Good.

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Injured Texas A&M baseball star Braden Montgomery exemplifying ‘Good’ team motto.

Maybe no Texas A&M baseball player has exemplified the “Good” team motto better than Braden Montgomery.

OMAHA, Neb. – Before the 2024 season, Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle gave everyone on his team a white hat with one word in maroon letters on the front: “Good.” For the Aggies, “Good” essentially meant to respond to adversity with a positive attitude. What quickly became their widely-known motto has remained with them through the College World Series.

When challenging situations arose throughout the regular season, A&M seemed to always live by “Good.” Lose the opening SEC series at Florida? Good. They won 17 of their next 19 games. Drop back-to-back series to struggling Ole Miss and LSU teams? Good. They finished the regular season with a series win over SEC West champion Arkansas. Go 0-2 in the SEC Tournament? Good. They have not lost a game since.

Throughout this postseason, maybe no Aggie player has exemplified “Good” better than Braden Montgomery.

The star right fielder will not play when No. 3 A&M (52-13) clashes with No. 1 Tennessee (58-12) in the best-of-three CWS Finals at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (TV: ESPN).

But his presence will be felt in the dugout like it has ever since he went down against Oregon in the Bryan-College Station Super Regional earlier this month, suffering a season-ending broken right ankle injury that required surgery.

“I am not sure how important it was for me to be here for the other guys,” Montgomery said. “But for me, it was the world. There was no chance I was going to miss it. Ever since I have been out here, I think I have had a smile on my face the entire time in Omaha.

“There is nothing to not smile about. These guys that I am around and the baseball we are playing right now, it is all spectacular.”

“Good” Article by Carter Karels, GigEm24/7

My thoughts:

Good. I love it.

Perhaps Tennessee will adopt the same mantra after a game 1 loss. We lost 9-5 and struck out 17 times. Good. Tomorrow’s game two starts over at zero and it’s good that it is called a best-of-three series and not a “one and done.”

It’s all good. The series has been good. Both of these teams are very good. The coaches are good. And may the team that scores just one more run than the other team win tomorrow and maybe on Monday. After all, it’s the universal rule of baseball. The team that scores the most runs wins… always. Good.

Can’t wait to see how it turns out. Both teams are worthy. My question? What’s a national championship worth to the players in 2024 NIL money? Good for them. Not so good for the game.

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Jocko Willink “GOOD” (Official)

Jocko’s Transcript:

“How do I deal with setbacks, failures, delays, defeats, or other disasters? I actually have a fairly simple way of dealing with these situations, summed up in one word:

“Good.”

This is something that one of my direct subordinates, one of the guys who worked for me, a guy who became one of my best friends pointed out.

He would pull me aside with some major problem or issue that was going on, and he’d say, “Boss, we’ve got this thing, this situation, and it’s going terribly wrong.”

I would look at him and say, “Good.”

And finally, one day, he was telling me about something that was going off the rails, and as soon as he finished explaining it to me, he said, “I already know what you’re going to say.”

And I asked, “What am I going to say?”

And he said, “You’re going to say: ‘Good.’ ”

He continued, “That’s what you always say. When Something is wrong or going bad, you just look at me and say, ‘Good.’ ”

And I said, “Well. I mean it. Because that is how I operate.”

So I explained to him that when things are going bad, there’s going to be some good that will come from it.

Oh, the mission got canceled? Good… We can focus on another one.
Didn’t get the new high-speed gear we wanted? Good… We can keep it simple.
Didn’t get promoted? Good… More time to get better.
Didn’t get funded? Good… We own more of the company.
Didn’t get the job you wanted? Good… Go out, gain more experience, and build a better resume.
Got injured? Good… Needed a break from training.
Got tapped out? Good… It’s better to tap out in training than tap out on the street.
Got beat? Good… We learned.
Unexpected problems? Good… We have to figure out a solutions

That’s it. When things are going bad: Don’t get all bummed out, don’t get started, don’t get frustrated. No. Just look at the issue and say: “Good.”

Now, I don’t mean to say something trite; I’m not trying to sound like Mr. Smiley Positive Guy.

That guy ignores the hard truth.

That guy thinks a positive attitude will solve problems.

It won’t. But neither will dwelling on the problem. No. Accept reality, but focus on the solution. Take that issue, take that setback, take that problem, and turn it into something good. Go forward. And, if you are part of a team, that attitude will spread throughout.

Finally: if you can say the word “good,” then guess what?

It means you’re still alive.

It means you’re still breathing.

And if you’re still breathing, that means you’ve still got some fight left in you.

So get up, dust off, reload, recalibrate, re-engage – and go out on the attack.”

-Jocko Willink

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