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Dept. of Advice

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-- Dave Mencarini , head football coach,

Quince Orchard High School, Gaithersburg

When you fall behind, you can't start thinking that it's a lost cause; you must truly believe that you can win. I know as a coach that my players tend to believe what I believe of them. You have to have your party pulling for you, and that stems from the leaders believing that you can still accomplish your goals. Once people have lost hope, they won't campaign as hard as they should. You've gotta have that work ethic. You keep playing to the end. People can be persuaded up until the last minute.

-- Dan Harwood , boys' basketball coach, Magruder High School, Rockville

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When you're facing down the clock and you're behind, you call a timeout and you talk to your team and you say things like, "You know what got you here. Are you going to let these guys take it away from you?" Basically, you tell them, "Hey, don't panic. You're in a race." You've got to be strategic, you've gotta start putting all your pluses on one side and minuses on the other, your opponent's pluses on one side, his minuses on the other. It's about finding the weakness and hitting them.

-- Red Auerbach, Basketball Hall of Fame coach,

former president and coach of the Boston Celtics

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