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monskisprodigy

Max Bielfeldt Letter to A.J Guyton

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That was my thought when seeing this as well. Though, I don't know why everyone thinks that takes away from the sentiment, or somehow makes it meaningless. It's still a great letter Max wrote. It's not like Crean sat over them dictating to them what to write. But, having the team write letters to former players sounds so much like a Crean type of move (I don't mean that in a bad way).

Sorry to break it to everyone, but Crean had everyone on the team write a former player a letter.
 
It just so happened that Guyton made his public.  Crean was 100% behind this.

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That was my thought when seeing this as well. Though, I don't know why everyone thinks that takes away from the sentiment, or somehow makes it meaningless. It's still a great letter Max wrote. It's not like Crean sat over them dictating to them what to write. But, having the team write letters to former players sounds so much like a Crean type of move (I don't mean that in a bad way).
 

I think it's like if you're 15 years old and at church and you see the 85 year old Mrs. Jones sitting in the corner. You don't know her personally that well, but your mother always said that Mrs. Jones has always thought a lot of you. Your mom then instructs you to go over and say hi to Mrs. Jones. So you do.

 

Now, Mrs. Jones is pleased you spoke with her. It meant a lot to her. And that's nice. But did you do it because you wanted to? Did you do it because you felt it was what you needed to do? Or did you do it because your mother prodded you to do so? Would you have taken the initiative to speak to Mrs. Jones had your mother not asked you to?

 

I'd say the difference is between following orders vs. taking initiative. There's a big difference between the two. Especially when it comes to leadership on a basketball team.

 

But that's just my opinion.

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Yes, there's a difference, but let's not take ourselves so serious that we're over-analyzing this. Let's focus on the content of the letter, which I'm sure were Max's words, despite who told him to write the letter.

To use your analogy, yes maybe your mother told you to go say hi to Mrs. Jones, but your mother didn't tell you to sit down and speak with her for 5 minutes. She didn't tell you to ask Mrs. Jones how her days was and to tell her a little about how the new school year is going and what classes you're taking, etc. She just told you to go say hi.

I'm just saying, Max wrote a great letter, and I doubt Crean told him to ask A.J. to lunch, etc. I'm as down on things as everyone else, but let's focus on the content. It was a great letter regardless of how the idea originated.

I think it's like if you're 15 years old and at church and you see the 85 year old Mrs. Jones sitting in the corner. You don't know her personally that well, but your mother always said that Mrs. Jones has always thought a lot of you. Your mom then instructs you to go over and say hi to Mrs. Jones. So you do.
 
Now, Mrs. Jones is pleased you spoke with her. It meant a lot to her. And that's nice. But did you do it because you wanted to? Did you do it because you felt it was what you needed to do? Or did you do it because your mother prodded you to do so? Would you have taken the initiative to speak to Mrs. Jones had your mother not asked you to?
 
I'd say the difference is between following orders vs. taking initiative. There's a big difference between the two. Especially when it comes to leadership on a basketball team.
 
But that's just my opinion.

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Yes, there's a difference, but let's not take ourselves so serious that we're over-analyzing this. Let's focus on the content of the letter, which I'm sure were Max's words, despite who told him to write the letter.

To use your analogy, yes maybe your mother told you to go say hi to Mrs. Jones, but your mother didn't tell you to sit down and speak with her for 5 minutes. She didn't tell you to ask Mrs. Jones how her days was and to tell her a little about how the new school year is going and what classes you're taking, etc. She just told you to go say hi.

I'm just saying, Max wrote a great letter, and I doubt Crean told him to ask A.J. to lunch, etc. I'm as down on things as everyone else, but let's focus on the content. It was a great letter regardless of how the idea originated.
 

No doubt. Point well taken. There was plenty of originality to what was said in that letter. It was personal. You could tell he meant it. And I'm glad he did it, whether it was instructed for him to do so or not. He's already earned a fair amount of respect in my book. He clearly understands that playing FOR Indiana University means a lot.

 

I'm just not sure if this exemplifies leadership (as other have mentioned), which the team needs in droves. HOWEVER, it does exemplify accountability. And that's a step in the right direction, for sure.

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From my personal experience, Max is of great character and a great role model for future Hoosiers. The letter to A.J. just further confirms it for me. He took time to learn the names of the campers at camp this summer. On the the final day of camp my son gave him a picture of them two together and Max said "aren't you going to autograph it for me?" That made my sons day.

attachicon.gifImageUploadedByBtownBanners1441987320.190671.jpg

That story seriously made my day! It's nice to get a ray of sunshine to pierce the gloom!

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From my personal experience, Max is of great character and a great role model for future Hoosiers. The letter to A.J. just further confirms it for me. He took time to learn the names of the campers at camp this summer. On the the final day of camp my son gave him a picture of them two together and Max said "aren't you going to autograph it for me?" That made my sons day.

ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1441987320.190671.jpg


Great story. Thanks for sharing!

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