Grist to the Mill

Today was the kickoff for NCAA basketball of which I'm a huge fan. At 900 am, I was able to turn on my Roku and stream live college hoops until 830 pm, when I left to walk my dogs this evening. It was glorious. As this is the Eve of Thanksgiving, I feel obligated to note that I'm grateful to work in a shop whose owner decided to close for the whole week, giving me the opportunity to watch some of the games, while, of course, attending to family needs and Thanksgiving preparations. Although, even as I write this, I'm avoiding culinary duties.

Earlier this week, listening to Fox Sports Radio, I heard Jason Smith give his take on how college basketball is likely going to buoy the covid protocols and imminent game cancellations / postponements with little problems. Much of the opinion seemed logically based on the basketball season having a quantity of games large enough for pollsters to properly evaluate the rankings despite certain loss of games. Because I agree with this analysis, I want to metaphorically weigh in. While I enjoyed watching my Kentucky Wildcats beat up on Moorhead State and Ohio State Buckeyes embarrass Illinois State, I also counted 31 games cancelled or postponed due to covid. The big wins for Top 25 teams against lesser schools will almost assuredly have as little effect on the rankings as the cancellations have for those 62 teams who couldn't play.

Procedure matters. Routine matters. System matters. My father says, It's all grist to the mill. If you're unfamiliar with this saying or its origins, grist was a type of sand sprinkled between the two millstones in order to reduce friction in the milling process. It would later be filtered out of the milled grain to place between the stones again, where it offers its benefit. Grist would allow the mill to operate efficiently and successfully. The saying means all our experiences in life help us to succeed, including the seemingly bad, unexpected or undesirable experiences, if we put them in proper perspective, between the stones. What the teams that played will gain over those that didn't, whatever the outcome, is in-game experience. It's likely that, at the end of the season, some teams will have played more games than others, and that won't be held against them in the polls. Yet, when it comes to crunch time and who's in or out of the tournament, having that grist may well be the difference between winning and losing a deciding game.

We've all got a certain number of life experiences. Our perspective will affect how those experiences are navigated and, ultimately, sowed in our memory. John Calipari, head basketball coach for the University of Kentucky routinely starts freshman players, who are accustomed to being stars from their respective high schools. While this doesn't offer the team any veteran leadership or the stability of guys used to playing together, it does offer all of his players, starting this new level together, a new perspective, and grist. Calipari doesn't promise these young studs a certain amount of playing time. He requires that they play defense, practice free-throws and work on passing the ball. He emphasizes looking for the open man, setting up your teammates and passing before shooting. Most of his guys go one and done (meaning they're drafted into the pros after just one year in college) and have decent success at the next level, in the Association. While the risk of starting five brand new players each season won't always land the Wildcats a tourney victory or even an Elite Eight berth, the possible reward for each individual player is really high.

I teach my children the value of systems, routines and procedures. I emphasize examples from my own experience in which working to learn unfamiliar systems taught me how to learn more skillfully. I preach about adapting to undesired routines in order to learn how routines work. Paying our dues, so to speak, when it comes to learning and adopting procedure proffers us the opportunity to learn better, more efficient procedure when the opportunity arises. I cannot change the natural systems put in place at the creation of the world. I cannot change the governmental or law enforcement systems of the nation, state or city in which I live. Similarly, my children cannot change the systems I've implemented in our household. We all, however, can adapt, exploit and learn discipline in order to thrive and enjoy the parameters under which we exist. That is grist. This is bakesHere.

2020-1125 Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve. ACQUIRE as NEEDED