Dodgers' Juan Pierre playing, and acting, like a pro

Good story in the LA Times on Dodger outfielder Juan Pierre and his struggle to get consistent playing time despite hitting well over .300 this year. Because of a crowded outfield, Pierre is the odd man out. However, that has not diminished his work ethic and attitude.

"It has been a real pleasure to be around him," said mananger Joe Torre.

The same thing happened to Pierre last year so Pierre is used to playing sporadically by now.

"No excuses this year, none of that 'Oh, but I don't play enough' stuff," he said. "If I'm in there, it's my responsibility to make that happen, and I take that very seriously."

To replicate the daily swings he is missing, Pierre is one of the first guys to show up at the clubhouse every day, living out his 7 p.m. dreams in the early afternoon.To replicate the pounding his body would take in the outfield, he is one of the last guys to leave the clubhouse after games, as he rides the stationary bike until he feels like he has played nine innings.

"Like I said, no excuses," he said.

Not even while pinch-hitting, a job career regulars often find difficult and distasteful. Even here, Pierre has turned potential humiliation into triumph, hitting .353 in 34 at-bats."He knows he's not going to play, but he continues to do the stuff he does," Torre said. "He's a great example for everyone in there."

Cards' Fitzgerald left hungry, aims to add killer instinct in '09

From the USA Today:

Arizona Cardinals all-pro wideout Larry Fitzgerald is always brainstorming new ways to chase greatness.

He outdid himself this offseason.

It wasn't enough for Fitzgerald, 25, to eclipse San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice with his playoffs-record 30 receptions for 546 yards and seven touchdowns in the Cardinals' 2008 Super Bowl run. He decided this offseason to train with and learn from the former receiver, whom he considers the greatest ever.

So Fitzgerald convened a passing camp this summer at the University of Minnesota, inviting other young talented wideouts such as Green Bay Packers star Greg Jennings, the Denver Broncos' Brandon Marshall, the Minnesota Vikings' Sidney Rice and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Michael Clayton. Fitzgerald also invited his longtime mentor, Cris Carter.

Then he reached out to Rice, who agreed to join the camp for a week.

The only thing more impressive than Fitzgerald's remarkable postseason ascent was his ambitious offseason agenda. There's little concern about a post-Super Bowl letdown for the sixth-year wideout, who reinvented himself as a respected league-wide leader.

"My goal is to be a better player in every way possible and never let complacency set in," Fitzgerald says. "Don't ever lose sight of being the best, most dominant player. After every year, I evaluate the weaknesses in my game — the mental and physical. I called Cris Carter, who has been like an uncle to me.

"But I wanted the same type relationship with Jerry Rice, one of the greatest players to ever play the game and the greatest receiver ever to play. I wanted to see what made him tick."
And Rice showed Fitzgerald.

"Jerry Rice is 46 years old. Yet he did every single thing we did on that field. He worked like he was in training camp," Fitzgerald says.

"His dedication is off the charts. I was thinking, if I had the mental toughness Jerry Rice has at 46 at 25, where (would I) be in this game?"

Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen joined Fitzgerald on a March USO tour to Iraq and Afghanistan. Allen and Fitzgerald struck up a friendship and traveled to six more countries, an odyssey that included shark diving off the coast of South Africa and a safari.

"Larry's an absolute beast, and he's such a nice guy," Allen says. "He has a ton of respect around the league.

"There's certain players who are driven not by money or fame, but who want Super Bowls. We want to be remembered as some of the best players to play this sport in honor of the people who played before us.

"Larry's one of those guys."

Jennings, who led Green Bay with 80 catches for 1,292 yards and nine touchdowns in 2008, says: "Working at Larry's camp for two weeks really opened my eyes to how to work. As good as he is, there's so much humility in Larry."

Billy Donovan's Attitude Plan

BILLY DONOVAN'S ATTITUDE PLAN

Always making today my best day

Taking pride in a job well done

Treating others with respect

Isolating my negative thoughts

Treating tasks as opportunities

Utilizing my talents every day

Doing the job right the first time

Expecting positive outcomes daily

Speaking well of others every day

A positive attitude through adversity

Green Bay Packers center Scott Wells has lost his starting job and is now the backup despite working hard during the offseason. Although Wells is not happy with the coaches decision, he maintains the way he goes about his business will not waver:

"If you ask anybody in this locker room, they want to play," Wells said. "No one is happy when they are not playing. But all you can do is continue to put your best foot forward and prepare for the role they have you in and move on from there."

"Don't count me out," Wells said. "It's a little blow, but it's not the end. So you have to stay the course and try to maintain a positive attitude and see how everything shakes out in the long run."

Championship Communication

Good stuff from Coach Eastman's website:

We all want our teams to talk on defense, but do we really get them to understand how important it is and what it does for us and to the opponent? Defensive communication is so important because it:

• Intimidates: especially when the opponent knows that you know everything they're running -- because your players are calling out the plays and coverages as soon as they hear the call!

• Gives your defense a head start: alerting a teammate of the action before it happens is critical to successful defense.

• Gives the man on the ball more confidence: if he knows he has help and protection behind him, he'll be much more confident and aggressive.

• Wakes up a disengaged defender: talking to a player who's not paying attention on defense can alert him to get back and re-engaged.

• Catches a mistake before it happens: so many times we have alerted a player to an offensive action before it caught him and that kept us from dealing with a mistake

• Energizes your teammates: talking teams always seem to play with more energy – it’s a fact of basketball!

Playing time based on defense

Last year, San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher made it a point for his staff to link defensive effort to playing time.

"The nice thing about our team is that if a person doesn't compete hard, we've got somebody else that we can put in. I don't want anybody playing out of fear or afraid to make a mistake, but I want them on edge to the point if where they don't play hard, there's going to be a reason they'll be playing fewer minutes."

Tex Winter's seven principles of a sound offense

1. The offense must penetrate the defense.

2. The offense must involve a full-court game.

3. The offense must provide proper spacing.

4. The offense must ensure player and ball movement with a purpose.

5. The offense must provide strong rebounding position and good defense balance on all shots.

6. The offense must give the player with the ball an opportunity to pass the ball to any of his teammates.

7. The offense must utilize the players' individual skills

Notes from Jerry West

Two things matter: Humility and Giving/ Hard Work and Dedication

Three things he looks for in a player: Character, Competitiveness, Toughness

Need one special skill- shooting, rebounding, defender, best players can play multiple positions= Invaluable

One player in any program can make a significant difference but people around him are what makes great teams.

What can I do to play more?

1. Bust it in practice

2. No mental mistakes

3. Communicate with Coach after practice

Going all out

A reporter once asked 3 time batting champion and Hall of Famer George Brett what he wanted to do in his last at-bat before retiring, he gave the following response:

"I want to hit a routine grounder to second and run all out to first base, then get thrown out by a half step. I want to leave an example to the young guys that that's how you play the game: all out.

2008.12.25 Kevin Garnett's Beach Journey

Preparation, Passion, Pride

All about the team

"I never focused the light on just me. That's just who I am. To this day I'm all about my teammates. This is a team game. If I was a tennis player, it'd be a totally different story. But I've always liked team success over individual accolades."

'This camp ain't for everybody:' Sparano, Dolphins turn up heat

DAVIE, Fla. — There's a survival-of-the-fittest mentality at work at Camp Sparano, where the Miami Dolphins train hard and fast amid conditions that resemble a sauna.

A week into camp, four players had already left on their own terms. One didn't bother to show up, three others bolted after tasting coach Tony Sparano's practice regimen.

Joey Porter sees a bright side to such developments.

"If you're going to find out, you want to find out now," the linebacker says. "I've never been to a camp where so many people quit. But this camp ain't for everybody. Camp is the hardest part of football. The two-a-days and the way we work around here, with the heat and what we do, it can get to people."

Porter is one of the team's most experienced players, heading into his 11th NFL season. In some camps, as was the case when he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, tenure might earn an occasional practice off. Not here. Not now.

"It's a little different," Porter says. "The philosophy here is that everybody works."
Sparano, starting his second season at the helm after ushering a turnaround that matched the greatest improvement in NFL history — Miami went from an NFL-worst 1-15 in 2007 to 11-5 and an AFC East crown last season — is building a foundation on grunt work.

During the offseason, the Dolphins had 46 weight-room workout sessions. Of 65 players on the offseason roster, 54 never missed a workout session. No player, Sparano says, attended fewer than 94% of the weight-room workouts. Add 100% attendance at each minicamp and OTA session, and the coach is bullish on prospects that his team won't become complacent after the surprising success of last season.

"You can't pick up where you left off," Sparano says. "You've got to go back to the beginning. When you see the kind of participation we had in the offseason, you know they're buying into what it is you're asking them to do."

The Dolphins might have the longest odds against repeating of any division champion, playing in what could be the league's toughest division. The New England Patriots, with Tom Brady back, are looking to reclaim the AFC East throne.

But not without a fight. Sparano says that as tough as it was to climb from the NFL basement into a playoff team last season, taking the next step to be a consistent, legitimate contender might be a harder task.

"That's the biggest challenge for our whole team, to truly understand that what we did last year means nothing right now," says quarterback Chad Pennington, who was released in camp last summer by the New York Jets and wound up earning NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors.

"This is going to require more work, more consistency."

Sparano and GM Jeff Ireland, working under the watchful eye of VP of Football Operations/resident guru Bill Parcells, don't figure to sit pat in their own right, either. The Dolphins led the NFL last season with 52 transactions, shuffling players in and out in attempts to strengthen the bottom of the roster.

Ireland doesn't expect as many moves this season, which indicates progress.

But that is not to be confused with a comfort zone. Just listen to Sparano.

"There are no guarantees around here," Sparano says. "Hey, I tell our vets, 'This is a show-me game. At some point out here and in these preseason games, I still gotta know that you can do it.'

Talent is not enough

"I think we have a shot with talent. Talent doesn’t mean anything. Talent never won any games. Hard work (does)."

-Tim Tebow

Being Honest

Excerpt from an espn.com article on new 49ers head coach Mike Singletary:

"One of the things that I really appreciate about Singletary and something that makes me really buy into what he is doing is, not only does he bring that competitive nature and that enthusiastic nature, he is also a very honest coach," left tackle Joe Staley said.

Singletary patrolled the field prior to the first camp practice, screaming and criticizing players, challenging them to do better. By Monday, when the team met expectations in the morning practice, Singletary was far less demonstrative, letting players know they'd done a good job.

"He will give you honest criticism and honest encouragement," Staley said. "I respect that as a player just knowing that I don't have a coach that is going to be blowing smoke up my butt, telling me something that I want to hear or criticizing me just to hear his own voice.

"He'll tell you exactly what he is thinking about you and I think everyone really responds to that. There is substance behind it. You can see a real passion for what he does. It gets everybody really excited and they want to play that much harder for him."

Total culture change the fix for Chiefs

Article in the USA Today on how the Kansas City Chiefs are trying to rebuild their football team through new GM Scott Pioli and new head coach Todd Haley. After going 2-14 last season, both men believe the entire culture needs to be changed.

"The thing Todd and I share is we have a genuine passion and a respect for the game," Pioli says. "We're going to find people who care. Those that don't care about playing and playing well, won't be here."

"Part of it is not only changing the culture of your football team and your locker room, it's changing the culture of all the things that touch your football team and your locker room."

Says Coach Haley:

"I want guys who want to be here practicing and playing every day that I can count on that are the same guy every day," Haley says. "I don't even care if they're great.

"I don't want a yo-yo team and I don't want yo-yo players."

Ryan, Gonzalez feed off each other's intuitions

Article on Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan and TE Tony Gonzalez

Says Gonzalez:

"He knows exactly where everybody's going," Gonzalez said. "He knows where to put that ball, and he works hard. I think that's really the difference in what a great player is. Somebody that works hard. That's what separates some guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Those guys are constantly in the (film) room trying to get better, on the field and off the field."

The article goes on to talk about the specfics in how Ryan & Gonzalez want to get better in the offseason. It is impressive that they understand they can always get better even with the success they have had thus far in the league:

Though coach Mike Smith kept all of his primary assistants on staff after their first season together with Atlanta, he decided to make one subtle change in evaluating personnel.
Position coaches had every returning player write an evaluation of himself and turn it in before the start of camp. For Ryan, the focus became film study that wasn't necessarily more intense, just more specific.

Ryan's primary concern now is giving receivers better chances for big gains downfield. Even more enticing is the opportunity to dip further into coordinator Mike Mularkey's playbook.

"If I make better decisions throughout the game, it's going to cause less mistakes," Ryan said. "You certainly can be more accurate with it and give your receivers a better chance to make plays after they have the ball in their hands. So that's the focus, and I'm going to continue to work on it."

For Gonzalez, his mantra of "getting better" seemingly hasn't changed since Kansas City drafted him 13th overall in 1997. Now that Ryan is his quarterback, Gonzalez intends to stay as committed to his workout regimen, film study and practice habits as he's ever been, but a chance to finally win a playoff game is still his top goal.

"I don't think anything in life — I don't care how good you are — there's always more to learn and always thing to know," Gonzalez said. "I want to make sure I know that playbook front to back and side to side."