Ideas are oxygen

Good evening everyone. First of all, I just like the saying, Ideas are Oxygen. Second, I like my college sports; basketball, baseball and football. But there are so many teams out there and only so many get televised that you cannot keep up with everyone.

But this not about college sports. In the Sports Illustrated Dec 15th issue, I learned about the Northern State basketball team in Aberdeen, S.D. More importantly I learned about their Coach, Don Meyer. Not only is he a handful of wins away from passing the great Bobby Knight for college victories, known in his field as one of the best bball clinicians ever, but at 63 years old, he is still learning.

Coach Meyer was in a recent car accident that took one of his legs from the knee down. Know what he learned from that, that he had cancer in his body. The car accident actually may have saved his life. And it seems they have caught the cancer in time. Go Coach!

He is now back on the bball court and it sounds like he is back to being Coach. While a wheelchair may limit his mobility, to a certain extent, and a crushed rib cage limits the raising of the voice, he commands practice and game time like he usually does.

I write this article today not just to tell you about Coach Meyer, but what he says in the SI interview really caught me. He talks about wanting to learn and is always looking for that opportunity to pick up something new for his tool belt. And we should be the same way.

One of his coaching peers said this about Coach Meyer; "Every single day he wants to learn something new. In the world of Don Meyer, ideas are oxygen."

Don himself says this, "When you're not learning about your profession or how to deal with people or life, then it's over. All windows are shut. Whether you're 15, 50 or going down the homestretch, you've gotta keep learning."

So no matter who you are, where you are, what your profession or your age, go forth and learn.

BR