Issue 1: Nothing Beats Fundamentals (December 31, 2011)

Issue 2: The Honor of Being a Coach (January 3, 2012)

Issue 3: A Different Type of College Fund (February 8, 2012)

Issue 4: The Value of Discipline (February 28, 2012)

Visions of Victory is a weekly blog written by B-CU director of athletics Lynn W. Thompson focusing on issues, topics and a wide range of ideas and concepts surrounding the realm of intercollegiate athletics and beyond. With over 20 years of experience in the rapidly changing world of college sports, Thompson certainly has a lot to say. Whether it's commenting on new trends or simply motivating young people, B-CU's AD is highly qualified to weigh in.

"I consider it an honor and a big part of my life to be able to share with people some of the techniques, words and ideas that have worked in my role as a mentor and manager," said Thompson recently. "Visions of Victory will allow us the opportunity to continue to share with people the great things that are happening on our campus and to our young people."

For over 20 years, Lynn W. Thompson has been director of athletics at Bethune-Cookman University where he manages a 17-sport program known for its success, integrity, and focus on academics. During his tenure, the Wildcats have won 32 MEAC crowns and 13 NCAA tournament bids. The first African-American to chair the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee, Thompson served stints on the NCAA I-AA Football Selection, Football Issues and Baseball Committees respectively. He also served the MEAC as chair of the Basketball and Baseball Tourneys and was selected 5 times as an NCAA Peer Reviewer for the athletics certification process. Lynn's work at B-CU is not his job, it is his ministry. On campus he's the FCA advisor and a highly sought public speaker who focuses on motivating athletes. He directed FUNDAMENTAL, a men's ministry for over 10 years and travels conducting workshops teaching young people about living victorious lives in search of their destiny. Thompson's TV career has spanned over 25 years as host of shows on PBS and the public affairs show "Vibrations" on WESH-TV( NBC- Orlando, Florida). He continues to produce and host the TV shows on B-CU athletics on Fox Sports Network.

A few days ago I had to have a heart to heart chat with a young student-athlete who was having a difficult time accepting responsibility for the consequences of his unacceptable behavior. The young man was suffering through a suspension as a result of violating team rules. Issues of discipline and playing time in our program are the responsibility of each head coach and the more I spoke with him the more he wanted to blame everyone else including the coach. It was even more challenging convincing this young man that he was wrong for what he did. He seemed to have a justification for everything that went wrong.

What is so ironic is that I have seen this youngster play in several games and whenever he made a mistake he would look to the sidelines and pat himself in the chest and mouth the words "my bad" to the coach and his teammates. He was willing to accept responsibility for his actions during games but not during the time that counts most...in life. He simply could not understand that his actions in the community had more impact on his team than his actions in competition.

This young man took great pride in perfecting his game...he was willing to work hard on leadership and skill development and game strategy but he couldn't take hard coaching.

This caused me to think about the value of discipline. Whether he knew it or not, this young man had the discipline to work hard at his game but refused the discipline imposed on him as a result of bad decisions.

Discipline is defined as activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; clearly this young man understood this definition of discipline but he could not bring himself to accept another definition of the same word...to punish or penalize in order to train and control; correct; chastise.

An old wise man said that "discipline is the missing ingredient from the recipe for success that eludes you until you have no other choice but to look in the mirror to find what went wrong."

Discipline comes from the Latin word "disco" which means to learn or get to know something or someone. It refers to a process by which one learns a way of life. In Greek, the "disciple" basically was a "learner or pupil". In biblical times it was the task of the disciple to study and then be prepared to pass along the lessons and actions of the teacher. The disciples of Jesus Christ are the most accurate illustrations of the term. The lessons they learned and their ability to pass along the teachings and actions of Jesus today still are the anchors of our faith and belief system.

Great athletic teams are developed from a combination of factors, talent, strategy and discipline...ask any coach about their best teams and most times it may not be the team with the most talent that makes history and wins championships for talent alone cannot lead you to glory. Most coaches and fans will point to the team with the unexplainable formula known as discipline and team chemistry which won the hearts of fans and trophies to show as the reward for their battles.

But how does this relate to athletics and today's world? Successful coaches and athletes have a time proven strategy of practice, practice, practice. Every athlete can reminisce about how practices were more difficult than the games themselves. They can recount that the mere survival of practices and game simulations got them to the point that when game time came it was a relief because the actual battle was not as difficult as the preparation. In short, the practice time was exactly what they needed to be prepared for the game. The point of practice was to provide tests of various situations which could possibly be encountered during the real game.

The scriptures provide a great correlation to practice and tests in life as found in James 1:2-4 consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

This young man was willing to accept the discipline of tough practices but not the discipline which was a penalty or punishment....the real lesson is that most times life does not give you the choice of which penalty to accept...For those of you who might find yourselves in the same dilemma as the young athlete it might make it easier to understand by reading

Hebrews 12:11... no discipline is enjoyable while it is happening. It is painful...but afterward there will be a quite harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Last week, after national signing day for college football recruits, I received a call from a parent of a signee virtually in tears thanking me for the opportunity that we had afforded her son to sign a scholarship with our university; little did she know that we were ecstatic to have such a high quality young man joining our university family. The scholarship was the answer to her prayers. This single parent sacrificed everything to make sure that her son was qualified to receive a full ride to college. Previously during her son’s official visit to campus we spoke openly about the development of our students academically, athletically and spiritually. At Bethune-Cookman University that is our mission. She understood clearly and mentioned that during her son’s other official visits the subjects of God, faith and spirituality rarely came up. I make it a point to personally meet each recruit on an official visit. Why? Even though I have a great job in an exciting field, all of us in Wildcat athletics recognize that we are merely ambassadors of this great university. As a stakeholder I have to share the mission in word and action so during my visits with recruits and their parents I make it a priority not only to explain the value and virtues of B-CU, but to truly illustrate to each of these young recruits in every sport just how truly blessed they are.

Today the proliferation of scouting and talent services has carved a niche in the recruiting process and now most fans and supporters simply want to know how many five star recruits their alma mater signed. The old term of "blue chip" recruits has been replaced with a star system that either guarantees success of can’t miss prospects all the way to the pros or predicts a subpar career relegated to obscurity at lower level schools for those recruits with one or no stars attached to their names.

We have made much ado about ‘measurable outcomes.” Data gleaned from test scores, game stats and combine results do tell a great story of the tangible facts about the latest phenom, but what is immeasurable and a predictor of the greatest outcome is the intangible power of faith and prayer. Talent is great but what good is talent without faith and what good is faith without the power of prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God…before practice, during games, during examinations and even in the midnight hour. James 5:16 says that the fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much…I one for can attest to that. It provides so much for so many, including scholarships. While investing in a college fund in this economy may be counter to the advice of many financial advisors the one fund that weathers inflation and recession is the one that availeth much…the Pre-Prayed College Fund. Contact your local prayer warrior on how to start now.

Two weeks ago, while relaxing at home, I received a phone call from my old college football coach, Charles Wesley Moore. It was a pleasant suprise inasmuch as the last time I had actually spoken to Coach Moore on the telephone was during a recruiting call my senior year in high school over thirty years ago. His phone call led to a home visit and the ultimate signing of a National Letter of Intent that paid for a college education and changed my life. He was a fixture in my development for at least ten to twenty years yet I could only recall one prior telephone conversation with him.

When I heard his voice it shocked and immediately teleported me back to my college days as a football player at Bethune-Cookman College. Coach Moore, all six foot five and two hundred seventy five pounds, intimidated all of us in the mid 1970's and the mere sound of his voice caused the same fear to return to my soul now. Even today as he approaches his 70's the man still commands the same amount of respect as he did when he led us to the glory years of conference championships.

We talked on the phone for over an hour and I still responded to his questions with "sir, yes sir". After withstanding my offering of apologies for cowardly bowing to him with those responses he began to tell me how much he respected and admired the man I had become. His comments took me completely by suprise. Although he had known me for a large portion of my life, I could only remember the countless times Coach Moore would cuss me out and get in my face demanding that I be the very best I could be. For most of my college career I thought the man hated my guts.

Coaches have a way of cutting through all the minutia and attacking the heart of the matter. They use various tactics that may or may not be politically correct according to the times but what seems to transcend the years and political climate is what resides in the heart of a true coach. Does he or she truly care? Many times,today's technology can zoom in on the emotions during battle when a coach is 'red hot'. A coach's image is cemented in snapshots, sound bites and video clips and in many cases, those images are negative. Only Coach Moore's team could tell you how loving, caring and committed he was to changing the lives of his Wildcats.

What Coach Moore thought of me mattered then and it still matters now. I never wanted to let him down.

Coaches have that rare abililty to peer into your soul and see who is hiding inside, be it a chump or a champion they know how to flip the switch in us that transforms potential into productivity. Only coaches have the vision to see stuff in us that we could never see ourselves.

What he said on the recent phone call inspired me. I was so proud that he was proud of me but what truly touched me was that he took the time to actually call me. He was the bigger man then and by his actions he seemed to be the bigger man now. He choked up when he told me that he was honored to have been the man to coach and teach me...and yes, Charles Wesley Moore, while leading us to conference championships, taught me more than how to read a 4-4 front and 5-3 defense while running the wishbone offense. He taught me life lessons even when I did not feel the need to learn them.

There is no greater honor than being a coach. The word coach has its' origin around 1550-60 and is derived from the french word "coche", which means tutor or mentor... One who carries the student through examinations. Coaches are the ultimate teachers who develop game plans for success in our games of choice and the game of our lives.

For every aspiring dancer, performer or athlete, somewhere in their past is the influence of a coach. While television, sports pages and publications may always tend to feature the ultra successful record setting coach who earns millions , most fans are oblivious those whose sacrificed their time simply because their goal was to have an impact on young people.

I am so thankful that I had great coaches in my life. Not the ones who were only concerned with adding to their personal won/loss records by sacrificing the careers of young people for their own personal benefit, but the few who understood the original meaning of the word. Somehow Coach Moore had knowledge of the true origin and definition of the word "coach"...he had to have prior knowlege because he mentored and tutored me and was "one who carried the student through examinations".

Make it your goal today to contact the true coaches who had a positive impact on your development...tell them thank you for the sacrifices they made in their own personal lives to make yours better. Their goal was to lead you to victory, maybe today is your day to return the favor. 

This past evening I attended a women's basketball game on our campus as we hosted Kent State University. Normally the gym would be packed with students but during the Christmas break all we could hope for at the gate was the hard core women's basketball fan and family members of the athletes on both teams. No money to be made at all.

It was a good game featuring two teams desperate for a non-conference win, but what was obvious was the level of play between both teams. Each team featured a host of players with true Division I talent but none were of the WNBA level. That's ok though because the most impressive factor was that each of these young ladies was well schooled in the fundamentals of basketball. While tonight was not a night full of slam dunks, ankle breaking cross over dribbles and acrobatic blocks it was certainly a night of strategy, heart and hard work.

Women's basketball games seem to always be exhibitions of fundamentals. You can always count on the perfect box out on rebounds, the classic sealing of a defender when the ball goes into the low post and outstanding pick and rolls. Old school basketball teachers would be proud.

What puzzles me is that many youngsters can perfect the fundamentals of a game or sport but can never seem to utilize the same approach to non -athletic competition. Imagine if we could convince all youngsters to concentrate on the fundamentals of study habits, communication, manners and work ethic. I spend an enormous amount of time speaking with professors and adminstrators who tell me that they cannot find the right formula to motivate our youngsters. My response to these academicians is to coach them. Convince a kid that you are the geometry coach and you get his or her attention. If you have to make a game out of it, so be it...everything else is, from reality TV to video games.

In this new era of instant gratification, publicity and responses we are in constant competition with society's desire to get it done faster. Research for answers nowadays does not require a trip to the library or laboratory...it requires a smart phone and quick typing fingers, but smart phones don't necessarily make smart students.Some would argue that it makes lazy students of us all.

Let's take a page from the playbooks of women's basketball teams. Spend the time on fundamentals. Take time to teach the foundations of success, although our youngsters may complain about them being boring and having no immediate value time will inevitably prove great teachers and coaches right. The road map to success is paved with the emphasis on fundamentals in sports and in life. Although our cell phones have MapQuest, the real joy is not the map but the quest.

Nothing beats fundamentals...you can't download them, you must earn them as you learn them through hard work, commitment and pure desire to be the best you can be.