Is Bobby Valentine a good listener?

Bobby Valentine recently completed his one on one calls with each current player on the roster.  How do you think those calls went?  One thing I can tell you, is he got an earful.  Bobby V is the new Parent to the team so, being a sports mom, I have to put this into my perspective.

It’s like he’s the teacher on the playground at the elementary school watching over recess, and the principal took the only ball away, and the kids feel this wasn’t fair.  They tell the teacher, but the principal says “Just play”.  But the boys respond that they just want to play with that ball, and they can’t play anything else – only with that ball.  (I hope I haven’t lost you in my analogy yet).

So, the teacher turns to the boys and asks them about that ball.  He asks them about why the Principal took the ball away.  The boys begin to rant about the ball kept hitting other children, but they got in the way.  They argue that this ball has been the only ball used on this playground for the entire year, that this is the way its always been.  The Teacher keeps listening.

The boys start to get more comfortable with the Teacher, as they tell him a story about how their playing may have left other kids out because it was only this group of boys who could play with this ball.

After thinking for a bit, the Teacher, who is holding a ball, looks at the boys and asks “If I gave you this ball, and asked you to include all and any kids that wanted to play with you and this ball, would you be able to do that?”

The boys thought for a minute and said, “of course, we just want to play.”

Sometimes all it takes is allowing voices to be heard in order to move on.

Way to go Bobby V.  I’m glad you have big ears.

Stay healthy, be fit, and have fun!