We simply needed a bigger boat

Dec. 23—When I began writing articles for the Ada News in November of 2022, I made it clear that as a coach, My way was not the only way, and My way was not a perfect way. However, My way was the best way for Alan Simpson, and that will never change. Ever.

Conviction is a powerful word, and with it comes responsibility. "What you do speaks so loudly that I can barely hear, what you say".

I'm a firm believer in conviction, and I don't want it to be misconstrued as being judgmental. (They're not the same). My basketball convictions transcend into opinions, and therefore, I hope that my opinions are respected for what they are — opinions.

With conviction and integrity, the word 'maybe' should never enter the conversation.

I haven't talked enough about this but winning should not be a 'win-at-costs' or 'all-or-nothing' thing. I've had some teams/players that ended the season with painful losses, and when they walked off the court they may have lost the game, but they weren't losers, because they had acquired invaluable 'life lessons'.

The reason I know this is because many of them have told me, and they've been successful in the game we call 'Life'. It's time to turn the page.

In 1987, we were ranked 3rd and lost the first round of Regional at home to Sulphur, a team we had beaten by 25 points in January in the ECU tournament. That loss was on me because I failed to prepare my team. I just assumed we'd win. The next afternoon, of all places, we had to play at Sulphur. It's a short walk from the penthouse to the outhouse.

We survived the Friday and Saturday games, and the next week, we won three Area Tournament games at ECU to punch our tickets to state at the Big House.

The following week at state, we won our quarterfinal and semifinal games and had now won SEVEN straight playoff games to defend our 1986 title. Trust me, we had battled back and earned the right to play....Millwood, who was ranked 3rd in a five-state region by USA Today. That region also included Texas.

I'll never forget the Millwood Falcons coming on the floor to the chants of their fans, "We want that gold ball, we want that ball". They weren't kidding either as the Falcons ran by in front of us on our bench. 6'10" Center, Brian Hopgood, led the way, followed by 6' 7" Joey Mickey and 6' 7" Russ Allen.

Instantly, I thought of the movie, Jaws, when the sheriff, upon seeing the shark up close, said to Captain Quint, "You're going to need a bigger boat".

We lost by 20, but I was so proud of our winning seven straight playoff games. We were truly the second best of 96 schools in our class. That day we graciously accepted the silver ball, because it was the best we could do, and that, my friends, will always be good enough.