. In general, it’s best to save your speech capital for times when it’s really needed and talk to individuals if you have a point that might be of benefit to them.
Now is the most important part of the season for just about every team out there. Hopefully there aren’t too many leaders whose teams have started to roll their eyes and tune them out every time they start talking.
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