Mike Flanagan’s 20th Anniversary as the United States Naval Academy Head Coach......Congratulations Mike!!!!!

Mike Flanagan the greatest coach ever

I’m writing this well overdue entry to honour my rugby coach Mike Flanagan. Mike was my coach for more than 3 years during my academy days. When he first arrived in 91, I had no idea who he was, didn’t know he was a legend at Towson State and wouldn’t have thought that he would transform my game beyond my imagination.

This is his team

(and mine too)

This year is Mike’s 20th anniversary as the Head Coach at the academy. He was such a colourful character back then, and I’m sure he still is. He was loud, he didn’t mince his words, four letter words were synonym with him, he really was in your face kind of a coach. But above all those, he was a great coach who was really passionate about the game, a person who made rugby his religion and brought the academy rugby to a soaring new height.

This is Mike's 2008 Team

(they beat Army that year...yeah!!!!)

I am truly blessed that our paths crossed, an encounter that changed my rugby game forever. Mike was the one coach who catapulted my game beyond my own expectation. He pushed me hard, well he pushed everybody hard. But I really felt at home under his watch. I have such wonderful memories playing under his tutelage; I created some miracles while playing for him, we beat Army 15-12 at their home turf in 1992, I scored an unexpected try against Towson in the dying second to secure us the win during my Second Class Year season, the beating we gave Towson State despite the hype of them giving us a good fight during my final year, the incredible first game of Eastern Championships against Dartmouth although we then suffered a heartbreaking loss to Harvard, the sweet victory in the Cherry Blossom Tournament against Loyola Marymount enroute to winning the tournament, securing the highest scoring game against Clemson, the many pushover tries we scored due to our immaculate technique and strength in the scrum etc. In fact sometimes I wasn’t sure whether I was playing for the academy or I was playing for Mike. On one occasion, I was using crutches after suffering an injury in the first game, only to play the next day albeit with a heavily strapped ankle and could only run at jogging pace the whole game.... Mike made me feel that I could be Superman!!!!! Hahahahaha.......and an ample dose of painkiller did help as well.

This is how Mike's team play

One thing I never understood though. Mike never once scolded or yelled at me. Everybody else had their fair share of Mike’s piece of mind either during training or during the games. But he excluded me from the receiving end of his wrath. Maybe he took pity of me thinking that I wouldn’t understand his !@#$%^* words anyway:0. But he never meant to harm anybody and we actually became accustomed to Mike’s way of doing thing....... it was simply Mike’s way. And his way has produced wonders, absolutely! Mike’s way was never the easy way, everybody knew that. He made us ran till we dropped (ahhh.....the killer hill next to the pitch, such wonderful memory), the front rows like Vinnie Johnson would develop cauliflower ears due to the endless scrums the forwards had to endure every day, I was given at least 25 rugby balls everyday to spin at with my scrumhalf partner Darren Platz so that we could develop killer speed and accuracy in our scrumhalf passes, we would have scrimmage every Tuesday to polish our game conditioning and tactics, the killer sprinting we did at the end of every practice and many more. Killer routines all around..... you bet. And above all, Mike was the most brilliant tactician. He knew where our strengths lied and let us exploited them. Mike’s style of rugby suited me very well and I had nothing but fun on the pitch.... I felt at home every time I stepped into a game. I’m sure the hundreds of players who have had the pleasure of playing for Mike felt the same way.

This is the kind of results that Mike produces

So Mike, I know they are planning some incredible programmes to celebrate your incredible achievement. Have a great time, as I know you will. This entry is just my small way of saying how much I appreciate all that you have done for me. Coach, thank you from the very bottom of my heart. You are the best coach one can ever ask for. Congratulations on achieving this incredible milestone in your illustrious career.

The Real Malaysian Idols

Nicol David just won the KL Squash Open today and Lee Chong Wei was last week the singles champion of the All England badminton. I consider these two as true Malaysian sports idols. They are World No. 1 in their respective fields but that’s not the reason why I adore them. I love them because they are the template for true sports heroes. Both have all the attributes I imagine in a champion. Good attitude, good fighting spirit, very competitive, very focus and above all, they consistently display inspiring persona of true champions.

Chong Wei fighting spirit is admirable

I love watching these two on TV. I know both will not disappoint me no matter whether they win or lose. Lee Chong Wei lost miserably in the Olympic final, but I was okay with it because I knew he gave his best against Lin Dan. And as we expected, he has bounced back hungrier than before. Nicole has been consistent in winning most tournaments but she too had some losing spell last year. But it did not seem to affect her focus en route to winning the KL title. How does she do it maintaining her No.1 title almost unbroken for 5 years? Incredible feat isn’t it?

Nicol in action dominating her opponent

How do they get to become who they are? I do not personally know these two personalities. I only heard details from the game commentators and news I read in the newspapers about what kind of training regime such champions go through. The sacrifices they make, including personal ones. Blood, sweat and tears that they have shed to arrive at the highest pedestal’s of their sports. As I watched Chong Wei when he went around the arena celebrating his hard fought win in the final against his Japanese opponent, I felt proud and elated to see a true Malaysian idol.

If you look at these two individuals, they seem to be really humble and down to earth. They are not arrogant in their speech, and above all, they are very much respected all around, even by their opponents. So Malaysian, we should seek individuals like these to become our idols. Forget Malaysian Idols, AF, Mentor…… and the likes (I don’t even want to list Bintang Kecil……don’t even want to get started). Save your energy, reserve your cheers and screams for real idols like Lee Chong Wei and Nicol David.

These are the real Malaysian Idols

The latest photo of the Real Malaysian Idol "borrowed" from Nicol's FB

A Tribute To My English Teacher

It’s marvellous what Facebook can accomplish for you. One of the latest wonders at my end was the chance to get in touch with an English teacher who, little that she knew, played a significant part in making me who I am today.

Yes, Ms Amar Shobha Sarna......it’s you, and this is a tribute to you.

She came into my Set B English Class for the first time in 1986. I was really nervous during this first encounter as her introduction was not words from her mouth but words that she listed on the board. The ‘rules’ as she explained, were what we had to adhere to in order to survive her lessons. She was a stark contrast from all the teachers who had taught me English before. She came across as realllllly GARANG and I was reallllly scared.

Prelude ~~~~ You see...I came from Jengka where nobody spoke English. Even the English teachers there didn’t speak English to us. They coached us on how to answer the English paper during Penilaian Darjah 5 exam, but did little else to enhance our grasp of the language. Considering the circumstances, I shouldn’t blame them though. And I actually did fairly well in the exam, being one of the three who managed to secure an ‘A’ out of about 100 students in the class. As a young boy, I had always wondered why the Malay subtitle for English programmes on TV didn’t seem to reflect what was actually being said. The punch line in the subtitle didn’t seem funny in ‘Mind Your Language’ but the laughter I heard in the backdrop of the show indicated somebody had definitely said something really funny. I thought then that it would be wonderful if I knew the language and be able to better enjoy shows like Combat and the Incredible Hulk. Then, against all odds, I had the opportunity to enrol into the Royal Military College (RMC). Expectedly, after the placement exam, I found myself in one of the weakest English classes and struggled throughout my first year while at the same time feeling intimidated by others who spoke English as if it was their mother tongue. I don’t know how I did it but managed to somehow climb my way out into Set B the following year and remained there for the next four years.

Ultimately, I found out that I had no reason to be afraid of her. In fact, her influence on me grew and the three years she taught me English was filled with lots of delightful memories. Miss Shobha as she was fondly known turned out to be a very dedicated teacher who devoted her time to help us comprehend the English language. Most of us in her Set B had to work hard no doubt, we had our fair share of being scolded by her as well...oh yes mam, I told you she was GARANG...but despite that she was a big influence on me....Why???? Because....‘SHE MADE ME BELIEVE’. She made me believe that I could speak the English language, she made me believe that I could do well in SPM, ......hey, she even made me believe that I could do well in my English 1119 exam....and ultimately she made me believe that I could be somebody...that I could accomplish things....that I could taste SUCCESS.

Miss Shobha paid attention to every little detail of our work. She diligently read every word of our essays. She was always ahead of all the little tricks we tried to pull (like ‘extracting’ sentences from the Reader’s Digest.....ha..ha..it wasn’t me:), it was my good buddy who’s now in the air force). She gave out little rewards like postcards and bookmarks to those who did well in assignments. She insisted and made sure that nobody...I really mean nobody...was late in submitting his work (we were just simply scared of the probable consequences).

At the end of my Form 4, when I found out that my English result was good enough to get me promoted to Set A, she pulled me aside and convinced me to remain in her Set B so that she could help me better prepare for SPM and 1119 exams the following year. She didn’t have to convince me...I was actually glad she offered me the opportunity to remain in her class. SPM English was one thing, but 1119 English was a completely different ball game. However, despite the seemingly impossible task of passing the 1119 exam (especially for those in Set B like me), she worked hard to prepare us for it...at times harder than us. I didn’t get an A, but the result I got surprised a lot of people...it even surprised me. And as expected I got an A for English in SPM.

She has always remained as my favourite teacher all this while...the same as Mike Flanagan as my favourite coach (Yes, you guess it, there’s going to be a tribute to him as well in the future).

She was like an angel who touched so many hearts...and changed many lives...she changed mine for sure.... and for that I’m forever indebted to her.

Ms Amar Shobha Sarna....thank you very very much from the very bottom of my heart......you are the best.