PPPPeat – Part 2 of 4: Practice

This goes out to one of my childhood friends Jason Crafton, current assistant coach for the Delaware Blue Coats, of the G League.  Keep elevating homie! Get to the uppest room.

AND NOW, Ladies & Gentleman, my lord and basketball savior: Allen Iverson:

THE YEAR: 1991: Practice always seemed like a word muddied in macabre in my formative years. If my memory serves correct, I was putting in endless hours, forced no less – practicing the cumbersome instrument that is the Viola. I was good – no great: NYSMA certified.  So good, that I would lead the solos in the Christmas Show backed by the rest of the orchestra.  I was better than most.  VIOLA! Made sense; I practiced the most.  

“I will prepare and someday my chance will come.” – Abraham Lincoln

But that wasn’t on my mind.  What was NHL 92’ on Sega Genesis in the winter. ..

Minimizing my time doing homework or practicing my bow & arrow string game, I would rather be practicing by myself so when Anthony or the other other Ralph came I would kick they a**.
 Summer time, was reserved for Basketball.

I fell in love with the game and played anytime I could.  Word to Kadisha & 6th grade – no one could touch me. I could pass like no other.  I would watch John Stockton and Gary Payton, my idols, who helped me pattern my skills through watching highlight videos of them making the greatest passes I’ve ever seen.  And of course Magic Johnson.

In 1991, my front yard didn’t have a Basketball Court yet.  Instead, I had a fragile garage that couldn’t take a one-handed Stockton like assist.  But there were two brick pillars that flanked the garage, with four little windows up top that made it festoon in aesthetics, yet perfect to practice those crazy passes I’ve seen from the legends I’ve seen on NBA Inside Stuff.
 
That was my calling card.  If you ever shared the court with me in my playing days, you remember the passes that I’ve thrown to you making my assist totals go all the way up.  I just treated you like those two brick pillars that were the beginning and end of said garage.  

Jason was good.  Not as good as me, but when I ended up going to Catholic school, and he,  private school.  We lost touch, even though he lived parallel to me; I lived on South Drive, he lived on Center Drive, and surely I could throw a Kevin Love type outlet pass and it would hit the beginning of his backyard.  

And so, I would play and play at the park, and get much better, each day. Me and the other other Ralph would wake up, and look at our backyard.  The park, literally, was ours,  separated by a fence like the one Trump so desperately wants to build. Lo and behold, the sweltering summer heat, did no favors, and so Ralph and Ralph would just stay at the crib, because now it’s 1995 and no one’s at the park.

But ennui was an omnipresent plight for a 14 year old, so we went up to the park anyway.  Lo and behold, Jason was there, doing drills.  Shooting, suicides, footwork patterns.  There’s no way he can be better than me.  We weren’t in 6th grade anymore.  And while I was honing my skills of passing in game, he was putting in REAL work, PRACTICING outside of the game.  He was playing the GAME. WITHIN. THE. GAME.

“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
– Vince Lombardi

And that’s when the same road that we were both on diverged.  He practiced and elevated.  He was a star in high school, while I was a star in lay up lines on my respective basketball team.  He played in college, while I played the rec center in college.  I often think of what would have happened to me had I joined Jason in his individual pursuit to be great on his own.  But I lacked the maturity to do such things. Yet, I could still pass my a** off!!! One thing I got on Jason – he’ll never be the David S. Mack Recreation Center legend like moi.

“Used to tell they friends I was ugly and wouldn’t touch me; then they showed up in the dubbed out buggy.”
– Jay-Z

But now I see what happens when you immerse yourself in things.  I’ve reffed ad nausea, and even more nauseous is the reps of writing every day since 2002. The hangover is real. My pen game is damn near a senior in high school, and my writs about to go to college.  But I already feel like I have a PHD, I’ll be legal very soon. Please don’t look in awe. This type of ish is typed every-damn-day.

And so, you can see illustrated above in all things aforementioned, the importance of practice.  There’s this simple formula to master anything.  Malcolm Gladwell famously discussed his theory of 10,000 hours. In his book Outliers, the formula to be a master at anything is immersing yourself in those 10,000 hours. Surely that doesn’t sound appealing.  But there won’t be a 10,000th hour if there isn’t a 1st.  This will help you get started on the right mindset, moving forward, on the importance of Practicing.

OFF THE FIELD

OBSERVATION – We want to see more plays, and you can only see so many games.  Watch when you’re paid, and when your not.  Volunteer your corneas to games both corny and elite.  The more you see plays in any sport you choose, it counts as mental reps.  Hopefully, the more you see it, the more you be it, especially when it counts the most.  The knowledge that you gain is invaluable and tacit – it’s a feeling for what you are seeing, what you are doing that is difficult to put into words but easy to demonstrate in action.  When you’re starting out, tag along with a referee friend.  Gain knowledge by seeing them boogie.  Next thing you know the boogie board will be passed on to you. Then it’ll be time to ride the wave.  

“This lifestyle’s forever when you made
They tweet about the length I made ‘em wait
What the f*ck do you expect, when a ni**a got a cape and he’s great?”
– Pusha T

SERVE AS AN APPRENTICE – At some point, as you progress through these initial months of observation, you will enter the most critical part of the apprenticeship: practice toward the acquisition of skills.  It’s time to find a mentor at that point. Because every human activity, endeavor, or career path involves the mastering of skills.  In some fields, it is direct and obvious, like operating a tool or machine or creating something physical.  In others, it is more of a mix of the physical and mental, such as the observing and collecting specimens for Charles Darwin.  In still others, the skills are more nebulous, such as handling people or researching and organizing information.  As much as possible, you want to reduce these skills to something simple and essential – the core of what you need to get good at, skills that can be practiced.  Find someone that has a bike, and grab his shoulders riding on the pegs. Hold on tight, cause you’re still responsible for you.

CONNECTIONS WITH EVERYDAY LIFE – Sports is a major part of an official’s lives.  You can hear it on a podcast, or you may see an inspirational quote online, or you can even see a friend that talks about something completely unrelated.  Sports and officiating is a microcosm of everyday life.  For an example, I don’t use the science over, or microwave.  I just don’t mess with induction. I rather wait for my food. I got really good at cooking when my wife was pregnant with my first born, Ma$e.  But it took patience, and of course, practice.  Just because I wasn’t proficient with cooking, I got better with patience and practice.  

“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”
– Abraham Lincoln

ON THE CLOCK

BE BETTER THAN BEST – No one is better than you being you.  If you’re just starting out have the mindset of mastering the game you are officiating.  If it’s a CYO game with 4th-grade girls, say that you will be the best official on the game. If you are doing the World Series, it should be the same mindful acuteness. Focus on mastering what you are doing, that way you can tackle challenges, bite-size.  If you mentally prepare like every game is a championship game, you won’t have to arrive, you’ll already be there.  

“But really the fact is, we not in the same bracket
Not in the same league,
don’t shoot at the same baskets
Don’t pay the same taxes,
hang with the same bi**hes
So how am I in the way, what is it I’m missing?”
– Jay-Z

WORK ON ONE THING, EACH TIME YOU GO OUT – Today, in my Basketball game, I’m going to work on putting my arm straight up and down, when administering a foul.  That is my sole focus on what I want to get better.  Equity comes with repetition.  When I feel as though I’ve mastered that, I will move on to one aspect of my game.  See – you can still practice, even in the game.  

MECHANICS don’t get great overnight.  Neither does rules.  You may know it, but you haven’t seen it yet.  Practice makes perfect permanent. 

The final 2 P’s next week.  New pod tomorrow.  Until then – 
Ralph the Ref.

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln

Further Reading:
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
Mastery – Robert Greene 
Think & Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill