A Coaching Life
“It’s still difficult to describe the scene after the final buzzer sounded, because the moment was just so damned surreal,” writes head coach Gary Blair following the conclusion of the title game of the 2011 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament. “So many things happened that I will never forget . . . kissing my wife on the floor of Conseco Fieldhouse . . . looking toward the stands, where my grandson was . . . flashbulbs popping as the Aggie Band played triumphantly . . . our players and coaches wildly celebrating the biggest win in women’s basketball history at Texas A&M . . . tears streaming down the faces of former players . . . I remember thinking that I wished I could somehow stop time.”

This memory and countless others form the greatest treasure of Coach Blair’s life, as he makes clear in this engaging, inspiring memoir, written with veteran sports journalist and author Rusty Burson. Indeed, as Blair says, “What I cherish the most are the memories of these players and coaches.” Beyond the trophies, beyond the impressive won-lost record compiled over more than four decades of coaching, beyond even the ungrudging professional respect he has achieved among his peers in a fiercely competitive occupation, Gary Blair values the images, moments, and memories collected during a life spent doing what he loves most: coaching and mentoring young women on the basketball court.

In A Coaching Life, Coach Blair offers readers a “freeze-frame” view of a storied career. He serves up more than a few of his favorite memories with wit, grace, and humility. In the process, he invites readers to reflect on life’s wins and losses and, most importantly, what both have to teach us.
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A Coaching Life
“It’s still difficult to describe the scene after the final buzzer sounded, because the moment was just so damned surreal,” writes head coach Gary Blair following the conclusion of the title game of the 2011 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament. “So many things happened that I will never forget . . . kissing my wife on the floor of Conseco Fieldhouse . . . looking toward the stands, where my grandson was . . . flashbulbs popping as the Aggie Band played triumphantly . . . our players and coaches wildly celebrating the biggest win in women’s basketball history at Texas A&M . . . tears streaming down the faces of former players . . . I remember thinking that I wished I could somehow stop time.”

This memory and countless others form the greatest treasure of Coach Blair’s life, as he makes clear in this engaging, inspiring memoir, written with veteran sports journalist and author Rusty Burson. Indeed, as Blair says, “What I cherish the most are the memories of these players and coaches.” Beyond the trophies, beyond the impressive won-lost record compiled over more than four decades of coaching, beyond even the ungrudging professional respect he has achieved among his peers in a fiercely competitive occupation, Gary Blair values the images, moments, and memories collected during a life spent doing what he loves most: coaching and mentoring young women on the basketball court.

In A Coaching Life, Coach Blair offers readers a “freeze-frame” view of a storied career. He serves up more than a few of his favorite memories with wit, grace, and humility. In the process, he invites readers to reflect on life’s wins and losses and, most importantly, what both have to teach us.
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A Coaching Life

A Coaching Life

A Coaching Life

A Coaching Life

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Overview

“It’s still difficult to describe the scene after the final buzzer sounded, because the moment was just so damned surreal,” writes head coach Gary Blair following the conclusion of the title game of the 2011 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament. “So many things happened that I will never forget . . . kissing my wife on the floor of Conseco Fieldhouse . . . looking toward the stands, where my grandson was . . . flashbulbs popping as the Aggie Band played triumphantly . . . our players and coaches wildly celebrating the biggest win in women’s basketball history at Texas A&M . . . tears streaming down the faces of former players . . . I remember thinking that I wished I could somehow stop time.”

This memory and countless others form the greatest treasure of Coach Blair’s life, as he makes clear in this engaging, inspiring memoir, written with veteran sports journalist and author Rusty Burson. Indeed, as Blair says, “What I cherish the most are the memories of these players and coaches.” Beyond the trophies, beyond the impressive won-lost record compiled over more than four decades of coaching, beyond even the ungrudging professional respect he has achieved among his peers in a fiercely competitive occupation, Gary Blair values the images, moments, and memories collected during a life spent doing what he loves most: coaching and mentoring young women on the basketball court.

In A Coaching Life, Coach Blair offers readers a “freeze-frame” view of a storied career. He serves up more than a few of his favorite memories with wit, grace, and humility. In the process, he invites readers to reflect on life’s wins and losses and, most importantly, what both have to teach us.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781623495374
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Publication date: 01/27/2017
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 288
File size: 28 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

GARY BLAIR, head women’s basketball coach at Texas A&M University since 2003, led the Aggies to an NCAA national championship in 2011. He was previously head women’s basketball coach at the University of Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin State University. RUSTY BURSON, author of Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL, is a freelance writer and sports journalist. He is director of membership and communications at Miramont Country Club in Bryan, Texas.

Table of Contents

Foreword Mike Neighbors Nels Hawkinson vii

1 Stories, Memories, and Victories Worth Preserving 1

2 Growing Up and Outgrowing the "Meathead" Phase 15

3 Seize Your Opportunities … Any Opportunities 29

4 Building a Dynasty in Big D 37

5 Investing Time Wisely Pays Off 51

6 Things Are Never as Good-or as Bad-as They Initially Seem 57

7 Building a Winner in the Piney Woods 77

8 Early Years in Arkansas: Hog Heaven and Frustration-ville 95

9 Good Morning Americas Team, and Good-bye 115

10 One Direction: Starting to Write the Story of My Coaching Life 137

11 Maneuvering through March 161

12 Perspective Is Everything 175

13 Mission Accomplished 189

14 Success Is a Journey, Not a Destination 219

Index 235

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