You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinati

Sam Wyche Sports World

Years ago, I bought my first pair of Air Jordans at a place now known as the Cherrydale area of Greenville called Sam Wyche Sports World. They were Tarheel Blue, the color of Jordan's college. Coach Wyche graduated from the university in my hometown, Furman where he played quarterback. He later went on to the NFL as a player then coach.

Today, he gave a speech at the local chamber office for free and I was extremely fortunate to attend. If there ever was a motivational speaker, he would be the one. Here is a bit that I was able to take down from his speech:

1- Why? Always know why you are doing something that way when the chips are down and everything is on the line you will know what to do without even thinking. The hesitation to think about it may be the difference in getting the desired results required.

2- Washington Redskin's coach George Allen's lesson on being persistant and focusing effort. Setting an objective and achieving it. For example, if a certain portion of a day is set aside for a certain task, then make sure that you are getting things done at the right time.

3- San Francisco 49ers's coach Bill Walsh's lesson on being decisive/specific. If somebody does a job well, you need to tell them what exactly they are doing so that they will continue to do it. He gave an example of how the great Joe Montana would inadvertly point the nose of the ball down instead of tipping it back before throwing the ball. A ball pointing down forces the thrower to make unecessary motions causing the ball to get knocked down or intercepted. Montana was known for his warm ups to always take his non-throwing hand and place it on the tip and tilt it back to remind himself to keep the ball in the right position.

4- Six candles away. It is important to finish everything. Follow thru till the end. Don't be the organization who looses out because they were six candles away from getting the job done.

5- Shell Oil- A person in uniform is an extention of the uniform that they are representing. Have energy, enthusiasm and passion in everything that you do. Too many people, like the man who pumped gas for Coach Brown of the Bengals the time when Wyche hitched a ride from training camp operate in a inferior fashion making their organization look bad.

6- Make the effort to win. (Vince L.)

7- Do more than just want to win. Be part of the reason to win.

8- Get into a routine. Be willing to be taken out of your comfort zone from time to time.

9- Never drop your guard-

Wyche coaches as speaker, Greenville News, Greater Greer Edition



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