导出博客文章Hands firmly across his chest, and not even the hint of a smile on his lips,
Neil Hawgoods body language might have seemed inexplicable. The coach of the
Indian womens hockey team had just watched his side create history. They had
beaten China 2-1 following goals from Grace Deep Ekka and Deepika Thakur, in the
final of the Asian Champions Trophy. It was the first time in four attempts that
India had claimed the continental crown.The players themselves were ecstatic.
They draped themselves in the national flag. They danced in the team bus and
ordered previously forbidden pizza once they got back to the hotel. On the
ground they had even made an attempt to hoist Hawgood on their shoulders but the
Australian would have none of it and the girls gave up after lifting him a few
inches off the ground. When it came for posing for pictures with the trophy,
Hawgood, still with very little expression on his face, stood in the corner of
the frame.The Indian team understood.Coach gets emotional very quickly. After
our match against Japan [where the team settled for a draw after giving up a
two-goal cushion] he was crying. This time he was so happy that he probably
didnt want to show his emotion, Deepika told ESPN soon after scoring the winning
strike off a penalty corner with 17 seconds left on the clock.Hawgood would
explain his actions later. I get more enjoyment from watching the girls
celebrate. It is their success and they deserved to be at the centre of it all,
he told ESPN from Singapore following what was only his sides third win against
China in the last 13 encounters.The win was the second bit of history that India
have created this year. They had broken a 36-year drought by qualifying for the
Olympics. Once there, the side performed poorly, losing all but one game and
finishing with a -15 goal difference. Hawgood and his team, however, believe
that the bruising experience in Rio has paid off.We cant underestimate the role
that qualifying for the Olympics has made to the team, he said. You learn more
from a big lesson than a number of smaller lessons. At the Olympics, the team
learned how they needed to play at a higher level for longer periods of
time.Against a Chinese team ranked four places higher than them at eighth in the
world, India were able to soak up spells of sustained pressure, particularly in
the second and third quarters when the game seemed to ebb. The team was able to
knuckle down, he said. They were able to stay focused and get through those hard
periods.Deepika, who with 182 caps is the most experienced member of the squad,
and had featured in three winless Asian Champions Trophy campaigns before this
one, said the side is much stronger mentally.Unlike in previous editions, we
werent worried how we would perform this time, she said. After having qualified
for the Olympics we dont just want to be a team that takes part. We dont think
we are just a normal team any more. We expect better from ourselves. Is baar
jeet ki bhukh aa gayi hai team mein (We have the hunger to win now). Frankly
anything less than winning the Champions Trophy would have been a disappointment
for us.Indeed, Hawgood had told his side before the tournament that this was
their best chance to claim the continental crown. At the end of the Olympic
cycle, most teams will be rebuilding [China would send a U-21 squad]. On the
other hand, we only had three seniors [albeit including captain Sushila Chanu]
missing out this tournament, he said.While he expected the title, Hawgood rates
the win highly simply because it means that the momentum created by the Olympic
qualification is maintained. However, he knows that while his side are
competitive in Asia, there is a long way to go. We are top of the mountain in
Asia, but only halfway up where we need to be at the world level, he said.The
team will have little time to rest on their laurels. Flying back to India on
Saturday, they begin training almost immediately. After a 10-day camp, they head
to Australia where they play a three-match test series against a side to whom
they lost 6-1 in the Olympics. We have bigger challenges, he said. Hockey goes
on.Hawgood says the side will pick another three or four newcomers for the
Australia tour. There are also other areas India have to work on. The teams
penalty corner woes continued in Singapore too. They converted one of seven in
their final league game against China, which was the only game they lost in the
tournament.We dont need just a single drag flicker, Hawgood said. We probably
need two or three. But when I returned to the Indian team 12 months ago, I didnt
feel that we had the time to develop one before the Olympics. But it is
something we need.
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winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. LOS ANGELES
-- Cmon, Clay Helton. You know you want to. Heres your chance. Heres your chance
to tell all the college football experts to go do something anatomically
impossible.All he does is give a hearty laugh.Not my style, Helton said. Not my
style.Helton is the former soon-to-be-former USC coach. He spent the first month
of his first head coaching season hearing why he shouldnt get a second. Now
Helton is the middle of his third month, and his No. 13 Trojans are 7-3 with a
six-game winning streak as they prepare to finish their Pac-12 schedule at UCLA
(10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). USC is a half-game behind No. 10 Colorado, and a
half-game ahead of Utah, in the Pac-12 South.The Trojans actually can win the
division. If they beat the Bruins (4-6, 2-5), and if No. 22 Washington State
wins at Colorado, and the Buffs go on to beat No. 12 Utah next week, then the
courtly Helton would have every right to say something that is not his
style.Google Clay Helton and you dont have to scroll down very far. The fifth
story is, Clay Helton Must Be Fired and USC Needs to Find a Real Head Coach. The
seventh and ninth stories provide five names as possible replacements. Those
three stories were published in late September, when USC had a record of 1-3.The
ready-fire-aim section of my business did itself proud. Yeah, the Trojans got
humiliated by Alabama in the opener, 52-6. It turned out that USC, in its first
game, literally was not ready for the big time. The atmosphere in Cowboys
Stadium, not to mention the Crimson Tide themselves, overwhelmed the
Trojans.Yep, they followed with an equally inept offensive performance at
Stanford two weeks later in a 27-10 loss. After that game, Helton benched
fourth-year junior quarterback Max Browne for redshirt freshman Sam Darnold.He
played well in his first start, at Utah, but the Trojans lost fumbles on their
first three offensive possessions, and then gave up a touchdown with :16 to play
to lose 31-27. All they had to show for the first month of the season was a
victory over Utah State and a rabble that had been roused.Gah, Helton said, that
feels like years ago.His family rallied around him. In the days after the Utah
game, his daughter Aubrey, a high school senior, came up to him, gave him a big
hug, and said, Daddy, dont worry about it. Its all going to be good.Not even
Aubrey knew how good. But her daddy had an inkling. As the carping about Helton
being overmatched reached a crescendo, he came away from the Utah loss convinced
that the Trojans would be fine. He wont tell you six-wins-in-a-row, 13th-ranked,
division-contender fine. But fine. This wasnt a team pointing fingers across the
locker room.There were guys coming up on their own to watch extra film in our
meeting rooms and taking it upon themselves to bring their teammates with them,
Helton said. Thats what hurt, losing that game, because I saw what each kid was
trying to do to help this team win.Helton seized on that kernel of determination
and, as the geniuses speculated on his successor -- four games into his career
-- he let his team know that he paid it no mind.I kept telling myself, Remember,
18- to 21-year-olds look to their leader and look to their coaching staff,
Helton said. How we react, theyre going to react. Just stay
poiseed.ddddddddddddDont panic. Stay consistent in what youre doing and what you
believe in and live with the results.Six starts later, Darnold is the best
first-year quarterback in the FBS. Dont ask me, Jalen Hurts fans. Ask Darnolds
QBR (86.8), fifth in the nation. Darnold has been so effective as a passer he
has reopened the running lanes for backs Ronald Jones II and Justin Davis.That
is as good a decision as any to probe whether Helton could coach his way out of
a paper bag. With 20/20 hindsight, it seems perfectly obvious that Darnold is
the better quarterback. But Helton remains steadfast that the full-speed
decision he made to start Browne in the first three games is one he would make
again.I had seen a kid, Max Browne, whos a redshirt junior, that had been in
college football games, was efficient, had been a team captain, very respected
by our team as a leader, Helton said. And I saw Sam, just this ultra-talented
thing, just brilliance. But had never seen him in a ballgame, a real live
college game.Browne didnt make mistakes, but he didnt make magic, either.
Darnold proved he could handle major college football. Boy, could he. Should you
blame Helton for not getting Darnold ready for the opener? You should, as long
as you ignore that the offense had a new coordinator, the defense had a new
coordinator, and so did the special teams. That contributed to the slow start as
well.Look at the way the defense has improved over the course of the season:
five sacks in the first four games, 14 in the next six. The Trojans have allowed
an average of 18 points per game during their six-game winning streak.USC is
coming off a 26-13 victory at No. 4 Washington, a vivid illustration of how far
the Trojans have progressed since that loss to Alabama. Here was another fast,
talented team. Here was a game in Husky Stadium, one of the most intimidating
atmospheres in college football. USC didnt wilt this time.As I look back on our
entire season, it really culminated in last week, Helton said. ...I just saw
unbelievable poise and maturity. It was as electric an atmosphere as you could
possibly have. It was as good a scene for college football as you could see, and
the moment wasnt too big for them. They really walked in there with a sense of
maturity and confidence. Hey, lets just focus on our job. Lets dont care about
the stadium. Lets dont care about the noise. Lets dont care about the weather.
Lets just get our job done.They have two rivalry games remaining -- Notre Dame
comes west next week -- and Helton said he has seen no heads swelled by the win
at Washington. Coach Overmatched could end up with a 10-win season. And a Pac-12
title. The guy that the internet fired seven weeks ago may end up in the Rose
Bowl.Heltons unfailingly polite, unerringly even-keeled, unbelievably unexciting
personality ended up being just the right touch for a young team. So, cmon,
Coach. Let it go. Tell the experts off.You have to be very strong-willed, Helton
said. You have to have thick skin. And dont get your feelings hurt. Believe in
what youre doing. Believe in the things youre doing for kids.Oh, well. They got
off lucky.
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