{"id":82462,"date":"2019-04-30T14:58:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T14:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82462"},"modified":"2023-02-17T22:13:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T22:13:08","slug":"magic-ball-john-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Magic Ball” by John Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
\n<\/strong><\/em>
\nGary Laubach: While I am away from my desk for a week, guest blogger and announcing\u00a0partner, John Leone, offers his thoughts on the meaning of The Game:<\/p>\n

The longer I live, the more I realize how desperately futile my attempts at originality\u00a0have been. That\u2019s not to say that those attempts have been in vain, it\u2019s just that I\u2019m
\nfinding more and more that there truly is nothing new under the sun. Any successful\u00a0person never lacks for an appreciation of what is good about life. But I think a complete\u00a0and truly self-aware person never fails to express it, so in at least that regard, the struggle\u00a0continues.<\/p>\n

With time running short at a recent post-season basketball banquet, (or long, depending\u00a0on your experiences at such events) our Coach, Fran O\u2019Hanlon, closed the ceremony by\u00a0referring to the glass-enclosed basketball to his right, one that was about to be presented\u00a0to his most recent 1000-point scorer.<\/p>\n

As he glanced over at it, his words seem to trail off just a bit. It seemed to me that he was\u00a0no longer addressing the audience, but rather indulging himself in some sort of high\u00a0prayer or mediation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s magic in that ball,\u201d he said. \u201cIt connects us.\u201d I wanted more, and having known\u00a0Fran for as long as I have, I knew that there was more in there. But there was that time\u00a0thing. I walked out into a cold and rainy evening feeling tied, with no chance at an\u00a0overtime period.<\/p>\n

Fran succeeded me here at Lafayette<\/a> some 24 years ago as the Men\u2019s Basketball Coach.\u00a0 One thing is certain and that is that Fran never needed my help with anything related to\u00a0The Game. He certainly chose his predecessor wisely. That said, I hope he won\u2019t mind \u2013 just this once –\u00a0 if I take a stab at what he may have explained to us all had time allowed.<\/p>\n

There is magic in that ball. It connects us. Through generations and different eras and\u00a0even through its evolution, names and faces change but the shared experiences of playing\u00a0The Game keep it as its constant and recurring focal point. If you\u2019ve played the game,\u00a0you almost certainly remember someone by name \u2013 someone who wasn\u2019t necessarily a\u00a0close friend or even someone you\u2019d ever see again beyond those endless summer nights\u00a0on the playground courts \u2013 someone with whom you discovered a synergy in playing the\u00a0game right. And you were always glad to have him on your team when choosing up sides.<\/p>\n

Even in the most rudimentary pick-up games, I can remember the feeling of\u00a0connectedness I\u2019d experience when receiving a pass \u2013 or making one \u2013 in a key moment.
\nIt was visceral. It was a non-verbal way of saying, \u201cI trust you\u201d or \u201cI respect you\u201d; a\u00a0heartfelt exchange with someone you may have only just met. And those moments made\u00a0you want to raise your game a level or two if only to enhance that sense of\u00a0accomplishment and strengthen the developing bond with a basketball soul mate. It\u2019s a
\nrare thing. It\u2019s the stuff of which upsets are made at any and all levels of The Game.<\/p>\n

Successful coaches are those who are able to get their players to do what they want them\u00a0to do. X\u2019s and O\u2019s are overrated by comparison. They make great fodder for pundits and\u00a0fans, but remember: there is nothing new under the sun. There are few \u2013 if any \u2013 silver\u00a0bullets on a play sheet or a chalkboard. Imagine striving \u2013 and succeeding \u2013 over time in\u00a0building for your team a oneness of spirit that brings the magic. Culture trumps strategy\u00a0every day of the week. What Coach O was reminding us of that night was the link to not\u00a0only the men of his program, but to all of those who came before and anyone who\u2019s tried\u00a0to play the game right.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had good and well-intentioned friends suggest to me \u2013 and wish for me \u2013 more\u00a0balance in my life. All things come back to The Game for me, and Coach O\u2019Hanlon did
\nme no favors that night by reinforcing in me this ongoing and arguably growth-stunting\u00a0personal worldview. The Game is a metaphor for living well, and that ball surely does\u00a0have magic in it.<\/p>\n

When we share it, it enhances us. When we dominate it or hoard it, it punishes us \u2013 sometimes, embarrassingly so. When we treat it carelessly, we lose it. When we value it,\u00a0it rewards us. There are times we need to work hard to gain possession of it, risking pain\u00a0and even injury.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a love of The Game \u2013 not unlike the love of art, or music, or dance \u2013 that\u00a0engenders a physical and emotional investment. The magic does not happen without it,
\nand without it, we are blinded from seeing the game for all that it can offer. The magic in\u00a0that ball can bring out the best in us, or it can reveal our deepest flaws. When five people\u00a0can function as a single entity, a single brain and heart – subverting in some cases our\u00a0own individuality for the greater good \u2013 the results can be not just magical, but\u00a0sometimes legendary. My friend and former Princeton<\/a> coach, Pete Carril<\/a>, once said, \u201cLet\u00a0me watch a kid play for 15 minutes, and I\u2019ll probably be able to tell you all you need to\u00a0know about him as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

I left the banquet that night thinking of teammates I have had throughout the years and\u00a0how \u2013 despite the distance in time and place \u2013 we are and have been inexorably
\nconnected. But even more than that, I thought of the handful of guys from those pickup\u00a0games of my youth and thought that \u2013 if they showed up today after 50 years \u2013 I\u2019d still\u00a0pick them, or still want them to pick me.<\/p>\n

John Leone<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of\u00a0RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. Gary Laubach: While I am away from my desk for a week, guest blogger and announcing\u00a0partner, John Leone, offers his thoughts on the meaning of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"The Magic Ball" by John Leone - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""The Magic Ball" by John Leone - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of\u00a0RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. Gary Laubach: While I am away from my desk for a week, guest blogger and announcing\u00a0partner, John Leone, offers his thoughts on the meaning of...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-30T14:58:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-17T22:13:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gary Laubach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gary Laubach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gary Laubach\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee\"},\"headline\":\"“The Magic Ball” by John Leone\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-30T14:58:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-17T22:13:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1035,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Behind the Mic\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"The Magic Ball\\\" by John Leone - ATVN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-30T14:58:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-17T22:13:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/magic-ball-john-leone\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/\",\"name\":\"ATVN\",\"description\":\"Local Programming & Astound Digital Cable, Internet & Phone Services\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee\",\"name\":\"Gary Laubach\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg\",\"url\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Gary Laubach\"},\"description\":\"Gary began his broadcasting career with Twin County in 1972. Twin County eventually became C-TEC and then Astound Broadband. Gary is currently a Sports Broadcaster for Lafayette College.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/author\\\/rcntvgary\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"The Magic Ball\" by John Leone - ATVN","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"The Magic Ball\" by John Leone - ATVN","og_description":"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of\u00a0RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. Gary Laubach: While I am away from my desk for a week, guest blogger and announcing\u00a0partner, John Leone, offers his thoughts on the meaning of...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/","og_site_name":"ATVN","article_published_time":"2019-04-30T14:58:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-17T22:13:08+00:00","author":"Gary Laubach","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gary Laubach","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/"},"author":{"name":"Gary Laubach","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee"},"headline":"“The Magic Ball” by John Leone","datePublished":"2019-04-30T14:58:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-17T22:13:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/"},"wordCount":1035,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Behind the Mic"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/","name":"\"The Magic Ball\" by John Leone - ATVN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-04-30T14:58:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-17T22:13:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/magic-ball-john-leone\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/","name":"ATVN","description":"Local Programming & Astound Digital Cable, Internet & Phone Services","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee","name":"Gary Laubach","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg","url":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg","contentUrl":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg","caption":"Gary Laubach"},"description":"Gary began his broadcasting career with Twin County in 1972. Twin County eventually became C-TEC and then Astound Broadband. Gary is currently a Sports Broadcaster for Lafayette College.","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/author\/rcntvgary\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82462"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87167,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82462\/revisions\/87167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}