Stephenson outlined the three most important aspects of vision

NEW YORK -- Once in a while, Gary Matthews relives how close his Chicago Cubs came to reaching the World Series.Actually, a little more often.Wow, he said. Think about that every day.With his former team just one win from its first World Series trip since 1945, fans everywhere already are envisioning the excitement at Wrigley Field. The Cubs lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in the NL Championship Series and can clinch the pennant in Game 6 on Saturday night.Matthews knows well that feeling of anticipation. Too well, in fact.In 1984, Matthews hit two home runs in Game 1 of the best-of-five NLCS as the Cubs romped over San Diego 13-0. The popular left fielder nicknamed Sarge contributed to a win in Game 2, too.But with a frenzied city preparing to host the Fall Classic, the Cubs went to the West Coast, dropped three in a row to the Padres and lost their chance.In 2003, Matthews was the Cubs hitting coach under manager Dusty Baker. Chicago rushed to a 3-1 lead in the NLCS over the Florida Marlins, but once again lost three straight and got eliminated.Matthews still has a home in Chicago, and would love to soak up the World Series atmosphere at Wrigley. Maybe throw out a first ball along the way.But hes acutely aware that things can fall apart quickly. Especially when the Cubs are involved.My stomach is actually turning even now realizing they only need one more game, he said Friday. Been there ... didnt get it done.It would be nice to talk about something else besides `they almost made it. Or, favorite line of the Cubs or in Chicago -- `wait till next year, he said. Then we can put that to bed.Thats even before they can take aim at the Billy Goat Curse and try to win their first crown since 1908.Matthews got more than 2,000 hits and scored more than 1,000 runs in an All-Star career. He was the 1983 NLCS MVP for Philadelphia when he homered three times and drove in eight runs in a four-game series with the Dodgers. He homered in the World Series that year as the Phillies lost to Baltimore.The next year, he was traded late in spring training to the Cubs. Matthews led the majors in on-base percentage in 1984, teaming with Ryne Sandberg and Rick Sutcliffe to help Chicago make its first postseason appearance in nearly 40 years. In the deciding Game 5 against the Padres, the Cubs took a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning before it got away.Talk with Ryne Sandberg, he thinks about it every single day, Matthews said.The disappointment of that near-miss was still in his mind two decades later when Matthews was in the dugout as the Cubs took on the Marlins.Realizing the history of the Cubs, not winning since 1908, that we can finally put that goat to rest, he said. Hes still -- baaaaaaah -- out there.In Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, with the Cubs one win from earning that elusive World Series spot, they took a 3-0 lead into the eighth inning. In what became known for the night fan Steve Bartman deflected a foul fly, Chicago let it get away. The next day, the Cubs fell in Game 7.Six outs. That close, Matthews said.Matthews was visiting the New York area this weekend to see a son who works for Major League Baseball. Another son, Gary Jr., was an All-Star outfielder.The 66-year-old Matthews enjoyed a good run as a player, coach and broadcaster in the big leagues. Hes now rooting hard for Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and these Cubs to finally break the jinx.I think they have as good a chance as any of the Cubs teams, he said, smiling, since 1908. Nike Air Max 270 Outlet . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Nike Air Max 270 From China .ca. 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From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie.Day one of the UEFA A licence (part 2) was broken up into four different lectures. To say that there was a lot of information to process would be an understatement of enormous proportions. The first lecture, which ran from 9:30am-12:30pm was delivered by Billy Dixon, a performance coach from Portadown, NI. Billy has worked with various national football federations, Premier League clubs, Irish Rugby, an F1 champion, major media outlets and various corporate clients. He spoke about confidence, and explained the concept that confidence is very much a transient characteristic. When players suffer a dip in form, it isnt that they lose their ability; they lose their confidence. According to Dixon, one of the challenges of being an elite coach lies in understanding what motivates and drives each and every one of your players. He explained that there are two passions in life - love and hate. The things we love can include football, money, fame, family and friends, while the things we hate can include losing, failure, dishonesty or laziness. There is no right or wrong answer to this, because everyone will have a different list of things they love and hate. A successful coach is one who finds out what his or her players are passionate about and uses that as motivation to maximize their performance. Dixon defined the difference between talent (something you are born with) and ability (something you learn to do). It is his belief that one doesnt need talent to be successful, but one does need ability. One of the exercises that Dixon had us complete was something that we had all done before - we wrote down our strengths and weaknesses. He then added five characteristics that he claimed were essential in creating a successful team. Strategic - Someone who can see the vision of what the end goal is; someone who sees the big picture.Tactical - Someone who can map out the route from where the team is currently to where the strategic goal is. Instinctive - Someone who can see things that others cannot. In football, this is typically a creative player who often defies instructions but is capable of producing match-winning moments of individual brilliance. Practical - Someone who just gets things done. Bonder - Someone who brings everything (and everyone) together. As a coach, you may have some of these five characteristics as strengths, but you might also have some of them as weaknesses. The truly great coaches, Dixon believes, make their strengths stronger and bring in people that make up for their weaknesses. Dixon outlined some practical solutions to dealing with stress - an inevitable byproduct of working in professional football. The one that stood out for me was helping others. Dixon said that by doing so, you change your mindset from looking inward to looking outward. It is his belief that behaviour changes attitudes and he outlined how your posture, walk, eye contact, smile and tone of voice can all impact your players. How you relate to them will largely affect how they respond to you and the secret to success is to build loyalty. If you make your players feel important, you will in turn earn their loyalty. Dixons presentation was excellent, and while much of what he said might seem like common sense, there is a problem with common sense - it isnt very common. After a quick break for lunch, we were off to the University of Ulster in the afternoon for a lecture delivered by Faye Downey, MSc., who is a strength and conditioning expert and performance consultant. Her presentation was entitled Training for Rate of Force Development and Power. The training of professional athletes is increedibly complex, and the area of strength and conditioning is one of the most likely areas where an elite coach would look to bring in a specialist.ddddddddddddAn expert with Downeys knowledge and experience should be viewed as a very valuable asset to a professional football club. Downey explained the principle that power is equal to force times speed and that power is very much limited by the athletes ability to generate force. She went on to discuss three of the five power-training options she utilizes (Olympic lifting, complex training and plyometrics) as well as the potentiation effect, whereby force training is immediately followed by speed training in order to maximize results. It was an overload of scientific information that left many coaches scratching their heads - further underlining the need for strength and conditioning experts in the game. Just before dinner, we had a lecture from Gail Stephenson, who is the head of Orthoptics and Vision Science at the University of Liverpool. Since 1996, Stephenson has also been a consultant for Manchester United. Stephensons presentation confirmed just how in-depth and thorough the world of professional football has become. Over eighty per cent of the information that players need to make informed decisions on the pitch comes from their vision. Yet, physiological vision function and performance analyses are not routinely performed at football clubs. Well, they are at Manchester United. Stephenson outlined the three most important aspects of vision: peripheral vision (the ability to see objects and movement outside of the direct line of vision), binocular vision (the ability to maintain visual focus on an object with both eyes, creating a single visual image) and spatial awareness (a persons ability to judge where they are in relation to the objects around them). Here is a truly staggering statistic from Stephensons research at Manchester United. The general population has a central orientation to their spatial awareness (whereby their perception of where they are in relation to objects around them is central to their field of vision) in just three per cent of cases. In Manchester Uniteds first team squad, the percentage of players with a central orientation to their spatial awareness is ninety per cent! When asked if she believes that this is an indicator of potential for Uniteds Academy players, Stephenson said that they are currently researching this possibility. After dinner, our final lecture was a lively discussion with Nigel Best, the Irish Football Associations Performance Manager, about the merits of the 4-3-3 system of play. With 25-plus A licence coaches in the room, there was plenty of opinion to go around. The discussion centred on the roles and responsibilities of the players, depending on what formation was being utilized within the 4-3-3 system itself - one holding midfielder or two. In ideal circumstances, my preference is to play with one holding midfielder. Other coaches had different preferences, but one thing we all agreed on was this: the choice of system (4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-5-1) and the type of formation utilized within that system is entirely dependent on the characteristics of the players the coach has at his or her disposal. This underscores the importance of the coachs ability to profile players, so that he or she can then choose a system and formation that best suits the players strengths, and minimizes their weaknesses. It was a very busy first day, full of information and thought-provoking discussion. It was a great start to the course and one that leaves me looking forward to tomorrow. ' ' '