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Competition – Interactive Lesson B

Hello, this is AJ. Welcome to interactive B lesson for this month’s VIP.

I will ask questions during this lesson. Answer the questions with a strong voice. You can answer with just one or two words, that’s okay, but use a strong voice and use your body. Be energetic when you answer these questions. This will help you learn all of the vocabulary.

Let’s begin… The Final Score

The final score is not the final score. My final score is how prepared you were to execute.

What is his final score? How prepared you were to what?

How prepared you were to execute.

Does this mean, how prepared you were to kill someone?

No, no, not how prepared you were to kill someone. That’s a different meaning of the word. This means how prepared you were to perform, to perform.

He says my final score is how prepared you were to execute near your own particular level of competence.

Should you execute at your level of competence?

Yes, you should try to execute, to perform, at your level of competence, at your level of skill, at your level of ability.

Should you try to execute below your level of competence?

No, not below your level of competence. You don’t want to be lazy, you want to execute, you want to perform at your or near your own level of competence, your highest level of ability; both individually and as a team, if you’re on a team.

There is nothing wrong with that other fellow being better than you are.

So, is it bad if your opponent, if the other guy, the other fellow, is it bad if he is better than you?

No, according to John Wooden, there’s nothing wrong if the other fellow, the other guy is better than you.

Should you feel depressed if your opponent, the other guy, the other fellow is better than you?

No, he says you should not. There is nothing wrong with that other fellow being better than you are, as long as you did everything you possibly could to prepare yourself for the competition.

So, you should prepare yourself for what?

For the competition. For your opponent. Or, it could also mean here for the game, for the tournament.

So competition… here the competition could have two possible meanings. It could mean your opponent, the person you’re competing against or the people. Or, it could mean the event, the competition event, either one.

He says, that is all you have control over.

So what is the only thing you can control in competition?

Your preparation. Your own preparation is the only thing you can control in competition.

Can you control the other fellow, the other person, the other team?

No, you can’t. You can’t control them. You can only control your own preparation. You can only control your own preparation.

So, he says, that is all you should concern yourself with.

What is all you should concern yourself with?

Your own preparation, that’s all you should focus on.

It may be that the other fellow’s level of competence or level of competency (either one), is simply higher than yours. So it may be the other person is better than you. That doesn’t make you a loser.

Are you a loser if the other person is better than you?

No, you’re not a loser.

If you lose the game, if you lose the competition, does that mean you are a loser as a person?

Of course not. No, you’re not.

Then John gives an example. He says, in 1962, in the final four against Cincinnati…

Who was his team playing in the final four?

Cincinnati, Cincinnati College. He was playing Cincinnati College. His team was playing Cincinnati College.

Were they in the final game?

No, actually not. They were in the final four. In college basketball the final four is the semi-final game. It’s the semi-final game.

So which game were they playing, the final game or the semi-final game?

The semi-final. They were playing the semi-final game.

Who were they playing in the semi-final game?

Cincinnati, Cincinnati College.

They lost in the last few seconds of the semi-final game.

Did they lose in the beginning of the game?

No, they didn’t lose in the beginning of the semi-final game, they lost right at the end. They lost in the last few seconds of the semi-final game.

However, the UCLA players left the court as winners in my eyes.

So they lost the game, but did the coach think they were losers?

No, he didn’t think they were losers.

What did he see them as?

He saw them as winners. He thought of them as winners. He considered them to be winners. So even though they lost the game, he felt they were winners.

He says, I was disappointed that we lose, of course, but I had the greatest pride in how the team had performed and how they had prepared hard and progressed during the year.

He says, we were almost 20 points down in the first 10 minutes of the game.

So after 10 minutes were they winning or losing?

They were losing after 10 minutes. After 10 minutes they were 20 points down. They were behind already by 20 points.

Were they up 20 points or down 20 points?

They were down 20 points.

When were they down 20 points?

They were down 20 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. At the beginning of the game, they were down 20 points.

And then they came from what?

They came from behind. So they were down 20 points, then next they came from behind to even it up at the half.

So they came from behind, were they ahead or were they behind?

They were behind.

How much were they behind?

By 20 points. They were down 20 points.

Then they came from behind to even it up.

Did they pass the other team’s score?

No, no, they didn’t pass the other team’s score they evened it up, they tied the game. They tied the score.

When did they tie the score? When did they even it up?

At the half, at the halftime of the game, the half point of the game.

So what did they do at the half point?

They evened it up. Right, they evened it up at the half.

He says, we fought very hard in the second half and Cincinnati, perhaps, had superior personnel.

Interesting…

So which team had better players, more talented players?

The other team, Cincinnati. He said that perhaps Cincinnati had superior personnel, better players. So he’s saying basically, the other team just had stronger players, they were more talented.

But what I saw out on the court during that game was a UCLA team that came as close as we could come to being the best that we could be.

So his team, the UCLA team, they came very close to being what?

The best that they could be. They came very close to being the best that they could be. To reaching their full potential.

He says, that’s a wonderful accomplishment. Goodness gracious sakes, my God! I am proud of that effort, so proud even now.

Was I disappointed we were outscored, was he? Was he disappointed that his team was outscored? Was he disappointed?

Yes, he was. He was disappointed that they lost. He was disappointed that they were outscored.

Is he still disappointed about that result?

Yes. He says, I am still disappointed we were outscored.

But, he says, I was never what?

I was never dejected. I was never dejected.

He was disappointed but he was never what?

He was never dejected.

Did he feel depressed and sad about the game?

No, he didn’t. He was never dejected. He was never depressed and sad. He only felt disappointed.

So did he feel dejected or did he feel a little disappointed?

He just felt a little disappointed. He did not feel dejected. He did not feel depressed. He did not feel sad or hopeless.

In fact, he says, mostly what I was and am, is what?

Proud. Mostly what I was and am is proud. He felt and he still feels proud of his team.

He says, our team was outscored, but we were winners.

So they lost the game, but in his mind they were still losers or winners?

In his mind they were still winners.

I had the greatest pride in how the players prepared, progressed and performed. I felt this philosophy would have a much greater positive impact on the outcome of events.

This philosophy, what’s he talking about?

This philosophy means the philosophy of focusing on your effort, focusing on preparation only, not focusing on the opponent, not focusing on the score.

He believed the philosophy would have a negative impact or a positive impact on winning?

A positive impact. He felt that by not focusing on the score, his team would actually win more, so that focusing only on themselves, he felt, had a positive impact on the score, on the outcome of the games, the outcome of the events.

He felt it was better than a stress on trying to outscore opponents.

So which did he like better, focusing on preparation or focusing on beating the opponent?

Focusing on preparation. He liked focusing more on preparation. He did not like to focus on beating the opponent, outscoring the opponent.

He says, it’s a focus on improving yourself, rather than comparing yourself to the other team, as indicated by a score.

So which is better, according to John Wooden, to focus on improving yourself or to focus on beating the other person?

Improving yourself. He feels improving yourself, he felt improving yourself is the key to being a winner. It’s the key to being your best.

Furthermore, he says, when you get too engrossed in those things, over which you have no control, it will adversely affect those things over which you do have control. Namely, for example, your preparation.

Okay, whew that’s a long one.

So, if you get too engrossed in what, too focused on what, too obsessed with what?

Things you can’t control.

If you get too engrossed in things you can’t control. If you focus on things you can’t control, will it positively affect your preparation or will it adversely affect your preparation?

It will adversely affect your preparation. It will negatively affect your preparation. If you focus too much on the other team, if you focus too much on things you cannot control, your preparation will be worse, according to John Wooden.

It will adversely affect, does that mean negatively affect or positively affect?

Negatively affect. Negatively influence. Adversely affect…

He says, you respect everyone. Then you simply make the strongest effort to prepare to the fullest extent of your abilities, to your fullest potential. The result will take care of itself and you should be willing to accept it.

Do you need to focus on the result? Do you need to worry a lot about the result?

No, you don’t. You don’t need to worry a lot about the result.

The result will what?

Will take care of itself. The final result, the final score will take care of itself.

Will the final score happen automatically or do you need to worry about it?

It will happen automatically. The result will take care of itself.

If you get a bad result, if you lose, should you accept it or should you feel dejected?

You should accept it. He says, you should be willing to accept it. You might be disappointed but don’t feel dejected, don’t feel sad and depressed.

Focus on your own preparation. Focus on improving yourself and the result will take care of itself.

Okay, that is the end of our interactive B lesson.

Listen to this one also, every single day. Repetition, repetition, repetition, that’s how you master the vocabulary. That’s how you master listening and speaking English, so every day listen to all of the audios, repeating them again and again with a lot of energy.

You can go for a walk while you listen to these lessons, it’ll keep your blood moving, keeps your energy higher.

See you in the commentary. Bye for now.