Josh Benner

Tag: ncaa

  • March Madness: one champion, but many winners

    March Madness: one champion, but many winners

    It’s the start of one of the most beloved traditions in the American sports calendar: March Madness. We’re a little bit past the midpoint of the first day. There have already been some upsets. Many people already probably have a team (or two) who they thought would go deep into the tournament already headed home.

    For me, one of the reasons why I appreciate the tournament is that I feel like there is always more than one winner. Yes, there’s only one champion. But lots of teams can come away from March Madness feeling like winners. Not every school is Kansas, or Duke, or Kentucky who expects to be in the tournament every year. For many schools, just getting into the dance i already a big win. Kennesaw State University is in the tournament for the first time in program history.

    I think of Princeton’s win today over Arizona. A 15 seed over a 2 seed. That’s Princeton’s first tournament win in 25 years. Regardless of what happens in their next game, they’re playing with house money.

    Earlier today, Furman who’s a 13 seed upset Virginia. This is Furman’s first appearance in the tournament since 1980. And there will be more upsets to follow. Obviously every team is always going to win their next game, but for the teams who pull off an upset (and if history is an indicator, there are usually about nine upsets in the first round alone), they’re already winners.

    I think of the teams who make it to the final four. Even if you’re a one seed and only make it to the final four, you’ve accomplished something special.

    I feel like we tend to judge a lot of sports based on championships. We’re like Ricky Bobby in Talledgea Nights and think “if you’re not first, you’re last.” Perhaps it’s because the tournament is so long, but in March Madness, more so than other team sports, I feel like we can appreciate the teams that overachieve, the teams that find some magic, the teams who get a game further than the experts thought they could. And in that, I feel like it’s a celebration that much more closely resembles life than how we talk about other sports.

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  • What great coaches can teach us about life

    Urban_Meyer_in_2017.jpg
    Relentless effort (not talent or intelligence) is the key to achieving great things in your life. Struggle is part of the process. It is hard and often painful. But it’s also necessary, because it’s in the struggle that great things are achieved.
    -Urban Meyer, in Above the Line

    Tonight, one of the greatest college football coaches of all time retires.

    Urban Meyer concludes his seventh and final season as the head coach at Ohio State. Meyer has amassed an incredible record at Ohio State and throughout his coaching career. Coming into tonight’s Rose Bowl, Meyer is 82-9 as the Buckeye head coach.  In his seven seasons, Meyer never lost more than two games in a season. He lost four conference games total. He won his first 24 games in Columbus.

    He’s one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. Three national championships. He won .85 percent of his games. Meyer had four winning streaks of 20 or more games (to put that in perspective, no other coach even has three).

    Great coaches can teach us all things. I think of things I’ve read over the years from people like John Wooden, Vince Lomardi, Woody Hayes, Bobby Knight.

    For people who have succeeded in competitive endeavors, they have insights from which we can all benefit in terms of work ethic, leadership, and grit.

    We so often make excuses for our failures and mediocrity. Great coaches don’t settle for mediocrity. They demand excellence from themselves, from their staffs, and from their players. We so often chalk up failure to a lack of resources, things beyond our control, or the fault o others. Great coaches show us all that excellence comes from hard work. Success comes from preparation and learning from mistakes. Success comes from wanting it more than your opponent.

    It’s true on the playing field, on the court, and in life.

    “I’ve come to learn that leadership is not automatically granted to you because of your position or your salary or the size of your office. Leadership is influence based on trust that you have earned. A leader is not someone who declares what he wants and then gets angry when he doesn’t get it. A true leader is someone who is going someplace and taking people with him, a catalyst for elite performance who enables people to achieve things they wouldn’t achieve on their own. A leader is someone who earns trust, sets a clear standard, and then equips and inspires people to meet that standard.”
    -Urban Meyer in Above the Line

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    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Urban Meyer keeps job, but is it worth the cost?

    1024px-Ohio_Stadium,_Columbus
    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons

    I’ve gone back and forth on the Urban Meyer story. When I initially heard about it, I thought it was blown out of proportion but studied it in greater detail and thought it would result in Meyer’s termination. But I continued to dig and more information came out and I started to think that Meyer did what he should have done. This was always a very complicated story. I was always curious to hear results of the investigation and report. I defended him as the investigation continued.

    But in the first full day after the report, after the suspension, part of me questions if he should have been dismissed.
    The standard line I’ve heard from Buckeye fans who want to defend Meyer is “He’s not the police. It’s not his job to investigate these things.”
    That’s true but that’s not the issue.
    Urban hired Zach Smith. Zach Smith has had issues with drinking, issues with other substance abuse. He’s misused university funds. He’s had affairs. He has skipped out on recruiting visits and instead gone to strip clubs. And Urban kept him around. Urban hired him, when he shouldn’t have in the first place. Smith was hired because of who his grandfather is. And Smith ran wild.
    Zach Smith was never charged with domestic violence (how he wasn’t, I still don’t understand).
    But even without that, he was engaging in many, many, many behaviors that should have resulted in him losing his job and Urban kept him around.

    (more…)

  • Harbaugh, practice film: what sportsmanship is and isn’t

    Jim_Harbaugh_Head_Coach_University_of_Michigan
    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons @Eric Upchurch

    Fairness.

    Last weekend, the college football season began as Hawaii and Cal played a game in Sydney, Australia.

    This week, Cal is off while Hawaii plays in Ann Arbor, MI against the Wolverines.

    For the Wolverines, they’ve had a chance to see Hawaii play a game. Hawaii enters this game with no such luxury and asked Wolverine coach Jim Harbuagh for film of an inner squad scrimmage. (more…)

  • 2015 National championship preview

    I was pretty confident that Ohio State was going to beat Alabama. To me, Oregon is much more of a toss up. But I look at the Bucks and I can’t count them out. This team is special. They have great chemistry. Guys have stepped up when they’ve needed to. (more…)