Herm Edwards on Tiger: Something Worth Thinking About

I told myself that I wasn't going to comment on the Tiger Woods "scandal" (if that's what you want to call it) but something was brought to my attention today that I had to make a post about. Over the past few weeks ever since this story broke loose there have been many different people commenting on the issue and talking about what they think Tiger needs to do. I think I have probably heard the best advice of all today coming from Herm Edwards. The advice he gave is good for Tiger but also for anyone who might have their priorities out of whack to the point where it is messing up their career or their life in general. He brought up some points that I haven't heard anyone else talking about and that I think are really worth considering. Here is the video:

ESPN's Carry On

"The Power of One"

Another video I stole from ESPN's E:60. They always seem to have inspirational stories of perseverance that I simply can't pass up. This is about the courage of an amazing 8 year old boy. A must see.

"Walk On"

An amazing video. It is a little longer than the ones I usually post but well worth every second. Please watch it. I believe it was a video from E:60 entitled "Walk On."

"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.

Don't Quit

Jimmy V Says It Best

I had a new blog introduced to me the other day by a good friend of mine. It is by the University of Central Florida Women's Basketball coach Greg Brown. It is entitled UCF Women's Basketball Thoughts. His post was from the notes of legendary coach Jim Valvano's famous ESPY speech. Here are Jimmy V's notes:

1. Time is precious.


2. How do you get through life? Things to do daily--Laugh/ Think/ Cry. These things make a full day.


3. Where you start, where you are, where you end up.


4. How to go from where you are to where you want to be--Enthusiastic for life, Dream, Willing To Work.


5. Give hope to others.


6. Enjoy life.


7. Cancer can take my physical ability, but it can never take my mind.


8. Be enthusiastic every day.


9. Nothing can not happen first without a dream. Goal, Dream, Belief


10. DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T EVER GIVE UP

SI says: "Baseball's LeBron"

Golf has Tiger Woods, basketball has LeBron James, hockey had Wayne Gretzky and military history had Alexander the Great, but baseball, like jazz, is a discipline that does not easily engender prodigies. Since 1967, only one player has hit a home run in the major leagues before his 19th birthday: Robin Yount of the '74 Milwaukee Brewers. The sport is so skill-specific that even the best, most physically mature young players typically must endure several levels of minor league apprenticeship to learn the game.

So good and so young is Bryce Harper, however, that he explodes baseball convention. He has hit the longest home run in the history of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, and he did so in January, at age 16, with a blast that would have flown farther than the measured 502 feet had it not smashed off the back wall of the dome. Still only 16, Harper stands 6'3", weighs 205 pounds, has faster bat speed than Mark McGwire in his prime and runs so fast that he scored on wild pitches six times this season from second base. As a catcher he picks off runners from his knees, and when he pitches, he throws a fastball that has been clocked at 96 mph. He also does volunteer work, holds down a 3.5 grade point average and attends religious education classes nearly every morning before school.

Read the full article at: The Sports Illustrated Vault

You Got To Be Able To Take The Hits

I was watching Rocky Balboa the other night and whereas it isn't the best movie I have ever seen it does have a few good messages in it. The one I liked most of all was when Rocky was talking to his son about being able to take the life's "hits" and keep pushing forward. While this is just a Hollywood version of a sports story I think a lot can be taken from the message delivered in these lines of the movie. Here is the video:

A Father's Love: Team Hoyt

There are a lot of good inspirational stories out there in the world today, but none more inspiring than that of Team Hoyt. I couldn't do the story justice to sit here and try to explain it. Here is the video. Truly touching and inspiring.

Famous Failures

Why Nothing is Impossible

Michael Jordan on Failure

212 Degrees: The Extra Degree

Eye of the Tiger

I just couldn't help but post this video. He plays the game with such drive an determination. I, for one, am defiantly glad to see him back on the tour. This video is the highlight from the 2008 U.S. open when he played and won, in sudden death, with a torn ACL.

Win or Else? from Coach K and Coach Knight

Perseverance

"Victory belongs to the most persevering."-Napoleon Bonaparte

The definition of perseverance is: the action or condition or an instance of persevering OR steadfastness. Persevering. Just as we all look to be inspired in life there will also come a time when we all must persevere. You simply won't get though life without being able to accomplish this task. We will all see struggles and if we want to live a full and enjoyable life we have to be able to get back up and continue to push forward. In the world today we will often see stories of perseverance. Some are just simple acts while others can give you chills to think about. Here is a list of some of the most persevering athletes in sports.

Michael Jordan-missed more than 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and 26 times he was trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. But yet we remember Michael Jordan for all of his game winning shots, championships, and unbelievable plays. He knew failure was a part of the game and he used that to help him succeed. He persevered.

Brett Favre- He has started 269 consecutive games (291 including playoffs). Through his career he has suffered concussions, ankle, shoulder, elbow, finger, and knee injuries, just to name a few. Yet Favre found a way every week to put the pads back on and head out onto the field for another game. He persevered.

Cal Ripken Jr.- During his career the "Iron Man" started 2,632 consecutive games. He started every game of his career from May 1982 to September 1998. For 16 years he never took a day off. At one point in his career, when he was in a slump, the media ridiculed him for not taking a day off. They said he was being selfish and thinking only of the streak record. Cal continued to put on his spikes every day and show up. He came out of his slump and the media talk about selfishness ended. He persevered.

Tiger Woods- In 2008 he played and won 91 holes of the U.S. Open on a torn ACL and two fractures in his tibia. After every shot and every movement the pain was evident in his face. Yet, defying doctors orders, he found a way to take Rocco Mediate to a sudden death, and win. He persevered.
Lance Armstong- In 1996 he survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. Yet he went on to win 7 consecutive Tour de Frances from 1999 to 2005. What else can ya say? He persevered.
Derek Redmond- This Great Britain runner was in the best shape of his life heading into the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He was a true threat to win a gold medal. But he tore his hamstring in the 400 meters semi-final. Yet somehow he found a way to fight through the pain and, with assistance from his father(who left his seat in the stands and ran down on the track), managed to complete a full lap of the track as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He finished dead last. But...he finished. Hobbling, walking, crying, and screaming in pain. He persevered.

All of these men found a way to push through and finish the things they had set out to do. Will we fail? Of course. But it is through our failures that we truly learn how to succeed. Without the taste of defeat victory is not near as sweet. We must learn to pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off, and make the best of the situation given to us. We can't let the fact that we have failed before scare us out of taking the risk to do or to be something great. Persevere....and you just might inspire someone else to do the same.

Here is a video of Derek Redmond in the 1992 Olympics.

Learning Mental Toughness in Little League

Mental toughness is a vital part to success in both sports and life. Yet, sadly enough, kids in today's world don't learn mental toughness at an early age. If you go to any little league park today you won't find very much mental toughness being taught to kids. We live in a world where no matter how a kid does his parents are always telling him how great he is. Growing up if I was 0-4 at the plate my dad didn't tell me how great I was, but rather drive home wasn't so pleasant. Now my father didn't just flat out yell at me. That's not the way to go about things either. But he did make sure I knew how and when I had messed up that day. It wasn’t something I always wanted to hear, but I knew my dad knew the game and knew much more than I did. Of course I was a kid so I let some things just go in one ear and out the other, but there were some things that stuck with me. By doing this my father was developing my mental toughness. If he had told me how well I did when I had done horrible then I wouldn't have learned anything about failure and perseverance. He didn't give me the ol' line, "Well you did your best and that's all I can ask for," because he knew I could do better. By him letting me know where I had messed up I then knew what I needed to fix. Now granted I didn't always fix it on the first try (actually it was very rare that I ever fixed it on the first try). Sometimes he would tell me things "till he was blue in the face," as he said, but I did learn what needed to be fixed. I truly believe that that helped prepare me for my future life. I learned that when I made a mistake it wasn't ok and I didn't deserve a pat on the back. I needed to sit down, reevaluate myself and fix the problem. Now I'm human and I can't say that I have fixed every mistake that I have ever made, but I feel that I have the tools to do so simply because I wasn't told good job when it wasn't due. I learned more from little league than you could imagine. I firmly believe that if we help develop a kids mental toughness at an early age then they will grow into much more capable adults. I thank my dad for giving me that gift. I didn't always enjoy the car rides home after a bad day at the ballpark, but what he told me I always needed to hear.

Inspirational Video

Here is a little inspirational video. It can be found on YOUTUBE and any of those sights. It has always been one of my favorites. Enjoy.