Trading the Globe tonight: talking to the head of YUM

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Reaching out to teens, two youth pastors in Saraland offer Saturday night …

View full sizeJoshua Roberts, left, and Torrey Garrison, are part of the heart and soul of “Underground Mobile,” a series of free, faith-oriented events appealing to young people in Saraland and other places, offering a mix of motivational speeches, Christian and pop music, and a safe haven on a Saturday night. (Glenn Andrews/Press-Register)

MOBILE, Alabama – Although Torrey Garrison spends his working hours heading up a division of a large Mobile construction company, he never seems to stop thinking about faith. In addition to being a businessman, husband and dad, U.S. Coast Guard veteran, part-time graduate student, nonprofit fundraiser and youth pastor, he is an event planner, too.

“My wife tells me I’m doing too many things,” he said, laughing. But at age 36, the Tuscaloosa native hardly seems to be in a position to slow down.

Having grown up in Saraland, he is especially focused on young people, in his community and elsewhere.

Joining with speakers and entertainers, Garrison is staging “Underground Mobile,” a series of free events that kicks off tonight. The aim is to give young people a safe, fun environment on Saturday night.

There will be messages, too, of the importance of faith, as Garrison tells it.

Although he is youth pastor at Bayou Sara Baptist, and the deejay, Joshua Roberts, is youth pastor at Gateway Baptist, the men say “Underground Mobile” is not tied to any denomination.

“We try to be,” he said, “Jesus’ church.”

Ultimately, he explained, “we want to do something positive.”

While the programs are open to people of all ages, Garrison acknowledges that teens are his focus.

They need places to unwind, have fun and be secure.

WHAT: Underground Mobile, a faith-oriented event for teens

WHERE: Saraland High School gymnasium, 1115 Industrial Pkwy.

WHEN: Saturday May 19, June 16 and July 14, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m.

COST: Free

ON THE WEB: www.undergroundmobile.org

Too often, he said, students of middle- and high-school age have few, healthy outlets for their social energy.

“You go into the country, you have small little towns where the number one thing students do is drink alcohol.”

Kids can get into trouble; run with the wrong crowd.

Beverly Spondike, principal of Saraland High, said her school is not co-sponsoring the event, but is endorsing it.

“It’s Christian-based,” Spondike said, “but they don’t try to push religion.

“They want them to know,” Spondike said, “hey, there are people who are going to listen to you, that are going to talk about some issues that are important to you.”

Spondike decided to give a vote of confidence to Underground Mobile after hearing Garrison give a motivational talk at her school.

“I was impressed with his passion for helping young people,” she said.

Spondike said that, in this day when teens face many pitfalls, “any type of resource that’s available is worth every minute of its time.”

Underground Mobile, according to Garrison, is intended to “mix it up,” with a blend of talk, dialogue and music.

“Any day you pick up the newspaper,” he said, “you see something negative about our young people.

“If we don’t invest in these students now, who’s going to invest in them?

“I see students who’ve made mistakes and feel like their life is over. My message: No! My message is this makes you stronger. The decision for the future is your own.”

He hopes that the monthly event during the summer will stretch out much longer.

Roberts, the deejay, graduated from the University of Mobile last week.

“We’re going to play some Christian-oriented music,” said Roberts, 25, “but we want to be able to draw in and include an audience that may not typically listen to Christian music.”

Roberts said that some people may think of Christian music as “boring” next to pop music, but that this criticism is not true.

He talks of popular Christian rap and rock groups that he will play at the Underground Mobile events.

He does put on secular music, too — “but not with negative references such as drugs, drinking, sexual innuendo.”

Underground Mobile’s message, Roberts said, is not only “about sharing hope, but also the sense of understanding, of life.

“We want the kids in this area to know that this is something they can look forward to,” he said.

New York Celebrates Gay Pride With Two Months Of LGBT Events

It’s been almost a year since the passage of same-sex marriage in New York, and to help celebrate, the city is working with NYC Company to bring two months of pride-related events. During June and July, 2012, the five boroughs will be presenting programming revolving around the flagship Heritage of Pride festival from June 16-24 in Manhattan, with motivational speakers, dancers, civil rights demonstrations, parades, street fairs and more. Some events include:

Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival- On June 3 in Jackson Heights, there will be a parade starting at noon, making its way down 37th from 84th. There will be special guests, including the cast of Wicked and a festival at 11:00 a.m. at 75th Avenue and 37th Road.

The Rally- On June 13 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., well known performers and speakers from the LGBT community will come together at the East River Bandshell to entertain and enlighten.

The March- On June 24 at noon, a civil rights demonstration celebrating gay rights and recognizing causes will begin at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Bronx Pride Festival- Taking place July 21 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Crotona Park, will offer entertainment, a health fair and memorabilia.

To see a full listing of events for NYC Pride 2012, click here.

[Flickr photo via Guillaume Paumier]

Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Festivals and Events, North America, United States

Who Were The Acrobats In The Parade?

By Sandy Eller, Vos Iz Neias

A Chinese style acrobatic troupe that performed in front of a crowd of thousands at a Lag B’Omer parade on 18th Avenue in Borough Park last week was comprised not of Chinese acrobats, but a group of talmidim at a Monsey mesivta, known for its innovative motivational techniques.

Re-Ku-Dim is a project of Mesivta Shaarei Arazim, a boys high school located in Monsey, who puts their motto “The Yeshiva That Motivates” into practice, using unique programs to help the bochurim grow, both as individuals and in their learning.

“We need to give our talmidim an opportunity to shine,” explained Rabbi Zev Freundlich, menahel of Mesivta Shaarei Arazim.  “All children want to look good, they want to feel good.  If we don’t give them a chance to get that geshmak in yeshiva, they will find ways outside of the yeshiva environment to fulfill that need.”

The yeshiva hired Frank Adams, a former Olympic gymnast who is now a Monsey resident, to train the members of the acrobatic troupe.  According to Adams, the three times a week, two hours workouts are extremely aggressive.

“The yeshiva rents out a local gym for the boys but this isn’t a quick gym workout,” explained Adams.  “Most of these boys have no athletic experience other than an informal basketball or softball game and had never done a stretch in their lives.  They do a full cardio warmup and a complete body stretch followed by a thorough gymnastics acrobatic workout but in no way does this ever take away from their learning.  The boys don’t miss night seder, maariv or anything else.  They may not get home till after eleven o’clock at night after a workout but they know they have to be in yeshiva for shachris the next day.”

“Participation in the group requires tremendous commitment from the boys,” Rabbi Freundlich told VIN News.  Rabbi Freundlich trains with the bochurim and says that approximately one third of the boys drop out of the program, which is open to students from tenth through twelfth grades.

One day a week the boys take to a local high school track where they run outside, oftentimes in the extreme cold, running up and down the bleachers at 6 AM.  But aside from the physical benefits, Adams believes that the boys gain in other ways as well.

“These boys have learned skills in becoming men as well as talmidei chochomim,” said Adams.  “They learn about commitment, teamwork and character development.  There is no way to succeed as part of an acrobatic troupe, in the Beis Medrash or in life, without these necessary skills.”

Three of the nine boys who are part of Re-Ku-Dim will be graduating in June and Adams is already working with a group of ninth graders who hope to join the group in their newly expanded act next year.

“This requires perseverance, stamina and a willingness to push yourself hard,” said Rabbi Freundlich, who said the bochurim develop a tremendous amount of achdus as well as personal pride, something which carries over into their learning as well.  While the group functions as a fundraiser for the yeshiva, for Rabbi Freundlich, it is first and foremost about giving the boys the knowledge that there is nothing they can’t do.

“The bochurim learn right away that the words ‘I can’t’ are not allowed in our yeshiva,” said Rabbi Freundlich.  “In ninth grade the boys have to build their own desks with their own hands and they use that desk for the next four years.  I show them how, the older bochurim help them and they learn right away that there is nothing they can’t do.”

In keeping with that philosophy, every boy in the yeshiva davens for the amud, layns and gives a short dvar Torah after davening.  While supper in the yeshiva is prepared under the auspices of the main chef, a 12th grader, every day two different bochurim are responsible for preparing supper for the entire school, which includes soup, a salad, a main dish and a dessert.

Mesivta Shaarei Arazim is also well known for its marching band, which has performed at countless weddings, dinners and other events for over six years.  The band is taught by one of the secular studies teachers who also runs a professional marching band, and consists of approximately thirty students who perform in full dress uniforms.  For most marching band members, it is the first time they have ever played an instrument.
      
“We are building talmidim,” said Rabbi Freundlich.  “What makes a person great is the talents and abilities that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave him. We can’t focus only a bochur’s brain and his ability to learn.”

In a videotaped approbation, Reb Reuven Feinstein praised the dedication of the yeshiva’s hanhala and their unique approach to chinuch that provides the talmidim with a sense of self assurance.

“They give these children satisfaction in their learning and in themselves,” said R’ Feinstein.  “They become a gavra, because they have the confidence to be able to stand up, knowing who they are.”

Wallace enjoys induction into Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

He played football for a SEC Championship football team at Auburn. He played on three Super Bowl teams at San Francisco. He’s been all-SEC and two-times All-Pro. During a long and celebrated career, he’s reached the highest levels of competition. Yet none of that prepared him for the induction ceremonies into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame last weekend. Looking back, Wallace says it was more than he had imagined.

“The way they did things in such a first class manner was tremendous. It totally caught me off guard,” Wallace said.

The big weekend started with a Friday night reception, which was described as huge, and things took off from there.

“Suddenly, I looked up and was right in the middle of everything and it just hit me. I thought, my goodness, this is awesome,” Wallace said. “Everything was a ton of fun. I enjoyed meeting the members, the other inductees, the former inductees and the people. Everyone was a class act.”

Even all of that did not prepare Wallace for what he felt when he stepped through the curtains and onto the platform and saw all the people in the ballroom. He says he was “shocked” and suddenly realized that he needed to make his best speech because this was the highest level.

Wallace wanted to play quarterback in high school. His coach agreed to let him try out for the position as an eighth grader, but the first day of practice Wallace realized that he lacked the speed and quickness. “I knew if I was going to make that team I’d have to play in the line,” he said. “Once that decision was made, I was determined to become the best left tackle in the country.”

He did, both at Auburn and with the 49ers, making left tackle a premier position.

Since his retirement from football that ended an 11-year pro career, Wallace has done a lot of speaking. He gives emotional and motivational speeches to a variety of groups in schools, athletics, businesses and corporations. At those engagements, he has more time to make his points. On this occasion, he had three minutes, but he made the best of what time he was allowed.

His wife, the former Vassar Harris Mossey, their son, Steve Jr., and other family members were there. “They were just blown away with the level of professionalism and the dignity of the presentations,” Wallace said. “Even a guy like Andre Tippett, who has already been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, had such an incredible respect at being inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. It was just awesome.”

Steve Jr., was born in Gadsden, his mother’s hometown. He plays football at Marist High in Atlanta where he is a 6-1, 290-pound nose guard. The school’s nickname is War Eagles, which may be an indication of his choice of college. Auburn is the school his dad picked out of 57 offers when he graduated high school.

The Wallaces were married in Gadsden and return often to visit family and friends.

Another member of this year’s induction class also has ties to Gadsden. Charley Pell and his wife, Ward, lived in Southside several years before his death in 2001. He was a native of Albertville. In 1968, at age 28, he accepted a job at Jacksonville State, thus becoming the youngest head coach and athletic director in the nation.

The biggest guy in this year’s induction class was Artis Gilmore, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year. He had a legendary basketball career in both college and the NBA.

“The government listed me at 6-3 1/2, trying to draft me during the Vietnam War,” Gilmore jokes. “At the time I was still in high school and right at the borderline, which was 6-8. So they didn’t take me. I’m actually just over 7-2 and wear a size 18 shoe.”

He was wearing size 12 at age 12 and no one in his small town on the Alabama-Florida line carried shoes large enough to fit him. “So I went around a lot without shoes,” he said.

When he started playing ball, the coaches were able to get shoes specially built to fit him.

“This part of the country is all about football and that sport, certainly, was what I wanted to play. But because of an injury when I was a high school freshman, I had to quit football and move over to basketball. I am the only member of my family to ever play that sport,” he said.

During the hall of fame weekend, Gilmore had a lot of fun teasing with people about his size. Women would take off their shoes and hold them up next to a pair of his gym shoes in the display case; some even would hold their stocking feet against his shoe.

Both men and woman wanted pictures of them standing beside this giant of a man. Some were hardly as tall as his waistline and many did not reach his outstretched arms.

Gilmore has previously been inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame and two Halls of Fame in Kentucky. He was eligible for the Alabama Hall of Fame because he played high school basketball in Dothan.

Missie Atkins Lambert wasn’t one of the inductees, but caught my attention with a story about when she had been almost arrested when a cheerleader at Auburn. It was in 1982 and some of the girls were headed to the beach one spring day. They had just left cheerleader practice and were still in uniform when a policeman in Brantley, Ala. , stopped them for speeding.

Missie said they told him their story, explaining why they needed to get to the beach so fast. He told them if they were actually Auburn cheerleaders to prove it. So they got out of the car and did cartwheels, flips, etc. He was so impressed that he gave them a police escort the rest of the way.

Donnie Allison, as always, was a big hit with his stories about his racing career. This year he even threw in a couple of stories about bird-hunting to the delight of Dr. Lloyd Nix. Both men are members of the Hall of Fame.

Times Sports Editor Emeritus Jimmy Smothers can be reached at jmmys1@aol.com.

Locals host Teen Power Conference

Locals host Teen Power Conference

Published 12:10pm Friday, May 18, 2012

Local young people will get an unusual opportunity June 22 and 23 to discuss their faith, struggles and other concerns as they take part in Teen Power Conference 2012.

The event, designed for those between the ages of 12-18, will feature an array of motivational speakers as well as a handful of breakout sessions.

“I thought this would be something good to encourage them and uplift them, help them develop their leadership skills,” event organizer Dr. Kristopher Spears said. “Basically, it’s a youth conference. We’re targeting those aged 12-18. I grew up around the area and went to Linden High School and wanted to give back to the area and the teens in the area. There was nothing like this when I was growing up.”

While the motivational speakers are an important feature of the program, Spears pointed to the more personal aspects of the conference as the home for the greatest opportunities.

“We’d like to also have some breakout sessions too where we get to figure out a little more about the teens and what’s going on with them,” Spears said.

Teen Power Conference 2012 is the sixth such event Spears and New Creation Ministries have hosted in Demopolis dating back to 2000.

“We started doing it in 2000. I graduated from pharmacy school at Xavier University and I’ve been doing it every other year starting in 2000,” Spears, who currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. said.

Spears explained that New Creation Family Ministries is an idea that began to take shape while he was doing his undergraduate work at Auburn University. After he moved on to pharmacy school in New Orleans, La., he began giving the idea life in his surrounding community while venturing into youth ministry for the first time.

“New Creation Family Ministries is basically a ministry I created. It’s a non-profit. We are focusing on teenagers, but the vision is kind of to help and encourage the family as a whole,” Spears said. “it just kind of grew out of my passion for helping teenagers.”

Spears said the idea occurred during his undergraduate days when he realized how difficult it can be for teenagers to transition into adulthood.

“That’s when I got this idea that this was something that is missing, helping the young people transition from being teenagers and children into adults,” Spears said. “From 96 until 2000, I just kind of developed it. I’ve been working youth ministry since 96.”

While technology and other elements of culture have changed significantly in the years since Spears launched New Creation Family Ministries, he understands that teens and the issues they face have largely remained the same.

“One of the biggest challenges is sex. What role does sex play in my life? Sex is prevalent. It’s prevalent on television shows and the internet. We’ve got sexting going on now. That is one of the major challenges is trying to put it in a positive since,” Spears said. “Explaining that you were created to be a sexual being, but that God wants you to wait until marriage for that special person.”

Spears also mentioned bullying and other forms of peer pressure and key talking points for the conference as well as the obstacles of family communication.

“I think family and dealing is family. How can you communicate better with family? Being able to receive some positive feedback from your parents,” Spears said.

The conference is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. June 22 at the Theo Ratliff Activity Center in Demopolis. The second session is set for 11 a.m. June 23. Registration is not required for the event.

Author says change doesn’t have to be difficult

Author Dan Heath knows a thing or two about coping with change at work — or anywhere else for that matter.

Heath spoke last week at Belmont University’s Spring Leadership Breakfast. A senior fellow at Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurs, Heath has co-authored two bestselling books: Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard and Made to Stick. His brother, Chip, was the co-writer.

The two self-help books challenge conventional wisdom on communication and motivational techniques in business and personal situations. Here are five things to think about — pulled from the Heath brothers’ teachings — as change races toward you.

What works, what doesn’t

“For us, it’s all (a) bonus if it kind of violates your intuition, because that probably means you’re going to remember it,” Heath said.

Switch blends psychology, sociology and motivation to describe how transformative change successfully occurs, and Made to Stick is a how-to for effective communication, explaining why some ideas succeed when others fail.

“What we’re trying to find is the four or five things people can do differently to make their ideas stick. Or, in this case, what are some simple ways to make change at work or (in the) home a little bit easier.”

Why change is a challenge

According to Heath, change is challenging because people are natural problem solvers. “That can be a kind of trap in situations of change because often there are so many things that aren’t perfect, that we can end up paralyzed. There are too many things to be systematically fixed,” Heath said.

Focus on the ‘bright spots’

To get around that sort of dilemma, the trick is to focus on what he refers to as “the bright spots.”

In other words: What’s already working, and how can we do more of it?

“It sounds like a simple question, and I think it is, but it’s not intuitive. Every fiber of our being cries out to go problem solve, but often we miss the chance to do more of what’s already working,” Heath says.

Desire for change

In business settings, Heath said, executives often make the mistake of trying to motivate employees through information.

“You dust off the Powerpoint presentation and the memos and the charts and the data and the statistics, and all of that stuff makes good logical, rational sense, but it doesn’t speak to the desire for change,” the author says.

“Nine times out of 10, change comes from emotion. I suspect that every one of your readers knows full well right now that there’s something they need to be doing differently in their life that they are not, in fact, doing.

“The information is not enough to spark change. We talk about that a lot in the book—the power and importance of emotion.”

Life at home

Heath believes the principles in his books apply at home as well as at the office.

“The same things that make it hard for an individual to go on a diet are the very same things, the very same cognitive reactions, that make it hard … to implement a new process at work. We don’t check our psychology at the door.”

Global Organization for Divinity to offer summer camps

Two summer camps are being organized by Global Organization for Divinity Houston.

The Focus of the camps will be East Indian culture and spirituality, and they are divided into two age groups. The first youth camp is for children age 9-15; a camp designed for younger children will be hosted for ages 4 through 8. They will be at Houston Namadwaar, 3642 Bailey Ave., Manvel.

Dates for the youth camp are 2-8 p.m. every Wednesday, June 13 through July 25. Planned activities give participants a taste of India’s culture and all-inclusive spirituality while engaging creativity through workshops in photography, Ayurvedic cooking, ethnic Indian art and traditional outdoor Indian games like cricket and kho-kho. Other activities include a field trip, yoga, meditation, inspiring and motivational stories, games, interactive discussions and more.

Cost for the camp is $160 for the entire six weeks or $100 for each three-week segment. Siblings get up to a $20 discount. Children of all cultural and religious backgrounds are welcome to participate. Participants can sign up for the entire six weeks or shorter three-week segments. Healthy snacks and vegetarian dinners are included. Proceeds go to a nonprofit cause and are tax deductible. Registration can be done online at 2012gksummer-youth.eventbrite.com

The two-day camp for younger kids is June 23-24. Activities will focus on Indian culture and spirituality and include music and dance, art and crafts, stories about India and more. The cost is $60 with a $10 discount for siblings. Lunch and snacks are provided both days. Registration for this camp can be done online at 2012gksummer-little.eventbrite.com.

For more information about the camps call 832-515-1251 or email houston.god@godivinity.org.

Scottish Cup Final: Hibs fans are so hungry for success they’ve sent me books …

May 18 2012
By Gary Ralston

Hibs boss Pat Fenlon celebrates their win over Aberdeen at Hampden

HIBS fans have been sending Pat Fenlon books on how to win wars when his biggest asset in the Cup Final will be his own inner peace.

On Tuesday the Easter Road boss told his squad the line-up for the game of their lives – and the starting 11 has been bolstered by calm and serenity.

It is 110 years since Hibs won the final, don’t you know, but Fenlon is content to leave the fretting to fans who are on the brink of ecstasy … or despair.

Day after day, letters and packages have been arriving at Hibs’ training ground with stories to inspire and other motivational tools for Fenlon to use on his players.

Day after day, taxi drivers and other supporters have been reminding him of superstitions ranging from nuns washing Cup Final kit to the significant dates in history, including 1902 when the Balmoral clock stopped.

Even this bookish looking little fella, a hardman streak lurking just inches under that calm exterior, would be in danger of buckling under the weight of expectation were he born and raised anywhere near Leith.

It is just as well it’s only his birthplace and not his blood pressure that’s Dublin.

He said: “I have received so many letters, DVDs and books from fans. I’m trying to get through one or two of the books.

“Some are about motivation, others about getting into people’s heads and I actually received one about generals in a war, all from complete strangers.

“I was sent a letter from a boy in Wexford whose grandfather played for Hibs. It gives you a knowledge of the history of the club and other letters have followed similar themes, how long it has been, the people who missed the final and the likes.

“It’s something I’ve thought about and the real reason I’d like to win it, more than anything else.

“It is such an intense derby but it is interesting that both managers probably don’t have a background in it.

“I don’t feel the pressure and hype everyone else does. It is a great occasion and a great chance to win a trophy. That is my focus, I don’t know what Paulo thinks about that. It is probably not a bad thing that both of us are on the outside looking in.”

The nuns who washed the Hibs kit came from the Holy Family of Bordeaux, based in the Stella Maris church on Constitution Street, Leith. Fenlon has been in and out of a few cabs recently, but he won’t be calling a private hire to go knock on the door of the good sisters.

He said: “I’ve heard the stories from taxi drivers but I don’t know if they are all true. I’ll tell you at 5pm on Saturday if I believe. I understand the nuns did wash the strips back then but I haven’t found any yet.

“Supporters will always look to little things in relation to big occasions. It’s more for them to get involved in than me.

“There is a fair bit of fear around in relation to fans – and I speak with both sets. I know there’s no fear around our squad. The players are enthusiastic and looking forward to the final.”

Fenlon took his squad to Ireland this week in a bid to escape the mayhem that has descended over the capital.

His attention to detail was honed at Bohemians, Derry City and Shelbourne, where he had to arrange everything from transport to tickets.

His Hampden team talk has already been formulated in his head and there will be no visits from celebrity fans or motivational speakers in a bid to raise the players to the performance heights they must show to become Hibee legends.

Likewise, the starting 11 have been picked so they know what is expected of them, the dangers they should pose and be aware of from Hearts. The only place in Fenlon’s office his players will find sympathy and sentiment are in the dictionary on his bookshelf.

He added: “I was once left out of a European game for Linfield against Odense in Denmark. I know what it feels like.

“The team talk is probably a little easier because everyone is so focused and it was the same recently against Dunfermline.”

Fenlon has accomplished his main objective, to secure their SPL status.

Everything else is gravy and he reckons his players might just be relaxed enough as a result to see off Hearts.

He said: “Everyone appears to have written us off but we can use that as motivation

“The cup is a bonus. The big pressure was to stay in the SPL and it was a relief for everyone when it was secured. We can utilise that emotion, definitely.”

Team USA will win gold (again) with Coach K, not much without him

Mike Krzyzewski followed Team USA’s 2008 Olympic gold with the 2010 world title.

(Getty Images)

Mocking Mike Krzyzewski is cool. It’s hip, safe, it’s easy. A newspaper in Indianapolis drew a crude cartoon of the Duke basketball coach during the 2010 Final Four with horns coming out of his skull and a bull’s eye on his forehead. Mocking Mike Krzyzewski? You’ve done it, and truth be told, I’ve done it. Maybe a few times. Maybe I’ll do it again someday.

Today is not that day, however, because I didn’t come to bury Coach K.

I came to praise him.

Praise him for his job as U.S. Olympic coach, which he said this week would probably end after the 2012 Games in London. That announcement makes this as good a time as any to thank Krzyzewski for restoring the United States to its rightful place — that’s right, rightful place — atop the Olympics podium stand. World championships podium stand, too.

Those are the titles the U.S. men’s team has won under Coach K, the 2008 Olympics and 2010 world championships, and they’ll be followed by the 2012 Olympics. I don’t say that to put pressure on Coach K, because Lord knows I couldn’t put any more pressure on him than he must feel already. I say that because the 2012 Olympic gold is ours to win, and because Coach K is the one — the only one, frankly — I trust to make it happen again.

See, in basketball, U.S. Olympians are a strange bunch. The best basketball players in this country, they’re not just athletes. They’re businessmen, they’re entertainers, they’re egomaniacs. Handling a team of them is like handling a kindergarten class: You better keep them happy, you better keep them focused, and you better keep their respect.

Nobody has done that better than Coach K — not even Chuck Daly in 1992, though the original Dream Team did win the gold medal with more ease than Krzyzewski’s Redeem Team of 2008. Basketball has changed from 1992, and not in a good way. The money, the fame, it was there in ’92. But it had mushroomed by 2008, along with the sense of entitlement that comes in an era when guys are famous at age 16, skipping most or all of college, and signing $100 million contracts in their early 20s. A team like the one in 1992 led by Michael, Magic and Larry isn’t walking through the door, is my point.

Coach K just made it seem that way in 2008 when he herded all those fabulous cats on his roster and got them going in the same direction, a direction that seems easy enough — hey everybody, let’s play for our country and win a gold medal against inferior competition — but isn’t. George Karl couldn’t do it at the 2002 worlds. Larry Brown couldn’t do it at the 2004 Olympics, and he’s the only head coach to win NCAA and NBA championships.

It’s not easy, winning international events with the superstars our basketball system produces today, but Coach K did it in 2008, he did it in 2010, and he’ll do it again this summer. How he does it, I have no idea. If we’re lucky we’ll learn a few of his motivational techniques after the fact. These things can take years to come out, like the mindfreak Coach K put on Shane Battier after Duke lost four players to the top 14 picks at the 1999 NBA Draft. That one didn’t come out for 12 years, when Coach K wrote about it in the Wall Street Journal.

That summer of 1999, Krzyzewski wrote, he called Battier and put him on the spot. He asked Battier, whose intelligence is eclipsed only by his humility, if he had looked in the mirror and seen the conference player of the year.

Stunned — Battier had averaged 9.1 points the previous season — the Duke forward tried to mumble something. Coach K hung up.

The next day, another phone call. Another question from Krzyzewski, wanting to know if Battier had pictured himself scoring 30 points in a game.

Again, the eloquent Battier didn’t know what to say. Again, Coach K hung up. This time Battier called back and asked Krzyzewski to stay on the line. Responded Coach K, “I won’t hang up on you if you won’t hang up on you.”

Long story short: Once a role player, Battier became the ACC (and national) Player of the Year and led Duke to the 2001 national title.

That’s a college thing, yes, but it’s a Coach K thing — and his stuff works with elite players. Why? I don’t know; I’m not an elite player. But Kobe Bryant is, and before the 2008 Olympics he said he had been waiting years for the chance to play for Coach K. After the 2008 Olympics? Bryant shared a short conversation he had with Krzyzewski, a conversation that had him primed to produce.

“He wanted me to be who I am — be a scorer,” Bryant said. “I never had a coach come up to me and say, ‘I want you to shoot it — shoot it, shoot it, shoot it.’ But that’s one of the things he stressed to me: ‘We want you to be who you are.’”

Said LeBron James, after the 2008 Olympics: “I’m not sure what makes Coach K the right guy — but he is. I’ve played for a couple different coaches on the USA team, and he just fits perfect for us.”

Yeah, he does. Getting the best players in the world to win the gold medal isn’t as easy as it looks. If it was simply an X-and-O thing, Larry Brown would have won the gold, not bronze, in 2004. It’s a motivational thing, a chemistry thing, a confidence thing. It’s a Coach K thing. That’ll be proved again when the 2012 team wins Olympic gold.

And when the 2016 team doesn’t.