Sidney Crosby’s Dryer

Consider Sidney Crosby’s dryer.  Well, to be precise, his mother’s dryer in the basement of their Cole Harbour home where young Sidney fired pucks into a net and those that missed hit the dryer. 

Source: Google Images

When Sidney Crosby scores the gold medal goal or hoists the Stanley Cup we are in awe.  We cheer in amazement at his ability to perform under pressure, to place the puck exactly where he wants to place it.  These are the seductive images.  They are romantic and sweet and we want to be part of them.

Crosby at this moment has stopped skating.  He has been working on returning from a series of concussions that have left him sitting in a darkened room wondering if he will ever return to the game he loves.  He started to work his way back into shape in the spring but he has had a set back and now the work will either stop for good or he will have to begin again. 

The greatest hockey player in the world will have to start his work again.  I hope Sidney gets a chance to look at his dryer.

I have just finished reading Matthew Syed’s book Bounce where he builds on Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas about 10,000 hours of practice or work to become excellent at any activity.  It is difficult for us to think about 10,000 hours of work. It is particularly difficult to conceive of this when we are young, when we haven’t been alive for much more than 10,000 hours.

Students should consider Crosby’s dryer because it represents the hard work but more importantly it represents the misses; the times where Crosby failed at his work but continued to do it. If hockey isn’t your thing, consider other icons that will help you picture the work you need to do.  Consider Terry Fox’s tattered sock, think about Jack Layton’s cane.  It is these images that remind us of what we must do, what we must sacrifice to get to where we want to go.  It is September and time to get to work.

Dan de Souza is a Secondary English teacher and creator of www.readingahead.com, Canada’s first and best web based literacy resource.

0

0

1 Comment(s) 

To post a comment or rating, you must LOGIN if you’re an existing Studentawards member OR SIGN UP if you’re new to this site.

Quatonomy wrote:	This is a case where a picture is worth a thousand words. That dryer has a history. Posted on Aug 25, 2012 at 12:55

 

« ‹ Page 1 of 1 › » Show 5 10 25 50 100 results per page Records 1 to 1 of 1