Ben Basden

Thank you @DustinLMcComas @FiveToolTexas for the write-up! @MidwayBsball @CoachBasden @DallasTigersWe1 @BlakeBeavan

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What a beast!

@GowagsKyle I want in if this happens!

I would love, absolutely love, a video chat where coaches discuss situations. Where they get into the weeds of situations and what they’re thinking and WHY or WHY NOT you agree. The game needs public debates.

The best! We will miss you @Cornlum22!

One of the biggest misconceptions in high school sports is that coaching is primarily about practices, games, and wins. The reality is that coaching has become one of the most challenging roles in education because coaches are expected to wear dozens of hats while being evaluated from every direction. Every parent, player, administrator, and community member often has a different expectation of success. One family wants college recruiting to be the priority. Another wants playing time. Another wants winning. Another wants player development. Another wants discipline. Another simply wants their child to enjoy the experience. The challenge is that those goals frequently conflict, and coaches are often expected to satisfy all of them simultaneously. Most coaches are balancing far more than what happens between the lines. They manage team culture, player conflicts, parent concerns, academics, transportation, fundraising, budgets, equipment, scheduling, eligibility, social media issues, and the emotional needs of teenagers. At the same time, every roster includes athletes with different abilities, goals, motivations, and commitment levels. Some dream of college athletics. Some are trying to make varsity. Some simply want to belong. Building one program that serves all of them is incredibly difficult. Perhaps the greatest challenge is decision-making. Who starts? Who plays? Who sits? Who travels? Who gets moved up? Who gets cut? Every decision creates opportunity for one athlete and disappointment for another. Even well-intentioned decisions can be viewed as favoritism or politics when seen through the lens of an individual family. Recruiting adds another layer of complexity. Coaches are expected to help athletes pursue college opportunities while also managing the needs of an entire team. Supporting one athlete can sometimes raise questions from another family about their child’s opportunities. Social media has amplified many of these challenges. One lineup decision, one difficult conversation, or one emotional moment can quickly become public discussion, often without the full context. There are also pressures many people never see. Pressure from administrators to represent the school well. Pressure from parents to provide opportunities. Pressure from athletes to help them achieve their goals. Pressure from communities that often measure success by wins and losses. Pressure to retain athletes in an era of increasing transfers and movement. And all of this occurs while coaches are trying to develop young people, not just athletes. What makes coaching difficult is not that people don’t care. It’s that everyone cares deeply, but often about different things. Parents focus on their child. Players focus on their opportunities. Administrators focus on the school. Communities focus on results. Coaches must somehow balance all of those interests while making decisions they believe are best for the team. As a former college coach, athletic director, and high school administrator, I’ve learned that most coaches are not trying to hold athletes back, play favorites, or make life difficult for families. Most are simply navigating competing priorities, limited resources, and difficult decisions while trying to do what’s best for kids. Because at its core, coaching has never really been about managing games. It’s about managing people. And that’s what makes it both incredibly challenging and incredibly important

Does Texas have to wait an extra hundred days before they start? Or did the @espn graphic designers use the wrong hand?

Can’t figure out why some @USABaseball players have the flag on their right sleeve and some have it on their left sleeve at the #WorldBaseballClassic. Anyone have a clue? Does Capital One get to pick which sleeve their ad is on? Tailor’s choice?

@DawgsCentral_ Sugar Bowl

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Sports pet peeve #28355: when basketball coaches talk to only the 5 players on the floor at a timeout while the other players stay seated on the bench.

Hands down the worst part of college football.

.@6NewsCTX Somehow, the naked man scrubbing a goat is the *least* disturbing thing in this photo. #SpellingIsHard

May as well take the rains, too. #HomophonesAreHard

Coach Venables lost eight Conference games in his two seasons in the Big 12

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Aaron Judge had an MVP-caliber season and only hit .331. Impressive.

Schools in the ENTIRE COUNTRY with 15 Wins Against Ranked Opponents Since 2022: -Georgia That’s it. That’s the list.

What a game! Go Dawgs! That color is still heinous, and @_megmoroney knows it.

Did they catch the sniper that got you going into 3rd @AidenLocke34?

To be fair, most of that song *is* about the Texas Longhorns, so…