Dawn Staley on the pressure of the Tokyo games

[SCcocks4ever]

Dawn Staley on the pressure of Tokyo Games: ‘I’ve had feelings that I’ve never had before as a head coach’

After going an undefeated 3-0 in group play, the U.S. women’s national basketball team has reached the knockout stage in Tokyo as it continues its run for a sev…

theundefeated.com

 

[SCexpat38]

That's a good read, thanks.

I think there's always been pressure and it's always been lonely at the top, but with the various forms of media -- traditional media, internet media, social media -- there's so much nonstop noise now it's harder than ever to escape it, and that just piles on top of everything else going on in the world.

 

[92Pony]

This can only sharpen Dawn's coaching skills/abilities, and boost her popularity in the women's basketball world. For them to win gold will be great for the USA team, and great for the USC team!

 

[Bubbaglide]

Interesting to hear CDS thoughts on the pressure of the gold. We are fortunate to have her as our coach. The legend of AW continues to grow

 

[redrogers]

That's a good read, thanks.

I think there's always been pressure and it's always been lonely at the top, but with the various forms of media -- traditional media, internet media, social media -- there's so much nonstop noise now it's harder than ever to escape it, and that just piles on top of everything else going on in the world.

Social media is a fickle bitch! All of us geezers have no clue what it’s like today, there’s judgement everywhere. Dawn has harnessed the expectations,understands them, and has attacked them full throttle.
She is driven and will coach a long time, like V. Stringer. She will never be in a quilt club, she’s too hyper competitive and hopefully she will retire here in (15 ?)years. Don’t think she isn’t after 3 Nattys…., the GOAT at USC is the motivation for her.

 

[king ward]

It's a heavy burden, especially when winning the gold is all that will do.

 

[TAV31]

Well let's keep in my mind this is sports. Real pressure is real life. Not something involving succeeding in sports. This woman just wrecked in front of my house 20 minutes ago. She's screaming the babies are missing. Try being all of us trying to find these missing children at 2am. We still haven't found them, she isn't talking now. There's 20 cops panicking right now looking. This isn't fun. This is pressure!

 

[Cackdiesel]

Well let's keep in my mind this is sports. Real pressure is real life. Not something involving succeeding in sports. This woman just wrecked in front of my house 20 minutes ago. She's screaming the babies are missing. Try being all of us trying to find these missing children at 2am. We still haven't found them, she isn't talking now. There's 20 cops panicking right now looking. This isn't fun. This is pressure!

Agree. The pressure many of these athletes and coaches talk about is comical. I'm not directing this at Coach Staley.

 

[Gamecock122]

Well let's keep in my mind this is sports. Real pressure is real life. Not something involving succeeding in sports. This woman just wrecked in front of my house 20 minutes ago. She's screaming the babies are missing. Try being all of us trying to find these missing children at 2am. We still haven't found them, she isn't talking now. There's 20 cops panicking right now looking. This isn't fun. This is pressure!

Hat has happened now that daylight is here?

 

[USC GRAD 84]

Well let's keep in my mind this is sports. Real pressure is real life. Not something involving succeeding in sports. This woman just wrecked in front of my house 20 minutes ago. She's screaming the babies are missing. Try being all of us trying to find these missing children at 2am. We still haven't found them, she isn't talking now. There's 20 cops panicking right now looking. This isn't fun. This is pressure!

This is a sports forum so nothing wrong with discussing expectations and pressures that go along with competition. I think most of us can navigate what's life threatening and what's truly important and put it all in perspective. There's a tremendous amount on pressure on Dawn and the US. It's Gold or failure. I don't think she's going to fail.

 

[gamecockruth]

That is a great article...Dawn gets it, totally

 

[paladin181]

Well let's keep in my mind this is sports. Real pressure is real life. Not something involving succeeding in sports. This woman just wrecked in front of my house 20 minutes ago. She's screaming the babies are missing. Try being all of us trying to find these missing children at 2am. We still haven't found them, she isn't talking now. There's 20 cops panicking right now looking. This isn't fun. This is pressure!

Having been on a sports team and been in combat situations, there is definitely parity between the two. I never once looked at the situation I was in playing football and said "This is stressful, but it least it isn't life or death!" At that moment, it's all there is. The pressure is just as real. I never once looked at my LPO and said "You know, all that stuff I went through before wasn't tough at all compared to this." Sports prepared me accurately to handle the pressures of life and death moments. Sure, being in armed combat was more stressful, but it's not like I was competing at the Olympics in football, either.

The truth is, you don't know how something will pressure you and how that pressure will affect you until it does. There are people who find social stress harder than life or death decisions, hence you get people who die in fires because they want to save their possessions or get dressed before they leave the house. People who lose their earnings in the stock market or other financial collapse often choose suicide over the disgrace of that loss to their friends. My wife worked at a country club in 2007-2010 as a massage therapist, and the suicide rate there was unbelievable after the housing bubble burst. These people weren't broke, but lost a fair bit. It was very likely the disgrace of the loss that caused several of them to crack. You think you know what real pressure is? You probably do. But don't think that the pressure someone else is facing is less than yours simply because the stakes are lower to you. The importance of events is different to everyone, and that is what makes an event stressful or not.

 

[USC GRAD 84]

Having been on a sports team and been in combat situations, their is definitely parity between the two. I never once looked at the situation I was in playing football and said "This is stressful, but it least it isn't life or death!" At that moment, it's all there is. The pressure is just as real. I never once looked at my LPO and said "You know, all that stuff I went through before wasn't tough at all compared to this." Sports prepared me accurately to handle the pressures of life and death moments. Sure, being in armed combat was more stressful, but it's not like I was competing at the Olympics in football, either.

The truth is, you don't know how something will pressure you and how that pressure will affect you until it does. There are people who find social stress harder than life or death decisions, hence you get people who die in fires because they want to save their possessions or get dressed before they leave the house. People who lose their earnings in the stock market or other financial collapse often choose suicide over the disgrace of that loss to their friends. My wife worked at a country club in 2007-2010 as a massage therapist, and the suicide rate there was unbelievable after the housing bubble burst. These people weren't broke, but lost a fair bit. It was very likely the disgrace of the loss that caused several of them to crack. You think you know what real pressure is? You probably do. But don't think that the pressure someone else is facing is less than yours simply because the stakes are lower to you. The importance of events is different to everyone, and that is what makes an event stressful or not.

Great insight and all true. Well said.

 

[FCB 2013 treble]

Pressure sure does exist with college head football coaches. If you are not successful then you are attacked on social media, news and at the game itself. football coaches families could also be targeted for harassment. During football season, coaches kind of make their football offices their second home. Pressure is not limited to just sports, but in everyday life. I feel like if you have not felt pressure, you must not be alive.

 

[CockySC01]

There is pressure on athletes. Everyone wants to win but only 1 person or team can. What is much more stressful then a track meet or a gym match are everyday day things. Like worrying if you can pay the bills, taking care of your sick family members, getting up at at 4:30am to work 5 days a week.

 

[DarkCock]

The team looked better today against Australia than they have all tournament. I'm kind of shocked how much Dawn has been playing Breanna Stewart: 35 minutes a game. She doesn't normally play anyone that many minutes at USC, much less an Olympic team.

 

[winloseortie]

The team looked better today against Australia than they have all tournament. I'm kind of shocked how much Dawn has been playing Breanna Stewart: 35 minutes a game. She doesn't normally play anyone that many minutes at USC, much less an Olympic team.

Henny played 35 minutes a game last year as she was the only true PG on the team. Fortunately for DS, both Stewart and Henny are in superior condition. The best conditioned athletes on their respective teams.
Boston 30mpg and Cooke 32mpg played too many minutes last year. Beal played 27 mpg.
All four will play less minutes this year and be just as productive.

 

[king ward]

Agree. The pressure many of these athletes and coaches talk about is comical. I'm not directing this at Coach Staley.

If you feel that way, then why would you exclude her?

 

[Cackdiesel]

If you feel that way, then why would you exclude her?

I'm not singling her out.

 

[king ward]

I'm not excluding her as much as I'm not singling her out.

Hers was the only single name you mentioned. That threw me.

 

[SCexpat38]

Having been on a sports team and been in combat situations, there is definitely parity between the two. I never once looked at the situation I was in playing football and said "This is stressful, but it least it isn't life or death!" At that moment, it's all there is. The pressure is just as real. I never once looked at my LPO and said "You know, all that stuff I went through before wasn't tough at all compared to this." Sports prepared me accurately to handle the pressures of life and death moments. Sure, being in armed combat was more stressful, but it's not like I was competing at the Olympics in football, either.

The truth is, you don't know how something will pressure you and how that pressure will affect you until it does. There are people who find social stress harder than life or death decisions, hence you get people who die in fires because they want to save their possessions or get dressed before they leave the house. People who lose their earnings in the stock market or other financial collapse often choose suicide over the disgrace of that loss to their friends. My wife worked at a country club in 2007-2010 as a massage therapist, and the suicide rate there was unbelievable after the housing bubble burst. These people weren't broke, but lost a fair bit. It was very likely the disgrace of the loss that caused several of them to crack. You think you know what real pressure is? You probably do. But don't think that the pressure someone else is facing is less than yours simply because the stakes are lower to you. The importance of events is different to everyone, and that is what makes an event stressful or not.

Well put.

I was lucky never to see combat having ETS'd well before before the endless war started, but I tend to recall in boot camp those live bullets going over my head at Fort Sill seemed to give me some added incentive to get the hell to where I was supposed to be, which was out from under them.

I've covered a good bit of prep sports in my job as a weekly newspaper hack, and if I've learned anything it's that coaching is a pressure packed situation.

In an ideal world it wouldn't be -- we'd learn these are just games and maybe we'd back off a little and grow up a lot.

Anyhow, I get butterflies teeing off in front of strangers down at the local club, so don't listen to me.

 

[Cackdiesel]

Hers was the only single name you mentioned. That threw me.

Her name is the only name in thread title.

 

[king ward]

Her name is the only name in thread title.

I had forgotten about her until you reminded me. It had become a discussion about pressure in athletics generally, as in other things.

 

[Cackdiesel]

I had forgotten about her until you reminded me. It had become a discussion about pressure in athletics generally, as in other things.

The title of the thread begins with her name. The article posted is about her and has a picture of her. The post you responded to was the 8th post in the thread. Of the prior 7 posts, Dawn is specifically mentioned 4 times. Trust me, we hadn't strayed too far from the original topic by post #8.

You sure you're in the right thread?

 

[king ward]

The title of the thread begins with her name. The article posted is about her and has a picture of her. The post you responded to was the 8th post in the thread. Of the prior 7 posts, Dawn is specifically mentioned 4 times. Trust me, we hadn't strayed too far from the original topic by post #8.

You sure you're in the right thread?

Yes, same thread, different day, backloaded emphasis.

 

[Cackdiesel]

Yes, same thread, different day, backloaded emphasis.

Perhaps you need a nap.

 

[king ward]

Perhaps you need a nap.

And perhaps not.

 

[Cackdiesel]

And perhaps not.

You're right, its probably one of those two choices.

 

[fowl_mood]

Having been on a sports team and been in combat situations, there is definitely parity between the two. I never once looked at the situation I was in playing football and said "This is stressful, but it least it isn't life or death!" At that moment, it's all there is. The pressure is just as real. I never once looked at my LPO and said "You know, all that stuff I went through before wasn't tough at all compared to this." Sports prepared me accurately to handle the pressures of life and death moments. Sure, being in armed combat was more stressful, but it's not like I was competing at the Olympics in football, either.

The truth is, you don't know how something will pressure you and how that pressure will affect you until it does. There are people who find social stress harder than life or death decisions, hence you get people who die in fires because they want to save their possessions or get dressed before they leave the house. People who lose their earnings in the stock market or other financial collapse often choose suicide over the disgrace of that loss to their friends. My wife worked at a country club in 2007-2010 as a massage therapist, and the suicide rate there was unbelievable after the housing bubble burst. These people weren't broke, but lost a fair bit. It was very likely the disgrace of the loss that caused several of them to crack. You think you know what real pressure is? You probably do. But don't think that the pressure someone else is facing is less than yours simply because the stakes are lower to you. The importance of events is different to everyone, and that is what makes an event stressful or not.

"The truth is, you don't know how something will pressure you and how that pressure will affect you until it does."

Very insightful, Paladin. Its exactly these moments where the pressure ratchets up. When we know it's going to be hard, we can somewhat prepare. But honestly, like you say, until you are in it, you never know how you will react.

 

[taiwancock]

That is a great article...Dawn gets it, totally

We're blessed to have her.