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Any guesses on what the #1 sport is in the United States? Some might guess baseball. At this time of year with the big game at hand, many would say football. How about NASCAR? Tennis? Golf? If you guessed any of these, you’re wrong. The top sport not only in the United States, but around the world is Bird Watching. That’s right. Not even soccer tops bird watching worldwide. Let’s take a look at my list of top reasons why birding is the SUPER sport.

-Anyone - regardless of age or conditioning - can enjoy Bird Watching
-Bird Watching reduces stress as it helps us to slow down
-You can watch birds virtually anywhere
-Bird Watching connects us with friends, family and nature
-Great memories are made from Bird Watching with others
-There is always something new in Bird Watching
-Bird Watching is a lifetime activity
-You’ll end up in new places when Bird Watching

Whether you are competitive or not, bird watching is a sport that will provide you with an unlimited supply of thrills and pure enjoyment. The tools and time needed to watch birds are minimal, unless you catch the fever. Once you feel the adrenaline-charged excitement of seeing birds in their natural habitat you’ll ask yourself - “Have these birds been here all along? Why didn’t I try this before?”

Next time the big game is on, take a peek out the nearest window; and when you spot a bird you’ll understand why bird watching really is the SUPER sport! For the time of your life, slow down and watch the birds. Get Outdoors!

Chuck Fitzgerald, The Outdoor Guy, has written a beginner’s guide to bird watching call “Learning to Bird.” Visit http://www.birdwatchingebook.com to see just how easy and how much fun Bird Watching really is. Chuck is the owner of Arizona based BackCountry Toys, an online store helping you to have fun in the great outdoors. To get maximum enjoyment out of your outdoor life, visit http://www.BackCountryToys.com where you’ll find great gear and the Tips & Tales e-newsletter, “FreshAir.” (800) 316-9055.

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Well for over 100 races now (113 to be exact), we have been anticipating the day that Jenson Button would win his first grand prix. Right through his career with Williams, then BAR and now Honda all the UK have labelled Jenson as the new Nigel Mansell or Damon Hill, but race after race something would go wrong with reliability issues of just a lack of pace would put Jensen on the podium at best but not on first place. But on a rainy day in Hungary in August 2006 his fortunes would change. Who would have guessed that after a 10-place penalty for changing an engine he would start from 14th place on the grid to storming win?

It was a historic race all round with Alonso suffering a 2 second penalty for each of the first 2 rounds on qualifying to put him 15th on the grid, after he waved his fists at another test driver on the Friday free practice. Then Michael Schumacher on the very next day overtook Alonso with red flags flying and he also received a 2 second per qualifying session penalty so he finished up 11th on the grid. Villeneuve had pulled out of the race complaining of headaches from a shunt the week before, so in comes the first Polish driver ever, BMW’s test driver Kubica and delivers a 9th grid slot, quite amazing. We now had one new driver and 3 top placed drivers in the second half of the grid, the stage was set for at least an interesting Sunday’s race, as Raikkonen took pole.
These pre-race events had already set the heart rate of the GP race fan soaring, but what we did not expect was for the racing to be just if not more compelling. This was the first ever GP race in Hungary with rain and it created much indecision at the beginning of the race, no-one really knew what tyres to use, it was slippery even catching De La Rosa out on the warm up lap, with a spin.

The race then started and from the first corner there was wheel-to-wheel action resulting in one of the best Grand Prixs ever in recent years. Michael Shcumacher had to suffer the embarrassment of Alonso lapping him, only to come back to 3rd before a driver error took him off. Alonso suffered a broken drive shaft after a pit stop that took him out of the race whilst winning. Raikkonen misjudged a back marker and was catapulted over the back markers car to another retirement. Whilst all the events were unfolding Jenson got faster and faster, not reacting to tyre changes too early until they were certain they were going to work, choosing to stay out on intermediates until it was right for slicks. As he crossed the fishing line over 30 seconds ahead of De La Rosa it was a moment to cherish for the British motor racing fan, not only had he done it, but done it such difficult circumstances and style. What was interesting that directly after the race, not all the interviews were shown on TV as grown men were crying with emotion in the Honda pit lane, so much work and effort had gone into this historic win. It was on day where no one including Jenson himself thought it would be coming; in contrast to the races where they thought they had a chance only to put in a poor performance. Long may it continue!

Mark is webmaster for Elephant Insurance and Home Contents
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The Dodgers had a breakfast a couple of weeks ago to tell their story about off-season moves and the team they’ll put on the field for 2005. I was there to listen to the new owner, Frank McCourt, the general manager, Paul DePodesta, Hall of Famer, Tommy Lasorda, and the Dodgers’ manager, Jim Tracy. They told a good story about the Dodgers and what their plans are, but the most interesting aspect to me was something that was said and its application to teaching kids about sports and ultimately, life.

After the presentation was finished, people from the crowd were allowed to ask questions. One guy asked about Milton Bradley and the Dodgers’ thoughts on the negative example that he sets as a role model for high school and younger ballplayers. You may remember, Mr. Bradley has not always been a shining example of good sportsmanship and is currently undergoing anger management counseling as a result. To a person, each of the four Dodgers representatives, while acknowledging that there had been problems, defended Milton Bradley as a great guy who is often misunderstood; as a member of the Dodgers family, he deserves a second chance and that everybody really does like him as a person.

The Concept of Perfection

To me the most interesting comments came from Jim Tracy. Not only did the Dodgers’ manager say that Bradley is somebody he loves working with, he said he is an ever better player to manage because he is a “perfectionist”. I’m paraphrasing, but Tracy basically said that he loves Milton’s attitude because he never thinks he should make an out when he’s at the plate and he doesn’t feel like there is ever a ball he can’t catch in the outfield. He expects and demands that he will be “perfect” every pitch, every out, every inning, of every game. After the meeting, I talked to Jim Tracy about this idea of “perfect” as it applies to kids.

What we talked about was perfection: how is it good for a ballplayer, especially a child, to expect to be perfect? More so in baseball, where failure is the expected norm; failing 7 out of 10 times makes you a star. Everybody swings and misses. The best players in the world regularly walk in runs, and errors are made almost every game. Why is perfect the right goal? Jim Tracy had to leave before we had a chance to finish the conversation, but it did get me thinking about the goals and attitude we should teach our SportsKids.

The Right Attitude - It’s about Control

Why would anybody ever tell there kids to be perfect? Michael Jordan once said: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Babe Ruth had the record for strike outs in a career until his record was broken by another Hall of Fame member of the 500 HR club, Reggie Jackson. Nobody is perfect!

If you can’t be perfect, what is the right goal? In his fantastic book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey talks about being “response-able” for your actions. In sports and in life there are so many things that are completely out of our control, but we individually have the ability to choose our responses to each situation - positive and negative. In essence, you can’t control the actions of anybody else or the results; only yourself. Consequently, the focus has to be on what you can control.

Surprisingly, my 5 and 6 year old basketball team that I coach had the answers. Since I was thinking about Milton Bradley and perfection, I decided to ask some of the kids their thoughts on the subject. First, each of them is afraid of different things playing sports. Some didn’t want to miss a shot, get a rebound off their head, make a bad pass or lose the game. So we talked about Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Kobe Bryant and others and how they made mistakes too. It became very liberating for them to realize that they didn’t need to do everything perfect to be a good basketball player.

The more we talked, the better the kids started to feel about themselves. Realizing that you don’t have to be perfect is a good thing, but does that conflict with what Jim Tracy said was so great about Milton Bradley: expecting to get a hit every time at bat and to catch every fly ball? Not necessarily if the focus shifts from being perfect to doing what you can control. While my older teams that I coach focused on the “results” of actions, it was again the 5 and 6 year old kids who did a great job in helping me understand what elements of a game can be controlled:

1. Fundamentals - there is no reason that every kid can’t learn to do things the right way. If the coach can teach a kid to perform with proper fundamentals the results will follow. The emphasis here has to be on first, the coach learning the right things to teach, and then, insisting that the kids do it correctly. Remember: Practice makes Permanent!

2. Focus - Every kid can think and have their head in the game. Even the kid who can’t make a basket can be in the right place all the time.

3. Hustle - Do your best and put out the most effort that you can on every play. Every coach should be working on kids to hustle, play hard and put out effort - not on results.

4. Teamwork - This plays into focus as well, but working with your teammates is something that every player can do, control, and excel at.

5. Sportsmanship - There is never any reason to not be a good sport. This year, I’ve seen far too many kids saying “bad game” instead of congratulating the other team on their effort. Be a good sport - always!

Measuring Your Results

At the end of each game, ask the kids to evaluate their individual and team performance. You’d be surprised at their own understanding of how they did. Don’t spend time on performance measurement, but on the non scorebook things that the kids can control. We can’t control the results of our actions, but if we work on everything we can control, we won’t be perfect, but we will be the best we can be.

Ken Kaiserman is the President of http://SportsKids.com - a leading sports Internet site for kids and their families. In addition to coaching football, basketball and baseball, Ken serves on the local Little League board of directors and a park advisory committee. Ken and his wife Sheri have been married for since 1991. They have three children: Benji, Bobby and Rebecca (aka Rocky) who all love their sports!

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