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Steve Shenbaum | Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Growing up, I always wanted to play linebacker. My cousin Kevin was a linebacker. Kevin, who is 10 years older than me, was 6’4” and weighed in at 240 pounds when he was in high school. In other words, Kevin was built to play linebacker and eventually went on to play football at the University of Hawaii. I, on the other hand, was not built to play linebacker. But when I was 12 years old, I didn’t know this. So when I joined Pop Warner football and arrived at my first practice, all of 5’2” and 88 pounds of me, I was determined to play linebacker, just like my older ...

Steve Shenbaum | Wednesday, 3 November 2010

“Ya gotta’ throw strikes.” Those were the instructions from my well-intentioned high school baseball coach after I walked four batters in a row…without throwing a single strike. After 16 consecutive bad pitches, he called time out, approached the mound and said, “Do you know what you need to do? Ya gotta’ throw strikes.” I remember thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me? That’s it? That’s your advice? That doesn’t help me. Give me something tangible. Fix my delivery. Change my wind-up. But don’t tell me I’ve gotta throw strikes.”As my coach turned to walk away from the mound, the comedian in me was greatly tempted to say, “Amazing! I wish ...

Steve Shenbaum | Monday, 1 November 2010

How do you see yourself? It seems like a simple enough question, right? In fact, it’s a question to which almost all of us have an answer. But the real truth is this, “How do you see yourself?” is one of the most difficult questions for anyone of us to answer…accurately. Perception vs. RealityWhen I was younger, I saw myself as an excellent athlete. I had visions of becoming the next great 2nd baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eddie Collins, Jackie Robinson, Nap LaJoie…I mean, I was there. However, my truth was that I was a good athlete.The way I perceived myself and the reality of how others viewed ...

Blair Bloomston | Monday, 25 October 2010

Back in March 2006 TIME magazine asked “Are Kids Too Wired For Their Own Good?” Looking back on the image of the dazed, apathetic boy in the cover photo, surrounded by floating laptops, PDA’s, and (gasp) the original iPod before it was labeled “Classic” is almost like reading a “You Know You’re a Child of the 80’s When…” blog. Hey team, remember when the most connected person you knew had a pager? It’s no accident that no other major publication has touched the scary topic of kids and technology since ‘06- the technology is here to stay and it’s we children of the 70’s and 80’s and even 90’s who ...

Setting Realistic Goals

Steve Shenbaum | Monday, 11 October 2010

Let The Races Begin... And the clichés are off and running. What an incredible field. We’ve got “Just Relax” sprinting out of the gates to take the early lead followed by “Be Yourself”, who never starts this fast. “Be Confident” can’t seem to find her stride, while ”Speak Up” is fading fast. “You Only Have One Time to Make a First Impression” barely got out of the gates and unfortunately, “Never Give Up” was an early scratch. And around the stretch they come… Making a First Good ImpressionThe names of those racehorses are ironic and they are also some of the statements that I hear from our athletes on a regular ...

Playing Within Your Game

Just Throw Strikes!

How Do You See Yourself?

Kids Too Wired For Their Own Good?

Setting Realistic Goals