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Pros and cons of Old School

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CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
I'd take it as a compliment regardless of how it was intended. Like most trends, we seem to think that what we have now is better. I don't agree. I think, again, that this is back to everyone getting a trophy ... I'm not one of those guys. Until I die, the old school guys that coached me are some of the most influencial men in my life. I believe that the kids that played ball for me would say the same.
C cabbagedadHSBaseballWeb member since 2011
Old School

Pros
-our music is cooler than theirs
-I can wear 20 year old clothes and it’s OK
-I can wear them again tomorrow
-I can tell a kid he screwed up and not worry for a second about hurting his feelings
-That kid will usually respect me for it and do something about it
-If I don’t know the answer to something, I can blame it on “that new techno cr@p”
-I don’t feel like I have to try to say stuff like “true that”.
-I don’t have to change my phone every three months.



Cons
-There’s only one way to really earn being old school.
HunterMac95HunterMac95100+ posts
My 2013's HS Coach is "Old School". He told the kids no high socks, no jewelry or necklaces. "Don't draw attenttion by your appearance, let your play on the field do it for you" Well the team wanted mohawks(every last player) and the Coach said "No it is showing off and drawing attention to your appearance and not your ability" The players were determined and my 2013 along w/ another 2013 went back to the coach and told him they did it for bonding and team unity. So now the boys have these!
Coach_MayCoach_May10,000+ posts
I guess it all depends on your definition of what Old School is. And what your definition of what New School is.

As a coach I am always looking for new ways to improve things that we do. And as a coach I am always going to be determined that some things should never change. The one line that has always ticked me off is "Well that's just the way we have always done it." If there is a better way. If there is another idea to look at. If there is something out there that can help a player or a team I want to learn about it. I want to know. I taught base running for many years. Several years I would go to a local Major College programs camps and teach base running. I posted something about base running one time and PG gave me a tip. I asked him for some information and he mailed it to me. I checked it out. I tried it out. And I changed because I believed it was a better way.

I don't believe that demanding players be on time is Old School. I believe its the right way to do things. I don't believe that demanding that players respect the game, their team mates, the umpires, opposing coaches and players, is Old School. I believe its the way to do things. I don't believe that demanding that players are held accountable for their actions both on and off the field is Old School. I believe its the way things should be done. I don't believe you have to use profanity to get kids attention. I don't believe you have to yell to get their attention. I don't believe you have to belittle players to get them to play hard or learn. And I don't believe you have to have an ego the size of Texas to be a good coach.

What is Old School? Is it holding yourself and those that play for you accountable? Then I am Old School. Is it not being willing to change and adapt when something new comes along that is better? Then I am not Old School.

If Old School means you demand that players play hard, play together, work hard, hold themselves accountable to their team mates and coaches and demand the same in return then I am Old School. It all comes down to what your definition is of Old School is. I guess then it could be a compliment or a slam. I know who I am. I am willing to change if it means its a move in the right direction. I am not willing to sacrifice what I believe in when I know its the right way to do things. Maybe its not Old School or New School. Maybe its just the way things ought to be School.
W Will1,000+ posts
I take being called old school a compliment. But it seems today that being old school to some means somehow the game has been reinvented and they somehow know more than you.

last year I attended a high school game and saw baserunning blunders, missing cut offs and errors etc etc .

Old school after the game get on them. Possibly raise my voice. (sometimes referred to as yelling) and the next day work the heck out of them

New school Tell them not to worry about it.
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
Love Coach May's thoughts, but I know in his heart, he is an old-school guy. I am pretty sure his players are not yucking it up on the field or during warm-ups and are all business when the game begins. Sports are about winning imho and winning takes a certain mindset. For me, the fun of sports is about trying to win. Obviously, you can't win them all but trying to win ought to be fun.

My son has been called old-school and I consider it the ultimate compliment for a player. I think of guys like Larry Bowa, Bobby Grich, Cal Ripken, and even Ty Cobb who are examples of the toughness that comes with being old-school. I think it is a mentality and it is about being mentally tougher than the other guy. You get plucked in the middle of the back by a plus 90 mile fastball - do you glare out at the pitcher and whine like a baby all the way down to first base or do you not show any pain and not even acknowledge the other guy hurt you? If you hit a homerun, do you grin all the way around the bases and try and draw all kinds of attention to yourself or do you keep it inside because you don't want to give the other team any added incentive to beat you?

There are many ways of showing toughness on the field but that is my definition of old school - being a tough guy. It has nothing to do with being physically stronger than the other guy and has everything to do with being mentally stronger imho.
d8d81,000+ posts
Great discussion...The context of his remark came from his walking through my class. This year as every year our school completely revamps our teaching procedures, protocol, methods, etc. Well, I was not jumping through all of the hoops that have been set up for us this year when he walked through yesterday. I still got a good evaluation, but that was his only comment in the negatives section of the eval. So, it got me to thinking about old school/new school both on the field and off.

Like some others have said...I think you need to be looking for better ways to operate your team, class, business, etc., but our culture has embraced the notion that change is best....but I disagree changing for the sake of change is counter productive. It is an enourmous waste of time, energy, and money.


A little background on doing it old school...Since I became head of the science dept., student performance has never been higher, and on the field I am the winningest coach in school history. Actually, I think I am a combonation of both old and new.
Last edited by d8
W Will1,000+ posts
as a retired teacher I remember sitting in homeroom a few years back and a student was doing math and he asked the student next to him waht 10 times 10 was. I said to him you are kidding? he said thats alright I will use my calculator. Old school know your times table think? new school a machine will do it.
Coach_MayCoach_May10,000+ posts
I just have a hard time calling it Old School. Because that somehow means there is a new way to do it. Or its old and needs to be replaced. Or somehow the new way is better. Or there is another way to do it.

If your early your on time. If your on time your late. If your late don't bother coming. I think Vince Lombardi came up with that. Thats how I think it should be done. Is that Old school or is that just the way it should be?

Come to the field dressed like a baseball player. Hat on straight. Pulled down for its intended purpose of keeping the sun/lights out of your eyes. Clean uniform. Clean cleats. No flip flops. No need for the Mr T starter kit around your neck. No need to have sweat bands all the way up your arms. If your team wears their pants legs down show up with yours down. If they wear them up wear yours up. No need to announce your arrival with boisterous loud talk. There is no need to act like the game owes you something. Just show up and go to work. If you make an error want the ball again and don't look down at your glove like it did something wrong. Or curse and act like a clown. Or you K and you drop F bombs back to the dugout. Or you pop up or fly out and you decide your going to just jog it out. I could go on and on.

Play each play like its your last. Play each inning like its your last. Play each game like its your last. If a team mate struggles pick him up. If he slacks off put him in his place. Your not here to show anyone what you can do. Your here to show everyone what we can do. Your not here to see what you can get. Your here to help us get what we came here to get. If this is Old School then I am. But should it be Old School or should it simply be how it should be?

New School? Me, I. Old School We, Us? Would that sum it up? I really don't understand to be honest with you.
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by Coach_May:
I just have a hard time calling it Old School. Because that somehow means there is a new way to do it. Or its old and needs to be replaced. Or somehow the new way is better. Or there is another way to do it.

If your early your on time. If your on time your late. If your late don't bother coming. I think Vince Lombardi came up with that. Thats how I think it should be done. Is that Old school or is that just the way it should be?

Come to the field dressed like a baseball player. Hat on straight. Pulled down for its intended purpose of keeping the sun/lights out of your eyes. Clean uniform. Clean cleats. No flip flops. No need for the Mr T starter kit around your neck. No need to have sweat bands all the way up your arms. If your team wears their pants legs down show up with yours down. If they wear them up wear yours up. No need to announce your arrival with boisterous loud talk. There is no need to act like the game owes you something. Just show up and go to work. If you make an error want the ball again and don't look down at your glove like it did something wrong. Or curse and act like a clown. Or you K and you drop F bombs back to the dugout. Or you pop up or fly out and you decide your going to just jog it out. I could go on and on.

Play each play like its your last. Play each inning like its your last. Play each game like its your last. If a team mate struggles pick him up. If he slacks off put him in his place. Your not here to show anyone what you can do. Your here to show everyone what we can do. Your not here to see what you can get. Your here to help us get what we came here to get. If this is Old School then I am. But should it be Old School or should it simply be how it should be?

New School? Me, I. Old School We, Us? Would that sum it up? I really don't understand to be honest with you.

Great post. I concede that it does not have to be labled old school or new school. However, in my way of thinking, that post sums up old-school very well. Either way, I agree there is a right way and a wrong way and we should always be open to better ways. Baseball is a game where there are very few innovations anymore imho. I am guessing Ty Cobb and Lou Gehrig would fit in very well today, for example.
RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
Are things old school because they are old? Or are they old school because they are things that are right that never stop being right? It's important to be adaptive to change. If you stop trying to learn/improve you're standing still. If you stand still others will race past you.

The philosophy to build a foundation of success hasn't changed. It's still about discipline and teamwork. It's still about mastering fundamentals. But how you go about achieving these things may have changed.
TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
quote:
Originally posted by RJM:
Are things old school because they are old? Or are they old school because they are things that are right that never stop being right? It's important to be adaptive to change. If you stop trying to learn/improve you're standing still. If you stand still others will race past you.

The philosophy to build a foundation of success hasn't changed. It's still about discipline and teamwork. It's still about mastering fundamentals. But how you go about achieving these things may have changed.


I think that you got it, it's about building the foundation mastering fundamentals and some go about it differently than others, which may deem them old school vs something else.

Lots of talk about Tony LaRussa being old school but perhaps he has changed the game more than any other manager (pitchers hit eighth as an example), yet working and mastering fundamentals day after day, game after game, never ceased.

Something very interesting I have found over the past several years, though the game hasn't changed, many different things have, it's surprising.
lefthookdadlefthookdad5,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by sportsdad&fan:
Old school is taking your bike to your little league game and telling your parents how you did.

New school is your parents driving you to your game , complaining to the coach, video taping it for advice, complaining/boasting on a message board. Confused


OMG! read this one and started laughing out loud. Use to ride my bike about 5 miles to the field when I was 11/12....and ride back home in the dark. Bat sticking through the hand hole of the glove and bat laying across the handlebars, oh the good ole days!


Old School to me just means EXPERIENCED.
I like to learn news ways and put an "old school" twist on it if needed.
HunterMac95HunterMac95100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by scdigger:
quote:
Originally posted by HunterMac95:
My 2013's HS Coach is "Old School". He told the kids no high socks, no jewelry or necklaces.


I thought high socks was old school? I'm so confused...


His Coach meant one does it we all do it. Sorry to confuse. No individuals on the team, the young coach last year would let one or two look different with socks.
floridafanfloridafan5,000+ posts
My son has had many coaches over these past several years, I would have to say that the best coaches were clearly "Old School" and my son plays "Old School" baseball proudly.

I agree with Coach May and ClevelandDad, and I guess I am "old School" as well.

You take the ball off your chest when you play Old School, you realize that your job is to stop the ball, with any part of your body. The Glove is best, but it better not get by you.

You hit a Home Run and you sprint around the basepaths as though you have done this before and there is nothing special, you just got a good pitch to hit and turned on it.

You have the utmost respect for the game and for those that have gone on before you. You wear your uniform with pride.

You run out hard all infield hits, no matter how futile.

You understand that baseball is a TEAM sport and do everything in your power to help the team win, whether that means a groundout behind a runner, or a well placed bunt to allow your players to get in scoring position, or a SAC fly to score a run. You give up yourself to help your team. It is not about you.

You do not play "Bush League" baseball, you respect your opponent, you do not taunt your opponent.

You certainly do not show any sense of pain or anger when you are hit by a pitch. You jog down to first and take your position allowing play to continue.

You play through reasonable pain to help your team win, it is a long season and no one is 100% after the 3rd week. Your body will ache, it is part of the game.

My son is a "Grinder" he is dirty and he leaves it all on the field, he has given everything he can by the time the game is over. I love watching "Old School Baseball", it is Baseball the way the game was meant to be played.

In High School his coach was "old School" for sure, every day all players had to have their shirts tucked in at all times while at school. On game days the wore a shirt and tie.

I loved it! So did my son! All his personal instructors have been Old School as well, whether it be Dave Kent from the Hitting Zone in Tampa, who he worked with between the ages of 11-15, or Denny Doyle who he has worked with since he was 16 to the present. Old School Players and Instructors all the way!

The way the game is meant to be played!
Last edited by floridafan
W Will1,000+ posts
Ok here i go. I am old school. If somehow I was to get back into coaching(temporary insanity) I think I would last about 2 days and that is pushing it.

As an old school coach I demanded that the players look like players, act like players etc etc .

I had a dress rule. hat worn properly, pants and shirt tucked in etc etc . That rule applied for away games when you exited the bus you were dressed.

I was at a game a year or so ago and I see a team leave the bus shirts unbuttoned not tucked in hats on backwards. Even during pre game infield and outfield some of them still not having tucked in. Am I being picky here?
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