Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
February 8, 2008, Washington Post

The Biggest Mistake Is Not Trying

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis thinks he knows why his hockey team is winning more games under new coach Bruce Boudreau. Leonsis recently told a Washington Post reporter that "Glen [Hanlon, who had the job before Boudreau] was a technically wonderful coach, but he didn't want to make mistakes. He wanted to win 2-1. "

Boudreau, Leonsis went on, "is not afraid of making mistakes, which means we're going to win games 5-4."

Leonsis is a smart man who has made lots of money from the Internet and computers. I think he is on to something about sports. Athletes and teams don't play well if they are always scared of making mistakes. They play better when they are trying hard but are free to take some chances and make mistakes.

As Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player ever, said: "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."

It's true with youth sports, too. I coached basketball -- boys and girls teams -- for years. I noticed that lots of players didn't want to shoot the ball in a game. Why? They were afraid they would miss, which they saw as making a mistake.

So at the first practice every season I took my players out to a semi-circle about 20 feet from the basket and told them: "Coach Bowen will never be upset if you take a shot from here and you miss. Remember, a missed shot is not a mistake."

That got the kids shooting and scoring.

When I coached baseball and softball, I awarded the game ball to the kid who made the catch of the game. My players would run and dive for balls, trying to make a great play and win the game ball.

I think that's better than playing it safe and letting the ball drop so that you don't make an error.

Think back to the biggest play in Sunday's super-exciting Super Bowl. The New York Giants were trailing the New England Patriots, 14-10, and time was running out. Giants quarterback Eli Manning dropped back to pass on third down and almost got sacked. But he spun free and threw a long pass that teammate David Tyree made a sensational catch on, reaching high above a Patriots defensive back.

If the Patriots had intercepted the ball, fans would have said that Manning made a mistake throwing a long pass to a well-covered receiver.

Often the difference between a big play and a big mistake is a matter of inches or a bit of luck. But whether you are Eli Manning in the Super Bowl or a middle-school kid in a recreational league, you won't make the big play unless you take a chance.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

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