This is a very humbling experience to say the least because I know I am standing up here because of others. Those others are the athletes and staff I worked with @ Bemidji High School as well as a special group of people in the community; namely the parents of the athletes. Without them, I have no chance of having a successful teaching and coaching career and I certainly would never have been able to get to the point where I was able to carve out a 28 year career in the NHL.
This school and community is the springboard for all the success I’ve enjoyed in my adult life. Thanks.
It all started with Ray Witt hiring me and learning from people like Red Wilson, Horace May, Buck Haack, Jack Luoma and Bun Fortier as well as Jim Smalley empowering me to be who I was in hockey. I will be forever grateful to those I coached with and those I worked with as a teacher. I have to single out Con Murphy, Des Sagedahl and Bryan Grand as my coaching partners and Herman Erdman, Tiny Vanacek, Don Smeckpepper, Bud Burns and Herb Whiting as my teaching partners. When I think of community, I think of Bill Howe, Buck Sargent, John Buckanaga, Tuss Langlie, Halvor Reise, Dick Kroll, Sheldon McRae, John Glas, Cliff Morlan, Jim Carrington and the Fish Fry crew. Those Baseball teams have no chance of winning without Jim Carrington’s foundation skills. This man’s contribution to this community is priceless and can’t be measured. Joe Vene’s national anthems showed us the level of excellence you can achieve if you work @ your unique skills. The Cheerleaders, their advisors and the Banana Band were an important part of that winning combination.
The player list goes so deep that it would eat up all my time to mention those who got it done during a critical moment in an important game. There are some that have gone to the highest leagues in sports and those players defined my future. There are players already on the wall responsible for my career and there are a few others who defined my career that are missing.
The Sargent’s, (Coaching Gary Sargent for 9 Varsity seasons is a rarity but an absolute treat and Earl was special), Izzy (chances are slim I will ever meet another Izzy), Bill Himmelright, Richie Glas, Keith Hansen, The Howe’s, John Buckanaga, Red Donahue, Ralph Lovering, Tom Reise, Ernie Blackburn, John Melhus, Andy Kannenberg, Charlie Meyers, Stan Drew, John Melhus, Mike Mohler, Jim Conway, Jim Yost, John Boyer, Tom Hill and so many others defined my career. I find it truly amazing that a 15 to 18 year old can define an adult’s career, but that is exactly the way it happened with me and so many others in this business.
Mark Manney, pilot for Air Force One, credits some of these players for defining his career. Just this past summer the bus driver for those state tournament hockey years showed up @ our camp with his Knit Cap that said “driver”. Linda Sandy showed up in San Jose sporting season tickets for the Sharks.
There are basically two types of people in life. There is the “got it made person” who tends to get sophisticated and complacent. Then there is the talented one who is guaranteed to succeed because they never put themselves in a position to get complacent in life. They maintain that “chip on their shoulder” mentally. Joe Motzko is a modern example and I’m sure you all know him after last night.
We all have that dream of being involved in things we love to do. In my case it was sports; specifically hockey and baseball. I have never once looked @ myself as one who is the best, but I never once looked @ myself as one who is the worst. I’ve always manage to look @ my life as, “I am somewhere in the middle striving to be as good as I can be.”
I always liked team sports because I found it easier to win as a team than I did as an individual. If you put a team out there one on one, they are going to struggle. If you put them out there in a team concept, give them some guidelines and principles to play by, we can all have success. Rarely do we do anything in life without being part of some kind of team. We start with being dependent, move to being independent and thrive when we become inter-dependent with others.
When I became a coach, I found myself very demanding and I am still that way. The difference is I want everyone to do well in life and the game. There have been times when I’ve been hard on people and they couldn’t handle it. I like people who work and play hard and I like aggressive people who care about others while they are maximizing their potential. I believe it is healthy to survive in this world on determination and smarts while being a team player and caring person.
I am still under the belief that most people accept when you are hard on them or tell them something they do not want to hear; but only when they sense you have a passion for everything you do and it is done out of love and you wanting them to be a success story in life. I have never been afraid to hold others accountable and I expect players to hold themselves accountable without creating bail outs because of schedules, coaches, divorce or some situation beyond our control.
I am still under the belief that a disciplined, no-nonsense approach is the only way to go when dealing with people and I have found this to be true in the business world.
We all become better @ what we do when we no longer have anything to prove to our critics. We need to look for the good in every situation. I had to change in that category, and that made me a better coach and a better person. Composure to put mistakes behind is critical.
I learned early from my parents and the Marine Corps to do whatever I’m asked to do. If I say I’m going to do something, I usually get it done. If I say I’m going to be somewhere, I will be there on time or call. I learned from my wife, Clairene, how important it is to empower your spouse and those you work with. Let people and athletes be who they are. She is from Bemidji, so she is in line with all of these Bemidji people who made my life what it is today.
I love to deal in the letter “C”. Cerebral enough to make good Choices, Compassion for others, Curiosity to learn, Composure to put the past behind and perform in the present, answer your Critics, Confidence in our abilities, Communication skills like speaking and listening, Commitment to the task and Competitively mean where you win all the little battles. All of this forms our Character and ability to perform in Critical moments. We need to develop an attitude about life so we can walk with the swagger and the Charisma we need to work our way through life. All this is necessary beyond any skills we have.
If we can make a commitment to everything we do, we can stay competitive and thrive. That is what I have managed to do.
We care about what we do, work it and live it. I lost interest in the fantasy of sports not long after I joined the NHL because I discovered image through perception was the furthest thing from what is real. I lost interest because I discovered real fast that image through perception was taking over in our society. I was witness to companies failing because people and athletes got caught up in perception and image being more important than substance and reality. Companies are people driven. Beside manners, politically correct, perception driven people and sound bytes just do not cut it.
Image resulting from substance is what we are looking for. Show people you are on the team for all the right reasons and you can be counted on to be there when they need you. This includes being there for your teammates and coaches after your playing days are over.
In my later years I have been consumed by the tragedy of sports, especially in the area of development. We have done the best we can do with the knowledge we have at our camp. As the years go by, we find we need more and more knowledge. This stems from observing both highly skilled and supposedly predictable players, as well as those with a blend of upside and skill, who fail to become what others believe and/or predicted they would be. Skill, training and the intangibles will decide our fate.
I am on a continuous search for Peace of Mind and every year I get closer. Moments like this bring me closer. I will admit that I’ve spent most of life trying to prove to people I can graduate, play, coach, scout, and manage. I’ve always had to prove to others that I am better than they think I am. It all started with sports and schooling in the early years, then it was the Marine Corps, proving to others I could graduate from college and going on to get my Masters with 80 credits toward my Doctorate. I’ve spent a lifetime proving myself to others and to myself and I don’t regret that. I love being an underdog type of guy and I will always have that chip on my shoulder mentality we need to sustain and continue to grow.
Think big; believe big and big things will happen if you apply a dose of determination. I used to love going to the state tournament for two reasons. Number one, young people matured probably one full year under that pressure and you could not afford to pay for the positive exposure for the school and community. They also had more time to assess their “blind spots”, something we all need to do.
Treasure the memories, make it all part of the mix, but I hope the memories you share go way beyond your high school years when you reach my age. Thanks to all of Bemidji
-Ole Gringo-
24621 So Clark Lake Rd P.O. Box 90 Nisswa, MN 56468-0090
Phone 218.96.2444 Fax 218.963.2325 Email chuck@mnhockeycamps.com
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