TUNNEY-SIDE-OF-THE-STREET

#94 October 16 2006
Welcome to this week's message from the Tunney-Side-Of-The-Street. You are encouraged to share this with fellow workers, family and friends.

After further review -

LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY is an age-old expression, which is the basis of a T*E*A*M (Together Everyone Accomplishes More). The chemistry of a T*E*A*M works better if you lead or follow directions. If you don't wish to do either, then don't be a distraction.

Distraction has become an issue for some NFL teams already this 2006 season. T.O. comes to mind. As one sportscaster said, "That act getting is old". NFL films seem to find T.O. during his temper tantrums. When I pulled that as a kid, I got a T.O. - meaning a "time-out", and sent to my room. We need to send T.O.'s tantrums to a quiet room, and not display such behavior on national TV.

Distraction happened to the Tennessee Titans in their game vs. the Dallas Cowboys recently. Albert Haynesworth, Titans' defensive tackle, not only kicked (reason enough for disqualification) but followed that by "stomping" - that's right stomping - his foot on the forehead of Dallas Cowboy Andre Gurode. Haynesworth was ejected, followed by a tongue-lashing from Titans' Head Coach, Jeff Fisher. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped up by suspending Haynesworth for five games, which cost Haynesworth about $500,000 (yes, half a million) in wages. Haynesworth has since expressed his regrets. "Sorry" is not enough.

Never in my 31 years as an NFL Referee have I seen such a despicable act. Oh, I've seen some vicious hits, but "stomping" on a guy's head? Never! How does this happen? For starters, Haynesworth, by his own admission, has a "temper" problem. The NFL has suggested it may require him to take a course in "anger management". ANGER MANAGEMENT is what football is all about!

Football is a T*E*A*M game where self-discipline and self-sacrifice are vital to the success of the T*E*A*M. The NFL game today is played with extreme physical intensity. In the NFL games of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s that I refereed, there were some vicious "hits", but the players were under better control than they are today.

Some of today's NFL players seem to have lost the "spirit" of competition. It's not a street fight. Block hard, tackle hard, knowing that your opponent will be doing the same to you. But look at the game for what it was designed to be: a body-to-body contact sport or as it was once called by legendary Coach Vince Lombardi - a collision sport. However, do it with a healthy spirit of competition keeping your emotions under control.

Will you contribute to your T*E*A*M or be a distraction?

Look for my book
It's the Will, Not the Skill
Principles and philosophies of success
For more information about Jim Tunney, go to www.jimtunney.com
Visit my blog for the entire collection of my Tunney Sides:
http://tunney-side-of-the-street.blogspot.com

ARTICLE TAGLINE FOR JIM TUNNEY, Ed.D., CSP, CPAE

Copyright © 2003 Jim Tunney. All rights reserved.
You can visit Jim's website at http://www.jimtunney.com

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