Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Welcome back to another edition of Unleashed Athletics with Ryan Bond. I'm your host and man, is it a great time of year.
[00:00:21] I am so excited about March Madness, both on the male and female side. You are watching unbelievable college basketball, but there are so many learning lessons to take away from college basketball. And if you are watching, there are a few reminders that I want to bring to the table. And those reminders are things that we should be encouraged by, but it should also bring, like, an excitement to us. And so that's what I want to talk about today.
[00:00:57] The madness is real, I guess, but there are also a bunch of things that go along with that madness, and just to name a few, when teams are about to lose or win, I love when they go over to the bench, hug a coach and the coach says, I love you. You're like family to me. I'm so proud of what you've done. And you can read their lips.
[00:01:22] Don't tell me coaches don't care about their kids.
[00:01:26] Those are intimate moments of a long journey together.
[00:01:31] And when you get to see either the worst moment in time or the best moment in time, you get to see how a coach really cares for his players.
[00:01:41] And when you get to see a coach say I love you, after a season comes to a close or you're advancing, it means something.
[00:01:55] And there is a depth. If you've ever been a coach, if you've ever been a player and you've heard those words from that coach, there is a depth to that that gives you like, immediate flashbacks to moments throughout the season where you started to believe that or it rang true for you. And I don't want people to miss it because it's an eye roll for some. These journeys that these coaches go on with their players and vice versa, are long and they are hurtful and there's joy and there's excitement and there's failure and there's good days and bad days and long days. And all along the way, all they're trying to do is prepare them for the most important game that they have coming up, which is the next game. At some point in time, that journey comes to an end and what are you looking at then?
[00:02:57] And so I wanted to bring out a few things that come along with that. That coach's moment is really important. But there are also so many other things that are happening during these games and it's what I love about March Madness. If you watch the bench, they are so excited every time their teammates score. How about you?
[00:03:18] You excited when you're riding the pine. You know you're not getting in the game. Are you giving your best effort on the bench to let your team know that this journey matters to you as well? Because these kids are off the hook, excited for their teammates. Some of them are doing dances, some of them have handshakes, some of them are waving towels, but they're in it. They know that every point matters. And this journey has been a part of their journey as well, regardless to how many minutes that they're playing. And are you doing that in your weekend tournament? Are you doing that in your state tournament? Are you doing that along the way so that no matter if you're in the game or not, you play a vital role on your team? The other people that we need to throw out during this is the assistant coaches. The assistant coaches are the first ones out on the court, which they're not even supposed to be doing. But a timeout gets called, they're the first ones flying out with high energy. And it's because the work is being done that they've spent countless hours planning for and their team's executing it feels good. Feels good when your team's doing what they're supposed to be doing and you should be excited for your team as well. Again, there are so many moments that we could talk about through college basketball. I've watched Twitter this weekend and people are just exploding on officials. Worst officiating I've ever seen in all my years of watching college basketball. Well, guess what? That's what's said every year.
[00:04:54] It's no worse this year than any other year. And actually, it's probably better. They go to video review more than I've ever seen before. They're trying to get the calls right. But what it does show me is that people care.
[00:05:08] You fans give 110%, and if that means you're going to take down the whole crew with you, you're willing to do it. And kudos to you for caring for your team, or in a lot of instances, unfortunately, I think betting has something to do with this. And so you're putting a dollar amount on how this game goes. So you're going to look for anything to try to justify why you spent the money you did and why you lost the money you did. But that's a whole nother conversation, not a rabbit trail I want to go down today. The people that I actually want to focus on are the kids on the court.
[00:05:43] And I want to say that again, the people that I want to focus on today are the kids on the court.
[00:05:52] And the reason why I want to emphasize kids is because it's my favorite part of college basketball. My very favorite part during March Madness is watching young adults. Some will call them men, some will call them women. But watching their innocent, kidlike nature come out, the biggest moment of their life. They take a shot with no time left on the clock and they hit it. And it's like they flash back to being eight years old in their driveway, shooting that shot and imagining their teammates coming and celebrating with them and the crowd going crazy. And what would you do in that moment? It's almost like they transform for a moment in time, go back to that moment where they could envision themselves being Michael Jordan or whomever their favorite player was, hitting that game winning shot, and what that celebration would feel like, look like, experience like. And then it actually happens.
[00:07:00] And it's like this moment of time is captured for them forever. Because there's 17 cameras in the arena that all captured that shot, plus social media. So there's probably 1000 cameras that all captured the moment. But I would love to get someone on the show that has experienced that moment and could take us back to what they were feeling, what they experienced. And had they ever thought of that moment before? Because it's gold.
[00:07:34] That moment is absolute gold. It is all the hard work paying off in one single moment. And that's what makes that one shining moment song at the end of March madness so incredibly powerful. It's not who wins the national championship. It's the madness that occurs throughout the entire tournament. And each one of those moments have a special indication for that team that will be remembered forever. While it's on a highlight reel for the 2024 March Madness highlight reel, one shining moment, it is ingrained in that school forever, that single moment. Whether people that come to mind, like Steph Curry comes to mind, he just shocked the nation with the way he was shooting when he got into the college tournament or that final shot from Villanova to win the national championship. And you're just going, these are priceless, timeless moments for these schools. Davidson might never have a Steph Curry again. Villanova might not have a final shot at the buzzer planned out that hits, and they win the national championship ever again. And those are what make these times so special. But for that individual, it is sweet, sweet gold. And for that team that went on the journey with the individual, it is sweet, sweet gold. And the reason why I bring this up is you also have an opportunity to ruin it for that person as well. You're probably not going to ruin it for a 22, 24 year old. You're probably not going to ruin it for them. But a nine year old, a 14 year old, 16 year old, yeah, you could do some serious damage at the end of the game, when a kid hits a shot, he's taking a three point shot and his foot might have touched inside of that for a two pointer. And you make a huge deal about it and you take away the opportunity for that kid to celebrate with his teammates because you want to rip on the officials and they're going to separate the teams and they're going to make sure they get them off the court safely because you took away the special moment that those kids have been dreaming about since they were little kids, and I just want to bring that to the forefront. Let's not take away those moments. Yes, they may be hurtful on your side. There's no argument there. But to take away the moment regardless to a bad call, regardless to whether or not his foot was touching the line, whatever that might be, there is still a super special moment inside of that that we should all be enjoying as fans. I can't believe I got to watch Villanova hit a buzzer beater, three pointer for the national championship. Like, I don't even like Villanova. I'm a Yukon fan. That's how much I don't like Villanova. For all of you Villanova fans out there, but watching that moment, I would have paid anything to see that over and over and over again. It's not about fanship. It's not about your team in that moment. It's about the entire experience.
[00:10:58] It's about understanding. I watched the Rockies get absolutely swept by the Red Sox back in the day. I remember somebody saying, hey, do you want to leave? And it's like, no. This might be the only time I get to see a World Series celebration, and this is a team that struggled to win a World Series. I don't want to take this away from them at all. I want to capture every single moment in time that has occurred and try to lock it into my brain because this is what it's all about.
[00:11:32] And sure, you can say I have a different perspective than most, but not really.
[00:11:38] I mean, at the end of the day, you just hope that it's your kid that's doing the celebrating, your team that's doing the celebrating. And I get that. I'm not telling you to not care that you lose. It matters. I don't want you to lose. But there will always be a winner and a loser. And the moment that occurs in that winner loss needs to be had by the players and the coaches on the floor. Don't take it away from them.
[00:12:08] I remember when I was a baseball coach, I had the privilege of winning two state championships in a row, and I had won one the year before as an assistant coach. My first year winning one, I remember it was, I can't believe we finally did it. And then the second one was, coaches, take it all in. If we're going to win this thing again, don't go sprinting onto the field. Screenshot as many things as you can in your brain so you never forget this moment. And that's what we did. We sat and watched kids sprint out onto the field and celebrate as a team together. And it is lodged right here forever because it wasn't about me in that moment. Yes, there was a journey with the kids, and I loved every bit of that moment, but it was for them.
[00:13:02] The coaches reaped the benefit of the players. The players did the work. We might have gotten them prepared. And I'm not saying coaches aren't important. Don't hear that message. What I'm saying is, at the very end, let them celebrate.
[00:13:16] Let them enjoy the win.
[00:13:19] Let them dog pile or whatever they're going to do. Let them do that as a team and enjoy it. Enjoy the fact that you get to sit back and see a million snapshots along the way. The journey that was had to get you to that very moment. And if you lose, it's the same exact thing. A million snapshots along the way that tell a story of how you got to that very moment and then start hugging kids and telling them how much you appreciate them and the journey you got to go on them. I had to get this off my chest tonight because March Madness was just too good not to bring up. So, coaches, make sure you're inspiring kids to be their very best and go on the journey with them. But it's their moment. Parents, don't ruin the moment for the other team. Let them enjoy their championship as well, or their shining moment as well. Let them do their thing. Officials, you got the hardest job when it comes down the line again. I watched social media and that was brutal to see the way that they were beating you guys up, and I'm sad for that, but that's the job you also signed up for. But I would say you're getting better and better every single year, no matter how challenging people might be through social media and then wrapping this up. I just want to make sure that we understand that watching kids in their element like they're ten years old again, playing in their front yard and reenacting being Steph Curry, reenacting being Michael Jordan, that's what we want. We want these kids to look up to people that they should be looking up to. And then when their moment comes, we hope that the kids below them are looking up to them.
[00:15:17] That's what madness is for me. There's going to be a ton of upsets, blowouts and everything in between. But man, I hope kids are watching saying, I hope I can take that shot someday. And I hope parents, you say, I hope I can celebrate with you when you hit that shot someday. And knowing that failure is on the horizon because sports are filled with failure, that's really what it all comes down to. But if you're enjoying March Madness like I am, it just stirs me differently and it gives a ton of emotion. I hope you learned something through this. There's probably going to be another podcast about it because March madness is too good not to bring up a lot of things that come up. I'm looking forward to the one shining moment this year so you can kind of look at it differently with me. But in the meantime, look for the things you don't usually look for. Let's do that really, really well this coming weekend. Let's do a really good job. As they go to the Sweet 16 Elite Eight that you're looking for, the things that you don't usually look for, not whether or not somebody grabbed a jersey, but who's celebrating on the sideline. How are those kids acting in big moments? How do coaches care for their players on the sideline?
[00:16:30] And that's it. Like enjoy the moment. So much fun. I say go Yukon just because I'm a Yukon fan, but I love college basketball. I've got so many kids that I know on both the boys and the girls side. It's been so much fun to watch and hope you're enjoying it as much as I am. Want to say thank you again for watching or listening to unleashed athletics with Brian Bond. Be good, be well, do the work and we'll see you soon.
