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Coaching Greatness: Philosophies on Winning
For my section of the project, I chose to do a philosophical study of Coach Herb Brooks, the man and the coach. I will look at the philosophy of Coach Brooks, focusing on his values and how they contributed to his team’s successes. By outlining the coach’s philosophy, I hope to give everyone a sense of what values were important and why his style of coaching not only benefited his players in athletics but equipped them for success in life.
I am a fairly analytical person. I am interested in why people are the way they are, the things that make them tick, and how and why their actions affect others. Therefore, I thought a philosophical analysis of Herb Brooks would be an appropriate and important piece of our project.
In studying Coach Brooks, his team, and their historic success at Lake Placid, I’ve learned most importantly that optimism and faith triumph over all. Miracles really do happen. You just have to be open to them and believe in them.
There is no substitute for hard work in order to be successful. I’m sure the feeling that swept over the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team after beating the Soviets was one that can never be duplicated or replaced. If Coach Brooks had not pushed them as hard as he did, they would have never gotten to experience it.
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The values of honesty, faith, hard work, commitment, and sacrifice are ones that I will take with me long after this project is over. In order to reach a goal, you must push yourself. Often, the goal will seem unreachable, but being able to stay faithful, committed, and give it your absolute best, makes the goal attainable.
A positive attitude results in positive results. The Miracle on Ice occurred because the American team knew they could win that game. They had the dedication, put in the hard work, and made the sacrifices. They knew, and Herb Brooks knew, that the moment was going to be theirs. In my life after King’s College, I will always remember what it takes to be successful and how a true winner is a person with core values.
This project hasn’t been just a project, it’s been an experience. Reading about Coach Herb Brooks and the team, seeing pictures and hearing stories from some of my classmates who made the trip to Lake Placid, I’ve come to realize that this is much more than a project honoring the 25th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. It’s a project highlighting the years of hard work by everyone in our class, including our teacher. It is fitting that my years at King’s capped off by a project that has an impact on not only my class, but on others as well. The people who know about and are involved in this commemoration are many. They are people I never dreamed I get the opportunity to meet and interview people. It truly has been an experience that I will never forget.
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A Quilt of Miracles: Herb Brooks’s Values on Fabric
As the rain poured down at 6:37 pm on March 11, 2005, I sat staring out the window of my house in Connecticut thinking about the course I was taking at King’s College 200 miles away. Quite honestly, I didn’t have a concept. Picking up the phone I dialed long distance to Pennsylvania looking for an answer which I knew would be hidden within a thought exercise. A man’s voice came on the line and asked me to define specific words: collage, creativity, value. I knew I had to think of how to creatively make a collage of Coach Herb Brooks’s values, but how? Trying my hardest to think as far out of the box as possible, and beginning to get frustrated, I put my left hand on my forehead. Then it hit me, a quilt. That voice came over the line telling me I had it and to take it to a level I didn’t think possible. I love a challenge.
The Project
This quilt is made in honor of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team and their coach, Herb Brooks. It illustrates through words and images many of the values Coach Brooks taught this team of young men, the values he lived by. The quilt is 52 inches long and 46 inches wide. I chose to create a quilt because I feel it is an eye-catching way of highlighting what Coach Brooks did and who he was. I think it is important for future generations to know about Coach Brooks, to learn his value system and try to model their lives after it.
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Lessons Learned
From studying Coach Brooks and the 1980 Hockey Team, I learned that impossibilities don’t exist. I’ve learned to believe in my dreams, work hard and to demand excellence from others, but more importantly, from myself.
Values Learned
I’ve learned the values of passion, courage and leadership. Taking a chance isn’t an option; it’s what pushes you forward in life. Without passion, nothing is worth doing and if you aren’t a leader then you aren’t contributing to much at all. From this I know how to take charge in my life, to find meaning in everything that occurs around me and not to be afraid of decisions I make, but to handle them with class and grace, no matter what.
Impact
This project has pushed me to realize all the ways I need to grow as a person. It made me realize that living an easy life isn’t ideal, but living a fulfilled life with challenges, sacrifice and service is. I’ve been able to strengthen my value system and truly understand what dedication and individuality are. Because of Coach Brooks and the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team, I understand that every decision comes with options and consequences. I now understand that it is up to me to make the wisest choices possible and to accept and learn from my mistakes.
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The Miracle Behind the Miracle
In my project I will create a collage of photos to give testimony to the memory of Herb Brooks and the 1980 Miracle on Ice. I will design logos to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Miracle at Placid.
I am a creative and visual person, so right away these ideas just started rushing through my mind. I knew that I wanted to create posters and logos for the project.
While working on this project, I learned that Coach Herb Brooks was a teacher, he knew what it took to be a winner, and he made it happen in life and in the arena. I learned about teamwork and how the team worked under pressure.
I have learned about trust and loyalty. The team had to have trust in Coach Brooks. The players had to trust him when he said that the drills and practice time would pay off. In the end, trust between coach and player made the difference.
The project has taught me much about the importance of communication between one person and another.
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The Miracle in Bits and Bytes
Twenty students, each with a very different idea as to how they wanted to immortalize Herb Brooks and the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team’s accomplishments...
A number of consultants with their own projects and valuable insight to add to this project…
How do you bring it all together? How can you take such different aspects of a person, a place, and an event and have them make sense?
My project began as the organization of each person and project into a unified web site, with particular emphasis on the navigation structure. This put me in the unique position of needing a broader understanding of the project as a whole, and all the people, places, and events that were involved. It seemed crucial to explore the special events that took place during this project, the role they played in molding the project, and the major impact they had on the lives of the participants.
I chose my original project because of my skills in computers and web design. I wanted to see the projects that everyone has worked so hard on presented in a manner true to form, but also optimized for internet viewing. However as time passed, it seemed only natural to use my broader knowledge of the overall project to help create a collective understanding of the project’s events.
Working on this project has taught me the importance of hard work and teamwork. A person can only be so great alone, but much greater when working with other outstanding individuals. It is through the collaborative efforts of everyone involved in this project that it has attained such stratospheric heights, and I am certain it will continue to soar as time goes on.
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During this project, I have gained a better appreciation for several values that I will try to refine and incorporate into my everyday life:
Honesty – Herb Brooks never held anything back; he had no reason to. It wasn’t done in a way to offend the other person, but rather to help them grow. Sugarcoating and false praise are not productive steps for growth and improvement;
Work Ethic – There is no amount of talent that can substitute for hard work. Brooks and the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team demonstrated throughout their endeavors that hard work is essential for any success, and this project has also taught me that hard work is a critical factor in all accomplishments;
Dedication – Along with hard work, it takes dedication to achieve your dreams. You must eat, sleep, and breathe what you want to accomplish. It is in this total immersion in an idea or event that creates the atmosphere for success.
In conclusion, this project has shown me that any dream, no matter how large or improbable, is very much possible with the right combination of teamwork and dedication. I have learned that it is important to always reach for the stars and never settle for less than your best. Most importantly, I have learned that miracles are not as much miracles as they are time, patience, preparation, desire, and hard work.
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