Deaf athletes hurdle barriers, achieve goals in college sports

By Robert Klemko, USA TODAY

TOWSON, Md. — In a Towson Universityfootball team meeting room filled with more than 60 players and a dozen coaches, linebacker Ryan Bonheyo makes a sign for the word "slow," then points at the whole bunch.

Everybody laughs; Bonheyo just grins.

His coaches say he has to toughen up, which doesn't make him different from any other wide-eyed freshman player. Except that Bonheyo was born deaf.

Last year, 76 deaf and hard-of-hearing students played NCAAand NAIA sports, according to Deaf Digest Magazine, and 39 played in Division I. That does not account for those who do not wish to be identified. Those figures have steadily risen since the 1973 Rehabilitation Act mandated interpreters for deaf and hard-of-hearing students at universities and provided against discrimination based on disability.

For players such as Bonheyo, the challenge is to compete at the highest level on an inherently unlevel playing field. It's a journey that began this fall for Ryan and continues for Emily Cressy, a soccer player at Kansas, and Purdue's Felicia Schroeder, who helped the U.S. women's soccer team win a gold medal Monday in the Deaflympics in Taiwan.

For some, the allure of competition trumps the fear of disappointment. "This is the biggest challenge of my life," Bonheyo says. "I know I can do it. "

To read the rest of the article about all 3 players go to: CLICK HERE

ESPN's Carry On

Coach Don Meyer at the ESPY's

In case you missed it here is Coach Don Meyer receiving the Jimmy V Award at this year's ESPY Awards.

Holdsclaw's New Purpose

Great article in The New York Times by Mike Tierney about Chamique Holdsclaw's new outlook on basketball and on life.

ATLANTA — Chamique Holdsclaw was once an A-list sports celebrity, a big shot with a big shot. The high-scoring Holdsclaw passed the first-name-only recognition test.

These days, many missives on her Facebook page are not so much about hoops as about hope. ’Mique’s Tweets, her Twitter posts, sometimes veer from playing ball and toward her personal ball and chain.

Clinical depression kept her out of the W.N.B.A. for nearly two full seasons, and even led to an overdose of antidepressants. In a strange way, it has brought her back to the league.

With her illness in check and her game in tow, Holdsclaw ended her hiatus this year, driven to show others afflicted by depression that it is beatable.

“It’s not about me anymore,” she said. “I’ve always been a player who just played. I have to use my voice a little more now, give back to young people dealing with the problems I’ve had.”

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/sports/basketball/11holdsclaw.html?_r=1&em

"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.

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom."

Great post on Coach Bob Starkey's blog entitled: Perservering: Falling Hard, Bouncing High. An excert from “Think Like A Champion,” by Mike Shanahan.

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." -General George Patton

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:

Orange Crush

I can't say enough about what I've seen the Syracuse Orange do in the past couple of days. I'm sure everyone in the sports world has heard about the amazing 6 overtime game they played on Thursday against #4 UCONN. But they continued to impress as they played again, less then 24 hours later, and went into overtime to win against West Virgina. These guys just gave it all they had. Unfortunately they fell short tonight against Louisville in the Big East championship game, but they were still a joy to watch. Everyone on the team played with such will and desire. The one who stood out most to me was sophomore PG Jonny Flynn. This kid never ever stops. He played every minute against UCONN and then again against West Virginia. This afternoon(before the Big East championship tonight) Flynn was found in the weight room of the hotel getting in a light workout. When coach (Jim) Boeheim asked him if he was alright, he had this to say: "Coach what do you think? There is nothing more I love in life than playing basketball. Let's go win a championship." As a coach I don't see how you couldn't love this kid. And I'm sure coach Boeheim will be glad to see Flynn coming back next year(that is unless he heads to the draft). He was playing off fumes and still had more will and drive than many players you see today. My high school football coach used to always tell me that the best thing he could ever say about a kid is that "his motor runs." I think its fair to say that about Flynn. He, and the Orange, got me glued to the t.v. the past two nights to see if they could pull out another one. And, even though I am a huge Tennessee fan, I look forward to seeing what Syracuse can do in the tournament. The madness is upon us.

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.