What Defines Success?


When I played for legendary Coach Ted Monica and the Madison Dodgers from 1977-1979 Coach was celebrating his 25th year of commanding excellence.

Coach Monica arrived at Madison High School two years after my parents graduated. My parents met at Madison High where my mom was a cheerleader and the student body president. My dad played center and linebacker on the football team. He also played basketball and threw the weights in track.

By the time I attended Madison, Coach had developed an exceptional program. We never lost a game and we ended our high school playing careers with a record of 33 - 0 - 0 and, like Hoosiers, #1 in NJ's Final Star Ledger Poll our senior year.

Tragically, my mom died following her eight year struggle with melanoma and was buried the day before our State Playoff game vs. Orange during this senior season.

Orange featured a back named Sammy Seale. Sam went on to play in the NFL for 10 years.

The day after beating Orange, we took a special SAT makeup session and then we played Millburn, our traditional Thanksgiving Day Rival, on Thursday.

Coach Monica, the staff, and in particular Line Coach Jack Francis, and the team saved me.

I dedicated my life to studying and sharing the values, beliefs, and behaviors influencing successful and resilient teams, coaches, and leaders.

Earlier in his career, in 1966, a Madison team beat Verona by the score of 75-0 despite Coach sending in the deepest reserves early in the game.

Ironically, the seniors on this Verona Team never won a game. They were 0-32-0 over three years.

To explore the value of winning and losing in sports, some of these 1966 Verona players created a documentary

http://75-0.com/#about

At 2:18 you will find me sharing insights on this trailer.

Was forwarded this yesterday. Hope you enjoy it.

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