Kids Say The Darndest Things

I was doing some work for a friend of mine the other day and heard a young man say something that I thought was just great.

As we were working that afternoon out in the field my friends nephew came out to see what we were doing. This young boy is about 9 or 10 years old. I hadn't seen him in a long while and he came up to greet me. I noticed that he had a full leg brace on one of his legs and asked him what happened. He told me that he had fractured his knee cap. Immediately I was thinking about how painful that would be. I myself have never broken a bone(knock on wood), but I can't imagine what a fractured knee cap would feel like. Anyway, I went on to ask him how this injury of his had come about and he told me that it happened playing baseball. I joked with him about how at least he had a good sports injury story to tell the girls and he just laughed. Then he went on to tell me that it happened while sliding into home. Before I could say another word he said, "Well hey, at least I scored," and if I remember correctly he scored the winning run for his team. I loved his response. Here is a 9 or 10 year old kid that wanted to win. He had gotten hurt in the process and who knows maybe cried(I probably would have... it's a fractured knee cap) but looking back on his injury he was at least able to say that he layed it all on the line to help his team win. I think this is something that is truly lacking in little league sports today. The kids have no desire to win and no hatred for losing. Which is what I believe to be some basic yet vitally important lessons to be learned in little league. I just thought I would share this story with you. I enjoyed my conversation with the young man and he let me know that there is still that will and desire out there.

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.

-Lance Armstrong

"It is possible to lose, and yet, not be beaten."

Great video that I saw on ESPN last night. How sports and losing can help people push through hard times. Amazing story.

Hating to Lose

When you lose, you get that sick feeling in your stomach. Then it turns to anger and the anger gets you to work harder and gets you to show some real pride. Darn it all, there’s nothing in this world as bad as losing. -Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno says it best right here in this quote. If you know me at all then you know that I am a very competitive person. I absolutely hate to lose. It doesn't matter if it's baseball or checkers, I just can't stand to lose. There is no doubt that I love to win. I mean I really love to win, but my hatred for losing is so much greater. In my opinion that is how that you have to be if you want to be the most successful. It feels great to win, but wins just last for that day and then you have to get back to work getting ready for the next game. Losing, on the other hand, that sticks with you. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth and is something that will eat at you until the next game and sometimes maybe longer. You constantly wonder what or how you could have done things differently to get a better result. If you don't have a hatred for losing then your not going to be willing to fix your mistakes. So yes, it is wonderful to love to win, but when it comes down to it, if we really want to be successful, we must hate the taste of losing so much worse.

Winning and Losing: The Mental Aspect

Nothing can stop the person with the right mental attitude from achieving their goal; nothing on earth can help the person with the wrong mental attitude. -Thomas Jefferson

At least half of everything we do is mental. Even in sports when it seems that many things are simply reactions, there is still, very much, a mental aspect to the game. You can just step up to the plate and use your talents to hit. That is true. But, you will be much more successful if you have studied the pitcher and know what he likes to throw in certain situations. A pitcher can step on the mound and get guys out with his skills, yes. But if he knows what hitters struggle with certain pitches he is going to be far better off in his craft. Even as a position player in the field the mental aspect of the game is important. This past year I read Cal Ripken Jr.'s book "Get in the Game" and found out some insightful things that he did as a shortstop. Cal was always looking for the upper hand in the game of baseball. During pregame meetings catchers and pitchers get together with the opposing teams scouting report and talk about how to pitch to hitters. Well Cal saw this as an opportunity and joined in on these meetings. By doing so Cal now knew how his pitcher planned to pitch to a certain hitter therefore he knew where to position himself in order to have the best chance at making a play. This proved to help him become more successful throughout his career. Cal used the mental side of the game to put himself into a better position to show off his talents.

Winning is also half mental. At least half. A person who sees himself, or his team, as a winner will have a hard time accepting a loss. Whereas a person who sees himself, or his team, as a loser is surprised by a win and not near as bothered by losing. To me, if losing doesn't bother you then you need to get out of athletics in a hurry because your not going to be too successful. Winning might not be everything but its pretty close to it. Think about how the great players and coaches are measured. By their wins and losses. In the December of 1997 Peyton Manning was one of the finalists for the Heisman trophy. He seemed to have put up the best numbers all year (and no I don't just say that because I'm a Tennessee fan) yet he didn't win because he never had beat the University of Florida in his 4 year career at Tennessee. He couldn't win the big game. This even carried over into his NFL career until he finally silenced the critics in 2007 by leading his team to a Superbowl victory.

Whether we like it or not the difference in being a winner and a loser lies, a lot of the time, between your ears. Now granted you can't think you are a winner and then suddenly overnight become one. You have to have the right tools and talents. But, even a guy with all the tools to be a champion will fall short if he doesn't think he is one.

The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do. -Dennis Waitley (famous author and keynote speaker)