Perspective

Nice article in the P-D this morning about the DeSmet Spartans returning to the Class 3 soccer semi-finals for the first time in 6 years. Coach Greg Vitello has been coaching the Spartans for 41 years. Yes, 41 years. He has almost 700 wins in soccer and is also the varsity baseball coach. He is old school and runs a tight ship. This part of the article (read the entire article here) really caught my eye:

"It's not about records or stats; it's about doing what you have to do to survive and move on to the next round,'' Vitello said.

By design, the Spartans play fewer regular-season games to gain more quality training time. And now the extra practice is paying dividends.

"We pride ourselves on the work we do in practice, and this group, as much as any I've coached, seems to get that,'' the coach said. "Rather than playing games for the sake of playing games, hopefully our guys are a little fresher and more mentally prepared at this point of the season.''

Imagine, in this day and age high-flying club/select programs and leagues, a high school coach who knows the value of team development and quality training time vs garbage games! Mental preparation? Quality training time? Fundamentals? This is what it is all about.

And in the "Sign the Apocalypse is Upon Us" column this week: The Thin Man tells me his twin sister's high school basketball team is one of 30 high school teams being "sponsored" by Nike this year.