book #2: the winners manual

for the past 2 years i have had the privilege of leading the crawfordsville high school boy's basketball team through a book study over the course of their season.  it's been a tremendous honor, and has really been a lot of fun for me.  i love to read.  i love to teach.  and i don't get many opportunities to spend consistently outside of church-world...so this has been the perfect blend that has allowed me to enjoy a unique outreach that i hope and believe God has used.  i have been able to build a solid, trusting relationship with the coach, and this year he allowed me to choose the book from which we would read & discuss.  so with my desire to spread truth in the sport's world, i couldn't help but be drawn to Jim Tressel's The Winners Manual.  not only did this book emphasize strong moral character, but it also helped spread the Buckeye love!  ("O-H...")

this book is a representation of a system that coach tressel applies to his football program.  every buckeye on the team goes through the student-athlete's version of The Winners Manual.  of course, theirs includes team values, regulations, practice information, guidelines for handling media, etc.  it's all designed to pass on the heart of what buckeye football is all about: truly becoming winners (and not just on the football field).  so coach has boiled the team's Winners Manual down to the basics that can be applied to any walk of life.
the best part of the book was the emphasis on organizing your life by separating your purpose from your goals, which is really the crux of the system which he calls "The Block O of Life".  this is available for download so it can be personalized on thewinnersmanual.com.  you allow your purpose to define who you are, then you develop goals based on your purpose in life and the circumstances you are currently called to.  it emphasized as well that success is in the journey.  just because you may not hoist a trophy does not mean you have not been successful.  similarly, just because all of your goals have not been realized does not make you a loser.  but it seeks to provide vision, organization and accountability so that you can develop holistically into the person that God has created you to be.
then there is a section he calls the "Big 10 Fundamentals", which are character traits and disciplines that help make you into a winner.  they are easy to understand, simple to apply, and powerful when taken seriously.  the majority of our discussions over this book focused on one fundamental at a time and how it could be applied personally and to the team as a whole.  great discussion stuff!  coach is also fond of impacting quotes, so this book is a gold mine of thoughts and quotes that are designed to make each fundamental memorable and meaningful.  he does a good job of relating each fundamental to everyday life as well as the football field.  we get to see what really goes on in the locker room and on the field, but he brings his experience and wisdom to a level that is challenging to all.

my only drawback from this book is the disappointment i felt reading the epilogue.  coach sets it up nicely to really preach the gospel, but it's hard to share the gospel without mentioning Jesus.  he begins his book in the prologue with a question he faced as a kid @ FCA (fellowship of christian athletes) camp: "if the game of life ended tonight, would you be a winner?"  i was impressed with his boldness up front and impacted by his emphasis throughout the book on putting life into perspective.  however, when he returns to that question in the epilogue he utterly fails to point to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and therefore puts a disappointing finishing touch to what becomes just another self-help book.  granted, i loved this read and found much of it to be helpful, but it could only serve as a spring-board for me to then share the truth with the unsaved.

if i ever again have the opportunity to lead an athletic program through a book study, this will be at the top of my list!  and although i cannot whole-heartedly embrace coach tressel's theology (especially after hearing him speak a couple years ago), i am very thankful for an upright & bold coach with a strong moral compass leading my buckeyes!  this was a fun read for me, and got me all the more excited for another season!  GO BUCKS!!!