Player's sneaker comes off during game

[grunewar]

Several yrs ago I started some of my younger Rec League games (9-10 yr olds) by saying, "Everyone make sure your shoes are tied. First player who's sneaker comes untied - coach owes me $1."

I don't do that, or those leagues anymore.

[BillyMac]

On his first day of practice, Coach John Wooden (UCLA) would spend the entire day teaching his highly touted recruits how to properly put on their socks and sneakers. The likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton watched patiently as Coach Wooden demonstrated the proper way to put on athletic socks and tie shoes. It seems silly and frivolous to speak of this, until you realize that Coach was teaching his team to pay attention to the minute details that form the foundation of their preparation. He showed them that neither a world-class vertical jump nor a seven-foot frame was immune to failure if your shoes became untied or if the socks bunched up and created a blister that limited your play. He was telling his players that the greatness of their game was subject to the very foundation of their preparation.

[Mark Padgett]

When a kid bends down to tie his shoe during a dead ball, sometimes it takes him quite a while. When that happens, I go over to him and loudly say "No - the rabbit goes around the rock...".

The other kids usually crack up.