It should have been a routine journey of approximately 80 miles. Down from a pre-tournament training camp in Pointe-Noire, beyond the Republic of Congo border and on to a new base in the Angolan city of Cabinda.

That was where Togo would be playing all of their three group games at the 2010 African Cup of Nations against Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast and the excitement was building. Les Eperviers the Sparrowhawks were ready to fly.

Yet three miles into Angola came the horrific attack that would change everything.

A convoy carrying the Togo squad and support staff found itself the target of a deadly onslaught from armed militia. Bullets peppered their two buses in a gunfight with security forces that is thought to have lasted at least half an hour.

Players made emotional calls to loved ones, lying prostrate on the floor between seats for protection. Some feared they would not leave the bus alive.

Its something we will never forget, Serge Akakpo, Togos former vice captain and centre-back, tells The Athletic. Its something that never leaves you because we were so close to death. I was thinking I was finished. I thought we were all going to die.

I wake up every day and I say I am blessed to be here, says former Togo captain and poster-boy Emmanuel Adebayor.

Two of the travelling party were not so fortunate. Assistant coach Amelete Abalo and media officer Stanislas Ocloo were both shot dead by the terrorists. Another nine were left injured, including reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, whose playing career was ended by the attack.

Obilale required nine operations and now walks with the aid of a crutch. He is not afraid to admit he smokes a joint when the pain he suffers becomes too much. The day I was shot, I immediately knew it was over for football, he said.

More here:
'I had two bullets in my back but I was lucky': The ever-lasting damage wrought by the 2010 Togo bus attack - The Athletic

You just can't push through it any more. Your Sunday night dread has become a week-long state of being. You're not just tired or restless you're burned out.

You've got loads of company. More than 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November, the highest number in over two decades and an indicator that "the great resignation" isn't going away.

Author Jonathan Malesic has been there. As a tenured professor, he had job security and a career in a field he cared out. But the actual job was making him miserable. Now, in "The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives,"the self-described "former academic" explores the lengthy human history of burnout, why it happens, what it does to our psyches and what we can learn from the communities that have managed to stave it off.

Salon spoke to Malesic recently via Zoom about his new book, our centuries-long relationship with burnout, and why we "suffer from and perpetuate" toxic work cultures.

This conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

You start the book with the first two thousand years of burnout. We have had burnout with us as long as we have had people. I can imagine early humans sitting around the fire thinking, "If I make one more fire, I'm going to lose my mind. If I have to gather any more berries, I'm going to scream." Tell me about what burnout has meant historically, and how we first began to articulate it in the seventies.

The key distinction is exhaustion has been with us forever. Throughout history, there have been different exhaustion disorders corresponding to different cultural moments and different cultural concerns. I look in the book at more than two thousand years, but two thousand is a nice round number. It echoes David Graeber's book, "Debt: The First Five Thousand Years."

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Throughout those two thousand years or so, the characteristic exhaustion disorder has shifted. In the early medieval era, Christian monks were very concerned about acedia. It was considered one of the eight bad thoughts of monastic life and characterized as the Noonday Demon. It was a disorder peculiar to spiritual life, so it's spiritual dryness. I think acedia is still with us, but it emerged at this time when the culture needed a term to describe a specific experience.

In the 19th century, the analog to burnout was neurasthenia. Its history really parallels burnout in interesting ways. Like burnout, it was a simultaneous discovery of two scientists working independently, publishing papers at almost the exact same time on the same topic. It very quickly became this cultural phenomenon to the point where William James described it as Americanitis this characteristic disorder of being an American and living the supposedly fast-paced American life.

In the seventies, something very similar happens with burnout. Two psychologists working independently on opposite coasts with different methods one a clinical psychologist, the other a researcher identified the same disorder in similar, complementary terms, and published almost simultaneously in 1973 and 1974.

I had a really key moment in this historical argument when I was listening to the radio in the car and Bob Dylan's "Shelter From the Storm" came on, and I'm grateful to my local radio station for playing extremely long songs sometimes. There's this one line, "I was burned out from exhaustion." And it clicked. This album was was recorded in 1974. It was a top-selling album. So Dylan noticed something from the culture that's already going on and then giving it back to the culture. These psychologists are doing the same, all at the same time.

RELATED:The pandemic-era "flexible" workplace has become oppressive. Workers should demand more

Something was happening in American culture in the early-to-mid-seventies that meant "burnout"was the term to describe the problem with work. As historians argue, 1973 and 1974 was this watershed moment when work in America changed decisively. We're still living in the wake of that. It was a moment of the beginning of de-industrialization. The power of the labor movement had peaked in the early seventies and was beginning its decline. Wage growth detached from productivity growth. You have the shift to a more service-oriented economy. Women are entering the workforce in huge numbers, this huge upheaval in the way we work. Burnout caught on as the term to describe it. We're still in that burnout culture that dawned in 1974, because the economics, and our outlook at work has not really changed in fifty years.

You reference David Graeber's "Bullshit Jobs" in the book. I'm really intrigued at the overlap of bullshit and burnout. Burnout to me seems something that happens to something that you loved. When something you loved is transformed into something detestable, part of that is bullshit, but that's not the only thing. How do you describe burnout?

In the broadest terms, I describe it as the experience of being stretched between your ideals for work and the reality of your job. You have to have some investment in the work in order to burn out. It doesn't necessarily have to be passion, but some kind of high ideal or expectation. Even if it's not passion or love, it might be a desire that goes beyond the material.

You look for dignity. You look for status from your work. You look for fulfillment. The ideals can be many. That motivates you to get into the work, and then you get there and it doesn't deliver on those goods. That's the broad definition.

The more nitty-gritty definition I borrow from the leading researchers is that burnout is this syndrome with three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism or deep personalization, and a sense of ineffectiveness at work. Exhaustion is something we're all really familiar with, but the exhaustion that's characteristic of burnout is not the same as the exhaustion that you feel at the end of a difficult project. Yesterday, I was working on an article, and my brain was totally spent. But I wasn't burned out. I knew that this is a kind of tiredness that would pass. A good night's sleep, a couple days, and I'll be fine.

The exhaustion of burnout doesn't disappear with rest. When I was burning out at my job as a college professor, I took a very long rest, a semester of unpaid leave. I was away from the college for five months, and I thought, "I'm going to feel better at the end of this." When I got back to work, that feeling lasted for a week or two. Very quickly, I was back to the same exhaustion and misery and despair, because nothing about my job had actually changed. The exhaustion of burnout is not only exertion.

It reminds me of when they talk about childbirth, and it's described as pain with purpose. If you have pain with purpose in your work, then the exhaustion from it is very different than the pain of just pain. When pain is just pain, it's burnout.

I think that's a good description.

Your book is coming along at an interesting time of tension. There's high stakes competitive burnout of "Oh, you think you hate your job? You think you hate your life? You think you're exhausted?" You talk about it in the book too, that sense that things can't be easy or enjoyable. But then we have this anti-work movement starting to crop up now. We see people saying, "I don't want to do this. Where's the payoff for me, then?" Tell me about what you're seeing in response to burnout.

Some of the phenomena you mentioned like the anti-work movement, it's unclear what that will mean concretely. But it runs parallel with what we're calling the great resignation, where and I don't want to make a clear pronouncement because I'm not reporting on it I think that these are encouraging signs coming out of the pandemic. I'd love to talk a little bit about why the pandemic was perhaps so transformative.

We're not fully out, but after the experience of this great disruption in our work due to the pandemic, workers are realizing that they have a little bit more power than they did at the beginning two years ago. We developed this new category of essential workers. We see that there's in some sectors a labor shortage at the moment. And millions of people just had the experience of g being paid in some cases as much or more than they were prior to the shutdown, to stay at home.

I think we're seeing evidence that those concrete realities really did have a positive effect on workers' understanding of their human value and then their market value as workers. An argument that I'm trying to make in the book is that we need to lead with that human value that each one of us has an inherent dignity.The market value of the worker needs to follow from that. My hope is that if we lead with that human value, then the labor value will rise accordingly.

You talk about how things are changing and who seems to have figured it out. What are some of the things that you're seeing in populations that have been able to successfully stave off burnout, and what can we learn from them?

There's a whole chapter on Benedictine religious, three different communities in two different locations. The one community I wanted to go to, I wanted to get as far away from burnout culture as I could without leaving the country. I found the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Northern New Mexico. This is a community of about sixty monks who live not entirely off the grid. They generate their own electricity. They have internet service through satellites. but they're aiming to be as self-sustaining as possible and live the life that St. Benedict prescribes in his rule from the early sixth century. They're kind of unusual among Benedictine communities in the United States, because they are to adhere to this 1,500-year-old rule as closely as they can while living in the 21st century.

They are as modern as you and I are. The abbot at the time kept an email newsletter. They brew beer. They spent a couple years in the 1990's building websites as a money-maker for them. They're fully modern individuals who, in many cases, have had secular careers and are now living according to a 1,500-year-old rule. To do that faithfully, they spend a lot of time in communal prayer.

I guess the takeaway for the secular workers would be that one thing the monks do is that they put something other than work first. Their working lives exist to serve a different end. The top priority is the five or six hours a day that they spend in communal prayer, very slowly and methodically chanting these prayers and psalms that monks and sisters have been chanting in the same order for fifteen centuries.

The other big thing that they do is they honor each other's dignity. Benedict says this about guests, but I think it's true of the monks as well, that you should greet guests as you would Christ. The monks recognize the dignity of each other. They put a great emphasis on upholding and preserving the community and trying to live together. That, too, means that you can't say, "Hey, Brother, you've really got to put in another ten hours on whatever project."

They put something else first. Second, they really emphasize each other's inherent dignity, and that sets limits on work. Also, they live in community in order to make this life possible. It wouldn't be possible as individuals. We can't fix our burnouts on our own. You need a community to help you do that. If you decide,"I'm not going to check email after 5:00 PM," or something like that, and you're the only one in your company who does that, you become a problem. But if everyone in the company decides that, well, it's a different story.

Another side of it that gets sticky and confusing is the the front-facing aspect of it, where the people who are burned out are dealing with the public in one way or another, whether as a nurse or as a delivery person or as an academic. And then we're all bringing that sense of defensiveness to our interactions with each other.

When I was teaching full time, I was very concerned about these students or that colleague making life difficult for me. It took years after I quit before I realized, I'm probably making life difficult for them, too. hope it's not only because of my personality and my normal tendencies, but because I was burned-out, because I was frustrated, because I felt like I wasn't having my dignity and accomplishments properly respected. I behaved badly to others, potentially increasing their risk of burnout, and other complications.

This isn't a life coaching book, this is an examination of how we have always had this with us but don't always continue to. What do you want people reading this to come away with it from?

Ultimately, that we live in a burnout culture. There is a competitive side of it, where I try to show, "No, my burnout is way worse than yours" When I do that, I'm trying to show that I am a good and competitive worker, I am an ideal American worker, and that confers a lot of status in our society.

We live in this burnout culture that we both suffer from and perpetuate. And we're not going to end it if we don't see it for what it is and recognize our implication in it and recognize that we can both heal and harm other, and we should decide to heal. The way to do that is going to have to start with recognizing those connections and talking about them, talking about our ideals for work, talking about the reality of our jobs and how that reality doesn't live up to those ideals, and then collectively trying to change it.

More workforce stories:

Mary Elizabeth Williams is a senior writer for Salon and author of "A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles."

Read more here:
"We live in a burnout culture": Author Jonathan Malesic on the death spiral of the American worker - Salon

Fast forward and Pfannenstiel found himself looking for candidates for a historic hire around the same time a fifth-year MLS assistant was impressively leading the New York Red Bulls to the 2020 playoffs as an interim coach. The Red Bulls were following a script penned with recognizable handwriting. It was time for paths to cross again.

What do we stand for? Pfannenstiel said this week after announcing the 44-year-old Carnell as Citys first head coach. Who are we as a club? We are hungry. We are motivated. Nobody really knows what to expect from us. But we do have a clear plan and a clear playing style. That aggressive approach, in a positive way, that high intensity, pressing style. We want to stand for a new generation of football.

I believe we need to have a coach represent us. Hungry. Motivated. Still on the way up, to develop. That is why Bradley was, for me, the absolute choice. He is very hungry. He wants to prove himself. He did a lot of great work in New York and he really was ready for a next step, ready for a chance.

Hes like a bull. Hes ready to go out and work. Hes hardworking. Hes honest. Hes clear in his mind. Thats how we want to be seen in the community, and as a club in MLS.

If youre thinking, wow, thats a lot of pressure on Carnell, you would be correct. But pressure is sounding like this teams trademark. A pledge to apply it is a big reason Carnell ascended to the top of the list Pfannenstiel said included hundreds of candidates. A belief in its power is a big reason Carnell sidestepped what City president and CEO Carolyn Kindle-Betz described as interest from several other clubs.

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BenFred: If the play of St. Louis City SC lives up to coach Carnell's vision, our new MLS team will be easy to cheer - STLtoday.com

MINNEAPOLIS Seven years ago, as we stood breathless on the clean edge of change, we watched Bears chairman George McCaskey more than we watched the game.

It was the season finale of the 2014-15 season and we were in Minneapolis, watching the Vikings beat the Bears 13-9. The game was at TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and the visiting owners suite was attached to the press box.

So we watched George fist pump and sigh and go through the normal range of emotions you feel while watching a very bad football team that you own. Bears general manager Phil Emery was also in the box, dutifully taking notes on a yellow legal pad. Did he know he was getting fired the next day, that he would end his time in Chicago by quoting folk singer Carrie Newcomer in an impromptu news conference in which he took no questions?

This team around, the Bears finale was a little more interesting, and by the end of the 31-17 loss, emblematic of the failed Ryan Pace regime.

Pace, hired to take Emerys place Jan. 8, 2015, usually sits in the press box for road games. But he gets to sit a level above the media in a broadcast box at U.S. Bank Stadium. I didnt see George, or any McCaskey, at all.

What could they have been thinking as the Bears blew an 11-point halftime lead by getting outscored 28-3 in the second half? Probably something about collaboration.

Win or lose, this game was essentially meaningless. No jobs could be won or lost with the process or the results, but even so, the journey from insignificant win to symptomatic loss was jarring but familiar. Watching

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Matt Nagy has a lot of words but no answers as he reaches the end of the line with the Bears - The Athletic

When Habersham County Coach Shane Dover suddenly passed away Tuesday, the community felt shockwaves of pain as they lost a beloved father, husband, teacher and coach.

Shane Dover dedicated his life to helping Habershams youth develop a love for learning and grow their potential as athletes. His dedication to Habersham County students set him apart, making him a beloved member of the Habersham County School System, a great coach and a pillar in the Habersham County Community.

When I think about Shane Dover I think of a teacher and coach that truly loved his job, Habersham County Schools Superintendent Matthew Cooper said. He told me on a number of occasions how much he enjoyed being a teacher. He was always grateful for the opportunity to be in the education profession. He was living his dream job.

Dover leaves behind a school board that admired him, students who adored him and a team of coaches who loved him like family, as well as his wife, Kristie, and three sons, Sawyer, Sutton and Slade.

As Ive thought about Shane over the last few days, the word that keeps coming to my mind is love,' Habersham Central High School Head Baseball Coach Chris Akridge said. Through coaching both football and baseball with him, I saw that Shane loved coaching and truly loved our players. I also witnessed the love that he had for his sons and his wife. It was evident that he loved his family with every fiber of his being.

He was dedicated to Habershams athletics, serving as a coach for the Habersham Central Raiders football team and Wilbanks Middle School girls basketball.

Coach Dover was a total team player, says Habersham County Schools Athletic Director Geep Cunningham. He loved his job and he loved the Raiders.

Cunningham says that Dovers commitment to athletics and coaching of multiple sports is unheard of in todays times.

He did things the right way, Cunningham says. It makes me extremely proud to work with Coach [Dover] and know that we will always be members together in the Raider Family.

Dover is remembered not only as a friend, teacher and coach, but as someone dedicated to his faith and his community.

From the standpoint of being his friend and co-worker, Shane was a guy who was easy to love, Akridge said. He always had a positive attitude and a servants heart which made him lovable to everyone that he came in contact with. As a man of faith, it was noticeable that he loved his Savior. To me, that is the legacy that he left on our community and on the students and athletes that he worked witha legacy of loving life and loving others.

Dovers passion was working with youth, whether it was on the field, in the classroom or at church. His family says that out of everything he did, including a 29-year career with the Georgia Department of Transportation, working with youth was his true calling.

Coach Dover was the kind of teacher that our students just loved, Superintendent Cooper said. His students knew that he cared about them deeply and that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make class fun.

He taught at Wilbanks Middle School, where his students looked forward to class with him.

Coach Dover was a great teacher, coach, husband and father, and a great friend, said Wilbanks Middle School Assistant Principal Chris Chitwood and Principal MaryBeth Thomas in a statement to Now Habersham. He will be missed by our staff and our students.

WMS says that his impact on students as both a teacher and coach left a mark on the school and its students, building a place where students wanted to be.

In the classroom, he created an environment where students wanted to come to school and be in his class, WMS administration says. On the field, he was more than a coach he was a mentor. For Coach Dover, teaching and coaching was not a job but something he wanted to do, and he enjoyed it. His students absolutely loved him. He was excited about teaching and coaching and was devoted to it.

Habersham County Schools students, faculty, administration and staff all agree that Dover was one-of-a-kind, and will be deeply missed.

He simply cannot be replaced, Cooper said. There is no doubt in my mind that his legacy will live on in his three sons and in the many students that he impacted in the classroom and in athletics.

Services for Dover will be held Saturday, Jan. 8 in the Habersham Central High School auditorium beginning at noon. Rev. Doug Porter, Dr. Brian James and Coach Benji Harrison will officiate. Interment will follow at Yonah Memorial Gardens.

See the rest here:
Remembering the legacy of Coach Shane Dover - Now Habersham

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- Bloomfield Hills Marian girls basketball coach Mary Cicerone walked out of her teams postgame debriefing on Friday night holding a bouquet of flowers and a small, round cake inside a protective plastic container. Typically, it is not usually what she carries around after losing a basketball game, but it was her birthday after all.

Although she was hoping to celebrate her 62nd birthday with a win instead of a 35-29 home loss to rival Farmington Hills Mercy, the cake and flowers were a nice consolation prize. Since she does not like holding onto awards and is not a big fan of extravagance, they were good gifts too. She can eat the cake and be done with it. Flowers only last so long.

Over her 39 seasons of coaching girls varsity basketball exclusively at Bloomfield Hills Marian, Cicerone has accumulated many honors for her longstanding success with the program. Cicerone has likely earned enough individual honors to make a shrine to herself at home.

But if you want to see what Cicerone has done with her awards, you might find yourself digging through the trash.

You know what Ive done with all of those awards? Cicerone asked. For 39 years, what are you going to do with all those things? I dont have them anymore. I trashed them. Gave them to a trophy place in hopes they can use them again.

Cicerone became a coach because she loves the sport and she loves the kids. She doesnt want the spotlight now matter how much people think she deserves it.

That is why when Cicerone decided to retire from coaching and teaching at the conclusion of this season and school year, she did not make a deal about it. She told her players. She told her athletic director. If you asked her about it, she would answer. She just did not want to make a big deal about it.

I dont care (who knows), Cicerone said. My team knows. Thats all that matters to me.

The thing is, Cicerones decision to retire is a big deal.

Bloomfield Hills Marian head coach Mary Cicerone directs her players during Bloomfield Hills Marian's girls basketball game against Royal Oak at Marian High School in Bloomfield Hills Friday, March 8 2019.MLive.com

Cicerone is currently the fourth-winningest girls basketball coach in state history, according to records kept by the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Her career record of 697-228 puts her one win behind former Detroit Martin Luther King coach William Winfield, who retired in 2018. She is three wins away from becoming just the third coach to ever reach 700 victories.

With at least 14 games left this season -- or more, if Marian makes a deep playoff run -- Cicerone will also be the first female coach in state history to win 700 games. Former Detroit Country Day coach Frank Orlando won a state record 797 games from 1981-2019. Current Sandusky coach Al DeMott has 774 wins since he began coaching there in 1979.

Just like her age, Cicerone treats her win total as if it is just another number.

Who cares about that? Cicerone said. Whats 700? What is that going to be? Five hundred wins, 400 wins -- whats the difference? I mean, 700, Ive been here forever. I should have a lot, right? You know, Im not in it for that. Id like for these kids to go out in their senior year -- Ive done this with all of them for a long time and theyre special.

Its not that Cicerone is ungrateful for her honors and recognition. In fact, she still holds on to plenty of great things. You just wont find them on some dusty shelf.

Ive got tons of memories, Cicerone said. I know everybody from that first year. Those are the things you remember.

Cicerone is 6-1 in state championship games, winning her first three appearances. Her first was in 1988 when she coached Jennifer Shasky, the only Miss Basketball winner in school history. That year, Marian beat Flint Powers in convincing fashion, 71-49. She has since coached four other Miss Basketball finalists. Cicerones most recent state championship was in 2015 when Marian beat DeWitt, 51-37, marking the first time she ever won back-to-back state championships.

Its a good thing those six state championship trophies are being taken care of by the school in the trophy case. Give them enough time in Cicerones hands and they might have been dropped off at a local trophy shop.

I know theyre there (in the trophy case), Cicerone said. I dont have to see them. I really dont look at them. Weve got so many (from other sports). How do I pick out mine from all the others?

Cicerone clarified that she did keep many of her plaques for a long time before she got rid of them. However, she kept them in a closet that became too cumbersome to organize.

Some people are just humble enough to realize the excess of success is clutter. In Cicerones case, it is clutter well earned.

Im going to miss it, dont get me wrong, Cicerone said. But Im just ready to pass the torch. Im not going to stay here for frickin ever. Ive already been here forever. The kids are all OK with it. They know theyre going to be in good hands.

After winning just over 75 percent of the 925 games she has coached, Cicerone is preparing to move on with her life.

No hoopla, please.

This is normal, she said. People move on, someone takes over. Thats the way it is.

Originally posted here:
Three wins away from 700, Marian basketball coach Mary Cicerone is retiring after this season - MLive.com

Darren Carter is home. A lifelong Birmingham City supporter, his playing career at the club included scoring the penalty that first took the club into the Premier League in 2002. Twenty years on, he has returned as the interim coach of Birmingham City Women.

Some of his players were not born when that ball hit the net, but he is remembered around these parts. For his first game in charge against Manchester City last month, the attendance at St Andrew's was swelled by the number of family and friends in the crowd.

"It was a special moment," he tells Sky Sports. "It probably did not sink in first time around how proud they all were. You do appreciate those moments more as you get older. My whole family are Birmingham City supporters. It still feels like home."

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Although Carter, 38, says that he is "loving every minute of it and learning every day" the circumstances of his return are far from ideal. The team are rock-bottom of the Women's Super League with just one point from their opening 10 matches.

Some fight was shown in that first game, only a late Manchester City goal denying them a point. There were even two goals to celebrate - doubling their total for the season. It was encouraging because it provided a bit of belief that the team can compete.

"The first job was to lift the spirits," says Carter, "because we should be competing. The players deserve to be at this level." But how do you restore confidence? "You just remind them of their qualities. I have been there. That is how you build momentum.

"I have seen a change of mindset. Players are starting to enjoy it again. That is big for me. In any industry, if you are not enjoying it, if it becomes a grind, you aren't going to get the best out of people. It is about creating that environment and putting smiles on faces."

His own playing career only came to an end last season. He acknowledges that the opportunity has come sooner than he has anticipated in his coaching career following a conversation with former team-mate Craig Gardner, now the club's technical director.

Carter played under Steve Bruce and Mick McCarthy, vastly experienced coaches, but he describes Solihull Moors boss Jimmy Shan, under whom he began his coaching journey, as his mentor. "I am a bit of a disciple of his. He is on speed-dial."

The influences are eclectic. Carter is a big basketball fan and so Phil Jackson, the former Chicago Bulls coach, is an inspiration. "He is one of the greatest. I have read all his books. When the pandemic first hit I did so much studying of him and his ways of coaching.

"I love the intricacies of basketball, the psychology of it. They are way more advanced on how to create an environment for players, how to engage them. Even though it is a different sport, a different dynamic, the challenge of managing people is still the same."

Tactically, he has changed things, trying a new formation. "What is the system that suits the players? We have looked at that. Changing the way they play, being more on the front foot and being brave even against the top teams." But mentality is going to be key.

"Adversity separates the winners from the rest and we know we have good leaders here. Even the younger ones have a great attitude. They won't shirk it. There are players here with high ceilings. The challenge for me is to get them to their best."

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Defeat to Leicester in his second game in charge was difficult to take. "It was a real gut-check, I cannot lie. We felt that we had enough in the game to score. We got into good areas. It was just that final bit of quality. We shot ourselves in the foot."

But they are creating chances now at least. "That has come from a change of style. We want to be in the final third a lot more, have those entries, those shots and create those chances, because we have talented players at the top end of the pitch."

They need to take them soon but there is still hope. With a dozen games to play, his team are only two points from safety. "We are positive," he says. "Ultimately, you need results at the weekend but I know these players have more to give. The time is now."

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Darren Carter interview: Birmingham City Women boss faces an uphill task but a basketball coach is his inspiration - Sky Sports

The car service driver guides his vehicle slow enough through the outer edges of downtown Cleveland so Barbara Turner can inhale many of her childhood memories. She points out her former house and wonders aloud where the milk crate might be that she and her older brother Cameron used for a basketball goal.

The neighborhood gym appears after a measured turn around the block. This is where Turner crafted her basketball skills playing against many of the better boys in the area.

About 4 miles west, directly across the street from a group of public housing apartments run by the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, is East Technical High School. Its the same East Tech that produced Olympic gold medalists Jesse Owens and Harrison Dillard, and Jack Trice, the only Black man whose name graces a Division I football stadium.

One of the most decorated and celebrated female athletes in Clevelands history is in town on a business trip with the Houston Rockets. She enters the building of her alma mater for the first time in 10 years because of her engaging schedule.

The wait was way too long.

The last time I was here, I remember being excited about what I accomplished but also having some anxiety entering the next chapter of my life, Turner said.

Turner helped galvanize a community as she led an unlikely girls basketball team to an unprecedented Ohio state title. She then became a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Connecticut, played in the WNBA and in Turkey. Turner is currently one of the few women player development coaches in the NBA, and is one of seven women listed as an assistant coach. She was also inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

All from someone who grew up in Cleveland, the poorest big city in the country (30% of residents and 46% of children live below the poverty line), where the degree of violent crime has escalated to historic levels.

Although now a resident of Houston, Cleveland remains home for Turner.

Its home because thats where Im loved after bringing the inner city of Cleveland to a better light, and showing people that you can make it out of any condition or circumstances, Turner said. Im forever grateful and indebted to the city of Cleveland.

Branson Wright

East Tech plays in one of the oldest city public school conferences in the state, but has never had a reputation for girls basketball success. Budget cuts have limited schools to only a varsity roster, omitting junior varsity and freshmen, and many of the better players enroll in private school programs.

For Turner, it was important for her to remain in the community and achieve what no other school in her conference had before. She also found plenty of motivation when she rejected an offer from a coach to play for a private school.

He said that he was offering me a chance of a lifetime, and if I remained at East Tech that Id just become another statistic, Turner said. I never forgot those words. So every time we played them, I wanted to destroy him. Every time I wanted to achieve something, I kept those words in my mind.

Those words werent enough to help East Tech advance beyond the state semifinals Turners sophomore and junior years. Heading into her senior year, a stress fracture in her right tibia threatened to wipe out her final high school season and a chance at a state championship.

I was boo-hoo crying, Turner said. But my driving force was that I wanted to bring something positive to East Tech and to the area we call Down the Way. I wasnt going to allow that to stop me.

It didnt.

To take the strain off her leg, Turner didnt practice all season and only played in games. Despite her limitations, East Tech went on an unbelievable run, and the community supported the success with packed gyms not even seen at boys games.

Wed leave work early to see their games, said local barber Ted Lighting. Id compare the atmosphere here to how Chicago reacted during the Bulls [championship] era.

The neighborhood gravitated toward us, said Mel Burke, who was then an East Tech assistant coach. It was inner-city projects heaven. Fans were feeding us, raising money to buy the players socks, and fans raised money for T-shirts to wear in the state game. The support was off the charts.

And the East Tech Mighty Scarabs didnt disappoint in the 2002 state final. Turner led her school to the Division II championship with 30 points and nine rebounds. Shortly after her state title victory, Turner was named Ms. Ohio Basketball and to the McDonalds All American team.

We had some type of celebration at our gym with the students and with most of the people that would travel to see us play, Turner said. I remember feeling so happy and satisfied that we achieved everything we set out to do by winning a championship and bringing some positivity to the community.

Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Turners basketball career continued at UConn, where she was a member of two NCAA title teams and ranks among the Huskies all-time scoring and rebounding leaders. During her career, she was named most outstanding player of the Big East tournament and was a member of the Big East all-tournament team.

There was an adjustment period despite Turners on-court success. The added competition pushed her.

There was a lot of pressure at UConn because of what was expected, Turner said. They were superduper good and on a great run when I got there. And it was the first time I was in an environment where all 11 players were stars in high school.

Ive always had a fear of failure, and what helps me overcome my fear of failure is my will to want success. Success is my only result.

Success continued as she became the 11th overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. Turner had an average WNBA career from 2006 to 2009, but she was more consistent in Turkey, one of the top overseas leagues. She recently completed her 15th pro season and is a naturalized Turkish citizen. Once she became a citizen, Turner chose the name Bahar Ozturk (Bahar means spring in English; Ozturk is the last name of the team owner who helped her get a passport), which she did to show respect for the country and culture.

I benefited from playing overseas because I was able to have a longer career, Turner said. I made a hell of a lot of money. I embraced the country and got to learn the culture of a country that Ive come to love.

The time in Turkey is when the coaching bug began to bite Turner. She started closely watching Europes male stars such as Luka Doni, Cedi Osman and Furkan Korkmaz.

It gave me a feel of what I need to look for and how I can help guys improve, Turner said. It started my passion to work in the player development field.

David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Turner worked as an intern with the Rockets last summer under the direction of her mentor John Lucas, a former NBA coach who has been a Rockets assistant since 2016. Turner has known Lucas since he helped train her while he was the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2001 to 2003.

At the end of 2020, Turner came to a turning point and sought her mentor for help.

I dont know if Id call it depression, but there was a moment I was really lost because I didnt know what was next, Turner said. Lucas asked me what I wanted to do and I said player development. He brought me in.

With the Rockets, Turner worked offseason practices, pre-draft workouts and camps with NBA prospects, and assisted Lucas at his personal camps. Once the Rockets drafted Turkish center Alperen engn in July, a door of opportunity opened. She was hired to translate for engn and assist the team during summer league in Las Vegas.

I had a conversation with Coach [Stephen] Silas and he told me what my role would be, and the rest is history, Turner said.

In her position, Turners not only responsible for translating for engn, but also working out the younger players and breaking down videos for the coaching staff with an emphasis on the teams offensive playbook.

Barbara has all the four components of coaching, Lucas said. Shes been a counselor, shes been a mentor, she teaches the game and one of her greatest assets is positive confrontation. She knows how to challenge young men without offending them.

Branson Wright

Turners latest trip home had some challenges once she walked the empty halls of East Tech. Her tour guide, athletic director Leroy Carter, impatiently waited for her return to show Turner that shes never been forgotten.

It started with a tour of the gym. The state championship banner is on the wall behind one basket, and a poster of Turner is behind the basket on the opposite end. From there, a walk to a trophy case reveals relics from two of the greats Owens and Dillard along with a banner of Turner.

Finally, theres a trip to the schools indoor track. A painting of Turner, along with her quote following the state title, causes her to pause.

She probably thought we forgot about her and she almost got emotional, Carter said. We always talk about her around here and use her life as an example for our students to strive for excellence.

Turner managed to hold back the tears, but she couldnt control the rush of emotions.

I felt extremely proud, she said. Probably even more than when I won the national championship in college, because winning here was like a national championship.

I cant put into words how proud I am of myself and being able to do what Ive accomplished coming out of East Tech. This will always be something thats a part of my legacy.

Branson Wright is a filmmaker and freelance multimedia sports reporter.

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Rockets Barbara Turner returns home to Cleveland with a proud legacy - The Undefeated

BERLIN - With the retirement of longtime Hiland girls basketball coach Dave Schlabach and the passing of Tom Jenkins last year, the future of the Classic in the Country, an event developed by Schlabach and Jenkins 20 years earlier, seemed uncertain.

More: GIRLS BASKETBALL | Jason Mishler focused on keeping Hiland on top

Schlabach, however, committed his time and resources to ensure that the Classic in the Country, a 25-game showcase of high school girls basketball continued as a tribute to Jenkins, along with the remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Perry Reese Jr.

"As I was getting ready to retire from coaching, we were pretty much resigned to no longer doing the Classic in the Country after last year," Schlabach said. "But with Tom's passing, and all that stuff coming out about how important this event was to him, Cousy (former assistant coach Dave Borter) said he would do this as long as he was needed since it was that important to Tom."

Borter said his primary duties were to organize team hosts, assign team locker rooms and assure that all players, coaches and team personnel experienced a first class event. There are 37 teams scheduled to play over the weekend this year.

It was my duty to see that everything from making sure that they knew exactly where to go for anything they were looking for and knowing they had a team host available to answer any questions, Borter said.

In "retirement," Borter adds with a laugh, he will still have many of the same responsibilities, but is transitioning some of those duties to the new coaching staff.

Jenkins always used to joke that they "had to make it to X," or 10, as the Classic in the Country uses Roman numerals (like the Super Bowl) to emphasize the impact the event has locally. Anything after 10 was considered a bonus.

"This event is so important to our community, financially, for tourism, and for the benefit of our players," Schlabach said. "It's amazing how I can be in an airport in Texas, or somewhere like that and run into somebody who was an assistant coach for this college or that who was at the Classic. You just don't know what you have until it's gone. But it's time to get new blood involved. The people who have been doing this event for the past 15-20 years are tired.

"Tom loved the idea that we pulled this thing off. When talking about the Classic, he always used to say this was a magical event. We were able to do so many good things," Schlabach said. "We were extremely different, but we had the same goals in mind, so it worked out."

Schlabach talked about Jenkins' relationship with college coaches, and just Ohio basketball, as being a big part of the continued success of the Classic in the Country. Hundreds of college coaches come to Berlin every year for the Classic to see a collection of talent all in one stop.

"His impact is very long-lasting in our state," Schlabach said. "There are kids playing in college, overseas, and in the WNBA that probably wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for Tom's help and guidance.

Jenkins: Hiland bids farewell to Tom Jenkins in a celebration of his life

East Holmes Superintendent Erik Beun points out how the Classic in the Country has helped put Hiland on the map, earning national recognition for the quality event it has become.

The Classic in the Country is an event held during the time of year when tourist traffic is lower, and this brings a lot of people into our community, he said. Those people are eating at restaurants and staying at hotels and doing other things that really helps the local economy.

"It also gives us a chance to host the visiting schools and communities that gives them an excellent environment to showcase their skills, and have an opportunity to experience playing in the Classic, Beun continued.

Having an event in the middle of January, when the tourism industry generally takes a hiatus, seeing the hotels fill up with visitors from out of town for a weekend of basketball is a big bonus for the Holmes County community.

Through the first 18 years the Classic in the Country has been held, it generated an estimated $20 million for the Holmes County economy, according to the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce. Hotels prosper, restaurants fill up and visitors are treated to some top-quality girls basketball.

Beun adds that the Classic in the Country has almost taken on a life if its own, thanks to the army of volunteers who have made it happen every year for the past 18 years.

volunteers: Cooper volunteers in many ways at the annual Classic in the Country girls hoops tourney

There is a long list of volunteers who help year in, year out, he said. Daves commitment, and Tom Jenkins previously, and so many others along the way have made this event what it is. There has been such an effort by so many volunteers, from the entertainment committee, to the snack stands, it has created a memorable experience for people.

Brady Schlabach, the son of Coach Schlabach, has taken on an increased role in helping move the event forward. He started out as part of the entertainment crew as a child and will lend his talents to continue the event that his father developed.

The younger Schlabach has worked with his father and others to put together a schedule of competitive games, matching up teams with similarly skilled opponents who they normally wouldnt face, like teams from Columbus and Cincinnati taking on teams from Northeast Ohio to Toledo.

We are trying to create the best atmosphere we can for these girls to compete in, he said. Thats what it has always been what Classic in the Country is about. It gives teams a chance to play against other great schools in Ohio, but also nationally, and international. Weve even got a team out of Canada this year.

I was very fortunate to grow up in the basketball community, but also the Hiland community as a whole, Schlabach said. Its been really cool to see behind the scenes of this success, and all the hard work that goes into it. I never realized what all goes into it until this year, and how important the community is to making the event happen. Every year we have to ask for volunteers, and the community always steps up.

Whenever I talk to high school coaches about the Classic, they mention the hospitality, and our volunteers are the best you can find, he continued. They are the most caring people anywhere. Especially Cousy. Even though he and my dad are no longer coaching, Cousy has been the biggest help behind the scenes in getting things ready to go.

The Classic in the Country is going big this year, adding five games over the Martin Luther King weekend to make it 25 games over Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Jan. 15, 16 and 17.

"We used to play seven games on Saturday and Monday, but now we're going to have nine games," Schlabach said. "And weve gone from five to seven games on Sunday. We've got a lot of teams that want to be here, including a couple teams from out of state (Colorado and Indiana) and a loaded team from Ontario, Canada (Southwest Academy)."

A schedule of the games and ticket information is available online at Classicinthecountry.org.

Excerpt from:
Schlabach continuing Classic in the Country after retiring as Hiland girls hoops coach - Wooster Daily Record

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Video: Justin Rogers, John Niyo analyze Lions' win over the Packers

Detroit News beat writer Justin Rogers and columnist John Niyo discuss the Lions' season-ending victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Justin Rogers, The Detroit News

Detroit Tracy Walker had it rough.

A leader of Detroits secondary, the fourth-year safety was stuck with a nickname that no defensive back would find appealing: "Butters" Walker.

He dropped that nickname on Sunday when he picked off Jordan Love with under 30 seconds left in the Lions 37-30 season-finale win over the Green Bay Packers for his first interception since Week 1, 2019 an 853-day gap.

Today we cant call him Butters, said defensive back C.J. Moore, who intercepted Love a drive prior to put Detroit in the drivers seat. He actually got one.

It was an up-and-down game that closed a stellar season for Walker, an impending free agent who'sdue for a raise after what his nose for bringing down the ballcarrier gave the Lions this season. He even tied a career-high in tackles Sunday, coming up with 13.

Honestly, Im just happy we got the win, Walker said. That goes to the foundation weve been trying to establish all year. Weve been having all types of ups and downs, but today we were able to go out there and play as one. We played as a team today, and we were able to be successful today.

Still, Walkers season and the Lions win almost ended after a tackle he didnt make.

With the Lions leading 27-22 in the fourth, Walker whiffed on a tackle during a tight end screen to Green Bays Josiah Deguara that wound up going for a 62-yard touchdown to put the Packers up, 30-27.

I know I gotta make the tackle, but Im human, too, Walker said. He gets paid on the other side of the ball as well, so shoutout to him for making me miss. … I made up for it in the long run.

That he did, and hes got those two late interceptions plus a rushing touchdown from DAndre Swift that regained the lead to thank for why Detroit closed the last six weeks of its season on a 3-3 run.

For Walker, that final stretch of the season represented growth of a team that asked him to do a lot of heavy lifting, and didnt always have top-flight talent alongside him in the secondary. The former third-round pick out of Louisianaled the team in tackles and set a single-season career high with 107.

Thats quite a bounce-back season after the Matt Patricia-led Lions took him away from free safety in 2020, the place on the field where hes most impactful. Now comes the wait, as its still unclear whether exactly what Walkers future holds.

More:Ranking the Lions' impending unrestricted free agents

But given his postgame comments, one would have a hard time believing that he wants to play anywhere else. He certainly doesnt talk like someone who plans on starting all over again in someplace new.

Weve had so many ups and downs this year, that I dont think we give enough credit to Dan Campbell. Hes a hell of a coach, Walker said.

Hes always preparing us, each and every week, to go out and compete against the best of the best. At the end of the day, I feel like things are coming together, and we see that. … Sometimes life doesnt go your way, but hey, life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you respond. And we responded the right way today, so thats how we look at it.

And he definitely doesnt sound like someone whos interested in trying to jibe with a third coaching staff in three years.

I feel like with these coaches, they believe in the players, Walker said. They understand what its like to be a player, first off, so theyre open ears. Sometimes we might not be right as players, but theyre still open to hear it. Thats the biggest thing for me. That was the biggest difference, honestly. I respect these coaches for that, giving me a voice, and allowing me to voice my opinions, and hearing me out, regardless if Im right or wrong.

Thats the difference between these coaches. Thats why I respect them the way I do.

Nolan Bianchi is a freelance writer.

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From 'Butters' to better: Lions' Tracy Walker caps turnaround season with big pick - The Detroit News