A Report on Boys Life Magazine and Article from Grant Wistrom

Harold Goldberg. Boys Life. Boy Scouts of America. (2012, July) is magazine about team
work. During the 2004 Summer Olympics, Team USA basketball's reputation deteriorated.
According to Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of USA Basketball said “the players acted on and off the
court”. This is the main cause of their poor performance at the time. When one of them busy with
their own business, team work goals will not be achieved. Therefore, it affects inconsistencies
between players during the match. Colangelo very disappointed but he become realize that he need
to restore respect by emphasizing the importance of representing the United States with dignity
and talk about his vision for making USA Basketball great again. Kevin Durant and Kevin Love got
the message, they realize that failure was not their end but it was a valuable lesson. Learning from
past experiences, teaching them to work hard to get back where they were before. That’s what
Durrant and Love does. As a player who are representing their country, they have duty that need
to be fulfilled. Other than playing, they need to keep the country’s dignity from being contaminated.
Besides, Durrant’s and Love’s positive attitudes is a good role model for rebuilding the perfect team.
Also the key to getting a great team is by working with each other. Based on article entitled The
Importance of Teamwork: What football can teach us about finding success as a team by Grant
Wistrom (2018), there are lot of benefits which is the first one is learn from failure. Losing wins is
the custom of competing. It doesn't mean we need to give up. When we lose, please take some
time to thinks and discuss with the teammates to plan new strategies for the next game. In addition,
teamwork needs a close relationship between players. This is because we have same goal to win.
So no one player can carry the team on their own unless with cooperation.

One of my reactions to the magazine was work hard. I was amazed to see the spirit of
Durant and Love. They learned from their weaknesses and mistakes during the previous games.
There is no term fed up in themselves. The evidence is that they continue to practice and improve
their skills from day by days. I have read from other article that’s “if I have the belief that I can do
it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” (Mahatma
Gandhi). This shows that if we are confident that we will succeed so there is no reason for us to
stop. I also have the same experience like them. At the time I lost the spirit to continue playing
volleyball because our team often loses. But I came back thinking positively that I had the
responsibility to protect the honor of the school and the group. Let it be lost even if it loses its
dignity. So I motivated those who were discouraged and resumed the game. At the end we
succeeded.

I think USA Basketball needs give a reward to Durant and Love because they show positive
attitudes during the tournament and also in training. It’s not easy to find superstar like them
because they are one in a thousand. Indirectly Durant and Love can motivate their team better than
one who dwells on a loss. When the players see their attitude in the sports like being punctual and
their effort, they are also motivated to follow them.

I agree with Colangelo’s actions which he did the best to awaken the players to do some
come back. For the sake of national dignity, he was able to meet with the basketball players and
talk about passion and vision Basketball. Even though he is the chairman of USA Basketball who are
busy with lots of meeting. This shows that he not only the great chairman but also the great coach
who are understands each individual characteristics.

In conclusion, I would strongly recommend Boys Life magazine and article from Wistrom
for everyone to read. You will not regret if you read it. All of you will learn lessons base on real
situation and can find the solutions when you having problems with your team.