Acclaimed character sports coach author retires

SALT LAKE CITY — Just three days after Judge Memorial Catholic High School played for the 3A state championship title, longtime coaching icon James Yerkovich announced to his team he was retiring.

“I don’t have the energy I used to have to run the quality basketball program I would like,” said Yerkovich of his 44 years at Judge Memorial Catholic High School. “We still have that kind of program, thanks to two of the most loyal assistants any coach could have in Dan Del Porto and Marty Giovacchini.”

Yerkovich had 634 wins. His teams have participated in 38 state tournaments with three state championships and six runner-up finishes.

Yerkovich has had five operations over the past five years, including open-heart surgery and two knee replacements. The heart surgery left him with nerve problems in his right hand.

In addition to his long tenure as head basketball coach, for the past 20 years he has been the academic vice principal at Judge. He also taught A.P. calculus for 25 years.

“The past 44 years have been filled with great people, players and coaches who have built a strong Judge community,” said Yerkovich. “I’ve always felt that coaching is really at the high school level because that is where you can have so much impact on the lives of the players.”

In a blog on the Deseret News site, former Real Salt Lake soccer player Adam Acosta, who was a student of Yerkovich’s, said he grew up dreaming of playing for Yerkovich. “As a kid I idolized his teams, players, philosophy and him. Then I was fortunate enough to play under him for three years, and I can honestly say there has never been a more influential coach or man,” said Acosta.

Yerkovich asked Acosta to be an assistant coach for the varsity and junior varsity basketball teams. Acosta also coaches the sophomore basketball team and the soccer team.

“I will never forget the words he said to me as a player, ‘You are always going to make mistakes on and off the court, but ask yourself if you are a better man.’ In this day and age, not many coaches encourage that,” said Acosta. “He did and I thank him.”

“He is a remarkable person,” said Dan Quinn, Judge Memorial director of athletics. “Coach Yerkovich has done some amazing things over the five decades he has been here, both in the NCAA by putting Judge Memorial on the map and I can’t tell you how many kids he has gotten into college because of athletics and/or academics. We are going to miss him. He will be a legendary coach. Since he announced his retirement, the phone has not stopped ringing with well-wishers.”

Yerkovich is a 1961 Judge Memorial graduate. He knew in high school he would go on to play college basketball, major in math, and return to Judge to teach math and coach basketball.

“I feel very blessed,” said Yerkovich. “The highlights of my career include participating 13 times in the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament (ACIT) in Cumberland, Md. We won three Consolation Championships, and in 1990, defeated two nationally ranked Washington, D.C. teams to make it to the championship game and become the runner-up. Winning was never our main goal because we played against the best teams in the nation. It was more to give the team the experience. We will participate in the 50th ACIT from March 18-20.”

The other highlight was writing “We: A Model for Coaching and Christian Living,” with Jesuit Father Patrick Kelly, he said. “You try to teach the kids to be the best athlete they can be, but at the same time teach them life skills.”

In his retirement, Yerkovich plans to travel as much as he can with his wife, Betty, and spend time with his family.

The NBA season

http://technorati.com/sports/article/are-the-denver-nuggets-championship-contenders/

In listening to basketball gossip surrounding this year's NBA season it appears as though the season was decided and done with before it even began. From the get go all that has been discussed and covered by the media is how great this year's finals will be between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now it is a well known fact that both of these teams are very good, and each have their own respective super star, but why is every other team in the league already being ruled out as a contender? With such emphasis being put on these two teams as the sole contenders, is league management trying to micro manage how the season plays out, to ensure that what fans "want to see" is delivered? The article above briefly discusses the Denver Nuggets as being contenders for this years title, but due to their rough edged personality, they have in a sense been given the back seat by the media. Can it then be said that the league is trying to promote what is sees as best for its image, or will what happens the court be the only contributor to who is really the best team?
Andrew Scheid
Social Foundations of Coaching
ND 2010

NCAA Tournament- too much?

There is talk of the field of 64 (now 65 officially) expanding to 128 teams for the Men’s NCAA Basketball tournament. There is also something along the lines of 90 hours straight of Bracketology and analysis and the like leading up to the first game of the Men’s Tournament. At what point does this become too much? How many games or replays or plays or analysis or predictions do we need to go through until we have reached a breaking point? I think that point is just about here and is dangerously close to turning some fans away.

A 96- or 128-team bracket is too much for “The Dance”. March Madness is crazy enough to begin with. We do not need to add to the insane happenings that go on throughout the month. Now, many of the teams who make it to their conference finals would have a shot at making the tournament because of the expanded field. This takes away from the excitement of the conference finals and puts the focus on the semifinals. There also becomes a great deal of uncertainty and debate over who should get those newly-added bids. The current format works- it fits easily into a 3 week tournament with plenty of excitement to go around. There are the shots that sends teams into the championship game with a shot at making the dance, and then that back-and-forth finals game that comes down to free throws to determine who gets the automatic bid. As a sports fan, there are few, if any, more thrilling times during the year. I think an expansion of the field would take a little bit away from this. Leave the field at 65 teams.

Led by sports giant ESPN, there is now more analysis of the games and teams and scenarios than you ever hope to keep track of. ESPN is touting its marathon of NCAA basketball coverage leading up to the first round games. It has nearly 90 straight hours planned of continuous college basketball games, information, and analysis. I am sure that the national champion and Final Four teams will be predicted a few dozen times. There will be talk of who just missed the tournament, which region has a favorable draw for the top seeds, who needs to watch out for first-round upsets, who could be a dark horse and make a run, and many more topics. I enjoy watching general highlights of that and seeing a few predictions, but this had gotten out of hand. Digger Phelps will exhaust the small numbers he pulled away from team stats and will be using as an indicator or how a particular team will do. Again, this is interesting to watch in limited exposure. However, this had gone too far. Give us quality, not quantity. I want to see a few good things to look for or potential dangers teams could face, not a laundry list. Keep the excitement level high with and do not ruin it with all of these expert opinions- too much of any thing can be bad, and we are reaching that level now with the coverage and analysis.

March Madness. This is the most exciting time of the year. There is constant jubilation and triumph juxtaposed to heartbreak. The thrill of watching kids who love to play the game makes for a very distracting 3 weeks, a distraction I am more than happy to have. Do not ruin it with expansion or over-analysis. Let the kids do all the talking on the court; they have been doing a pretty good so far.

Sean Stefancin ND ‘12
Social Foundations of Coaching Course
University of Notre Dame

Tiger Woods: Sincere or Staged?

If you have watched any news program over the past three months, you may have heard the name “Tiger Woods” mentioned more than once. It is no secret that the life of Tiger Woods has changed over the past several months, particularly following his car crash on the evening of Thanksgiving. Tiger has always lived under a spotlight when it comes to his actions on the golf course, but following his car crash and after admitting his “transgressions”, Tiger will now live in a world of scrutiny that has recently been unsurpassed for any athlete. Many anxiously waited for answers to questions or a public apology in the weeks following the incident that took place in November, yet the only actions of the sort came as an apology via his website. In addition, Woods seemed to vanish into thin air as he was not seen in public for nearly three months following his Thanksgiving accident.
For some, the day of February 19th would be a chance to find some answers after Woods announced that he would have a press conference at the PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. However, after the details of the “press conference” were revealed, many realized that they might not get the answers to the questions that they hoped. Tiger, being the superstar that he is, planned to read a personal statement to a select group of media. In addition, he announced that he would not be taking questions.
The statement by Tiger Woods on the 19th proved to be a media field day. A number of networks, including those with no relation to sports, carried his 13 minute statement. As Woods read his statement, the mood of the room was rather gloomy. He read the statement to a group of friends and supporters, of which included his mother. As Tiger read his statement, he made the obvious admissions and apologies. However, as he finished his statement and as the media began to analyze his work, the real question became whether Tiger Woods was being sincere in his apologetic statement, or whether his entire statement was a planned and staged media event.
Arguments can be made for both sides of Tiger’s statement made on February 19th. Some feel that he was reading from his heart, while others still feel that he was insincere. In a recent poll conducted by ABC and ESPN, only 54 percent of voters responded that they felt Tiger was being sincere. No matter the view, there is no question that the game of golf will sorely miss the playing of Tiger Woods in his leave of absence. As a golf enthusiast, I am still not quite sure of my opinion on Tiger’s “transgressions” and other actions of the past several months; however I do know that the PGA Tour will not be the same until he returns to the game of golf.

John Lytle
Notre Dame ‘10
Social Foundations of Coaching

Tiger Woods’ Scandal Coming to a Close?

Beginning on November 27, 2009, a series of events took place that would have Tiger Woods’ image changed forever. No longer the squeaky clean, role-model athlete he once was, Tiger now looks to make a return to golf, possibly eyeing the April 8th Masters at Augusta, or perhaps the Arnold Palmer Invitation in hometown Orlando, which takes place at the end of the month. The question remains however, how will he deal with the inevitable questions that he will face upon his return? Guaranteed whichever date he chooses will be well thought out and strategized to no end. On one hand, the Arnold Palmer Invitational would be much smaller, less media and overall crowds due to the magnitude of the event, and the competition would be softer. The event would be a tune-up for the Masters, which, as a major, will get much more attention, regardless of Tiger’s attendance. However, the Masters is able to protect Tiger like the API wouldn’t be able. Media and crowd control is a hallmark of the event, and Tiger would even be able to sneak in practice rounds because he is a member of the club. There are much stricter rules for media, who have allotted time and location for interaction with golfers, and fans, and are typically less rowdy than the run of the mill tournament-goer.
This decision is not nearly as arbitrary as it may seem, as the way in which Tiger will face questions about all of what has taken place over the past five plus months could greatly very between these two events. Because Tiger has sort of put his paw in his mouth, so to speak, he will eventually hear questions which he has yet to answer. The level of outrageousness is likely to vary from tasteful to the most personal, inappropriate, non-golf related questions, perhaps even involving his family. If Tiger doesn’t want to hear these in press conference question form, he can try his luck at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he is likely to hear them, and other flat out mean spirited remarks, shouted from the gallery just as he is midway through his backstroke; except no snapping back at the fans this time, those days are over. Despite smaller, typically less media covered event that is the API, he would be much better off within the safety nets of the Masters, where the PGAs most prized possession can be cradled and protected from hecklers and unruly TV and internet media hounds (I wasn’t pointing any fingers at you TMZ, take a seat). However, he better hope he still has his flare for the dramatics and ability to succeed in trying circumstances, or else there will be little golf to talk about to steer away from the questions he is sure to field about his personal life.

Raymond Lieu
ESS 33606, Social Foundations of Coaching
Clark Power/ Kristin Sheehan

Everybody's a Critic

Celebrity culture in the United States has spiraled out of control. Focusing more closely on athletics, Americans worship and idolize athletes in the arena, on the field, on the racecourse, or in the Stadium. American society makes these competitors into role models by adoring their physical talents and scrutinizing their decisions both on and off the field. They feel the need to pry into the personal lives of these athletes. Americans want to know what athletes wear, who they date, what they drink, etc. But the worst part of this idolatry is that society loves to see the heroes fall. Whenever one of these athletes make a poor decision or makes a mistake, every newspaper, tabloid, and magazine has a feature on that competitor the next day. In addition, there is a profession in which people get paid based on taking compromising pictures of these athletes.

One example of this ridiculous athletes scrutiny is highlighted by the large amount of publicity that follows poor decisions made on the field. For instance, at the end of 2009, after the Patriots played the Bills, Tom Brady faced criticism for his poor decision. Although his team won the game, Brady still faced censure for over a week following the game. Articles stated that he was uncreative with his play calls, made poor decisions, choked under pressure, etc. Apparently, “everybody’s a critic.” Obviously, there is something to playing professional sports that makes it challenging. When playing a game, a match, a race, etc. everything occurs so quickly that mistakes can easily occur whether its making a poor call during a football game, starting a sprint to fast in a race, etc. A competitor makes such a large amount of decisions in the matter of a split second that it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize.

Another highly publicized example is Tiger Woods and his recent scandal in November 2009. This is not defending his choices, but merely stating that who is anyone to judge how Tiger Woods lives his life. At first glance, Tiger Woods crashed his car and rumors of an argument with his wife circulated the web. A few days later, rumors of infidelity spread though the internet, and then finally it was confirmed. Every newspaper, magazine, and tabloid had articles featuring Tiger Woods’ infidelity with lists of the women he had sex with, interviews with his sex partners, and details of how Woods would commit his acts of disloyalty. Despite Woods’ efforts to conceal his mistakes, the media continued to press him until the story finally came out. After this story came about people began to scrutinize his behavior on the golf course. The poor decisions he made in his personal life did not affect his vulgar language on the golf course. He had poor sportsmanship before his infidelities became public, but his vulgar language only became an issue once his loyalty came into question. In any case, it has been two months and new stories about Woods’ scandal are still in the newspapers.

It’s remarkable how quickly rumors spread, how penetrating the media can be, and how quickly people are to judge. These athletes are only human. It is human nature to make mistakes. A human cannot grow and mature without mistakes. Why else would we always create a delete button or an eraser? Mistakes are inevitable, so who is anyone to judge someone else? In the Bible, didn’t Jesus say, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?” I think the questions that America needs to ask itself are, “When is enough, enough? When should someone’s private life remain private?” There should be a line somewhere, shouldn’t there?

Rachael Louie

Social Foundations of Coaching

ND 2010