LDS Head Coach's Playbook of Principles

"Navy head coach's playbook of principles" from the Mormon Times: Walk past the football coach’s office Monday around 4 a.m., and you will find him alone, his back to the door, studying a book on his desk. It’s in the quiet solitude of those predawn hours that Navy’s head man, Ken Niumatalolo, becomes immersed in his playbook.
Not his football strategies, his scriptural playbook, the Book of Mormon.
“It’s his personal time. No one will bother him until he turns back forward in his desk,” said Barbara Niumatalolo, the coach’s wife. “If something touches him, he goes back to it during the day. It’s usually something he needs to hear to prepare him for that day.”
       Daily scripture study is just one of many key strategies in Niumatalolo’s personal playbook of principles. Devotion to family, church service and living the gospel have helped the Mormon coach endure the rigors and stress of the college coaching lifestyle from Hawaii to Annapolis, Md., for almost two decades. Much of his success can be traced to something he learned at an early age.
“For me, growing up as a member of the church, I always knew as long as you are obedient, the Lord will bless you and everything will work out,” Niumatalolo said. “Gospel principles are universal.”
      To read the rest of Coach Niumatalolo's story Click Here.

NIT Champs Represent the Lord

The 1951 BYU basketball team has accomplished a lot in life but they'd be the first to tell you that winning the National Invitational Tournament, which at that time what equivalent to today's NCAA Tournament, was not the most important. As champions they were able to represent not only their school but their faith as basketball playing missionaries. As they traveled to Brazil after the NIT tournament they didn't wear their normal BYU gear, they wore shirts with the word "Mormon" on them to represent the LDS church. In Brazil at that time there was only one mission, now there are 38. These players definitely had a part in the people of Brazil being interested not only in watching them play basketball but learning about their church. What a great way to represent their faith. I commend this team and these men for not only how they played the game of basketball but also their missionary mind set they had while doing it. As we jump ahead 60 years we see this team has accomplished a lot more since their victory in '51. Their team over the years has consisted of seven LDS Bishops, four of them have served in Stake Presidencies, one was a General Authority, one a Patriarch, and one served as a mission president. We see that this team have kept true to their faith, have kept their missionary mind set, and have all found a love for serving the Lord.
          Watch this video from Mormon Times to learn more.



This video and statistics about the 1951 BYU basketball team came from the above video produced by Mormon Times.

Danny Ainge: Finding a Balance in Life

In the 1981 NCAA Basketball Tournament in the sweet 16 BYU was trailing Notre Dame by a score of 47-48. What happened next is what has become one of the greatest finishes in college basketball history(see link below to view). With seven seconds on the clock the ball was passed into Danny Ainge. Ainge, who was named the national collegiate player of the year and won the John R. Wooden Award, drives down the court past all five Notre Dame players and lays the ball in for the game winning shot that advanced his team to the Elite 8. Still to this day that is the furthest the Cougars have ever made it in the NCAA Tournament. This amazing play was only the start to a great career for Ainge. He went on to be drafted by the Boston Celtics where won two NBA Championships and finished his career with 11,964 career points.
   Moving on in his career he was an NBA coach for the Phoenix Suns for three years and more recently became the general manager of the Boston Celtics in 2003 and eventually compiled a team that won the 2008 NBA Championship.

   As if managing an NBA Championship team wasn't enough for Ainge he was called to be the Bishop of the Massachusetts Weston 1st Ward right after the NBA Finals. Ainge, who had been in the bishopric already for five years said he had thought there would be some changes but this wasn't quite what he had thought. “But, honestly, there was no way they were going to call me, with my schedule, to be a bishop,” he says. “I had my doubts when they called me to be bishop, but I think that it will just compel me to find balance even more.” said Ainge. Ainge's daughter commented on her parents and her Dad's new calling by saying “despite the time and effort they are about to start putting into this ward, they are excited and eager to serve. It has been a great reminder of what great people my parents are and how blessed I am to have such great examples.” Michael Dowling a sportscaster in Ainge's ward and one of Ainge's home teaching families said “A lot of people are going to find out exactly how good of a guy he is and how much he cares about people. He’s our home teacher, and he really looks out for my boys . . . as a home teacher and a bishop would.” Ainge says, “The service element helps me to balance my life, and to buoy me up”
   It's great to see how a faithful member of the church is able to balance both his love and career of basketball with the dedication to his faith and serving his ward members as a Bishop. There is no doubt that Danny Ainge is someone we could all look up to and learn from his example of finding balance in our lives.
           
Danny Ainge Coast to Coast Game Winning Drive VS. Notre Dame

Quotes taken from The Mormon Times and BYU Magazine

The Spiritual Side of Jimmer

Jimmer Fredette has had an amazing season on the basketball court this year leading the BYU Cougars to a #8 national ranking and a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament, which starts today. Even being a missionary in little Dillon, Montana I've seen the effects of "Jimmer Mania". There has been a lot of buzz surrounding his performance on the court from members and non members alike. This has also sparked a few conversation about the church. This video produced by Mormon Times takes a look at Jimmer and his spiritual side, how the gospel has shaped his life, and how he believes he's been blessed with a God given talent. As a Mormon, a missionary, and a big BYU fan it's nice to see someone put on such a pedestal who is so down to earth and willing to recognize the role the gospel and God has made in his life.