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Yogi Berra once said, “Baseball is 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical.” While Yogi’s math might be a little off, he is right on target with the importance of training the mind.
Unfortunately, American culture has created weak-minded, undisciplined, unfocused people. We think multi-tasking makes us more productive, but it destroys concentration.
Clemson volleyball star Brittany Ross sat on the home bench in street clothes watching her team play in pre-season matches. The bench felt mighty uncomfortable.
Ross was an All-ACC starter as a freshman and the team’s top outside hitter last season as a sophomore, leading the team with 535 kills. Going into the 2006 season, everyone was expecting Ross to have her best year yet.
Failure threatened to expose Coach Scott Glabb. He slumped against the door frame of the Santa Ana High School wrestling room and watched the last of his wrestlers exit the school after practice. But could he even call it a practice? He’d wasted the first 15 minutes searching for the keys to his office after his athletes had locked him out … again. And when he’d finally gotten to the wrestling room, he’d found that half of his team was missing. Of the few who had shown up, two were set to exchange blows over allegedly stolen wrestling shoes, and one appeared to be intoxicated.
When I was first approached by FCA to submit an article for Sharing the Victory magazine, I was (#1) humbled, but also (#2) excited to be able to publicly appreciate my wife. Little did I know that this would be one of the most difficult things that I ever venture to do. God has more than taught me through this process, and I feel as if I would be dishonoring what I’ve been led to do if I didn’t write from the heart. Besides, there is no real victory without real authenticity. So, that being said, I’d like to share the following with you.
There is a plot: Mike Sanford, in his second season as head football coach at UNLV, is working long hours in an attempt to stop a streak four straight losing seasons and transform the program into a Mountain West Conference power.
And there is a subplot: He will do it his way. He will do it the only way that will mesh with his beliefs. He will do it by offering his players a pipeline to God.
Offense wins games, defense wins championships. Every athlete and coach has heard and probably used this phrase. But that doesn’t change the fact that a productive offense generally overshadows defensive success. Both fans and media tend to focus on one thing: points scored. But after the Carolina Hurricanes’ final rally in game seven of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, no one could deny the defensive presence. After all, it was the perseverance and calm leadership of blueliner Glen Wesley that helped clinch the win and allowed him to finally raise the Stanley Cup – something he’d waited 18 years to do.
Cal Ripken, Jr. has always said, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” When you look at his career, it’s hard to argue against that wisdom. If practice made perfect then Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t have a career free throw percentage of just over 50 percent.
If you practice the wrong technique over and over again — even if you think you are doing it right — all you will become is very good at doing something the wrong way.
Mike Minter and Mike Rucker, two longstanding pillars in the Carolina Panthers’ defense, are the best of friends. But there’s one thing Minter, a safety, just can’t understand about his chum, a hulking defensive end.
Through the eyes of the world, athletic success is easily defined. It’s a simple pass-fail test that asks only one question: did you win it all? But the University of Nebraska volleyball team sees things differently. Despite its tremendous on-court success, the Cornhuskers remain a team that has learned to go deeper than wins and losses in order to define greatness. But the lesson didn’t come at an easy price.
On August 30, 2006, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to experience a day with FCA’s rapidly expanding inner-city ministry there. The ministry, spearheaded by FCA Area Representative David Kiehn, seeks to bring restoration and prosperity to the city by touching the lives of athletes and coaches in some of D.C.’s roughest areas. During my visit I met with football coaches at Dunbar High School and Anacostia High School. What I found was that change within D.C.’s inner-city doesn’t occur overnight by passing a bill or amending a law, but by reaching the hearts of its youth with the gospel.
Far away from the adoring fans and the harassing media, the smooth-talking agents and the lure of the NBA, Alabama point guard Ronald Steele withdraws to quiet places to pray.
A preseason All-American, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Steele has high expectations for his junior year with the Tide. He dreams of an SEC title for his team and All-America honors for himself. He dreams of next season, too.
The biggest season of Bobby Morton’s life began with tragedy. Morton, a fifth-year senior, and the Notre Dame football team entered this fall with perhaps greater expectations than any season since 1988, when the Fighting Irish won their last national championship. But on Aug. 22, only 11 days before the season opener at Georgia Tech, Morton’s 54-year-old father died of stomach cancer.
I love the story of the underdog. I love to read articles or watch movies that tell inspiring stories of people who have faced challenging odds or amazing obstacles and have triumphed in the end. It is a testament to what is possible for those who believe — for those who sacrifice, strive, strain and never give up.
If we are honest, a lot of us feel like we are underdogs when it comes to our health.
It’s not difficult to see how Kapua Torres’ story is unlike that of most girls her age. A former state champion on the all-girl wrestling team at Kahuku High School in Hawaii, Torres is now one of the few female wrestlers competing at the college level. But it isn’t just the sport itself that sets her apart — it’s also her talent.
Washington Union High School (WUHS) Cheer Coach Salina Diaz sighed deeply as she headed toward the gym to talk with her squad. She knew it wouldn’t be a happy meeting — not with the news she had to share.
Seven to 8 million Americans hold multiple jobs. That’s nothing special. But how many of those millions can say that they suit up in NFL pads to clock in for their first job and in scrubs for their second? Probably only one: Samkon Gado.
My junior year of college, a young man I knew for only a week came into my room and after 40 minutes broke down in tears. Men don’t cry, especially young, proud, college men like Shawn.
Later, after we talked through the issues of life and God, I realized there were more “Shawns” out there. Young men, old men — men of all ages — all bound together by similar challenges and struggles. And no matter where they are in life, the remedy is the same: today’s men are desperately in need of their heavenly Father.
Has your cell phone battery ever died? Mine sure has. Every night I plug in my cell so that it can recharge. But if it doesn't charge long enough, its battery dies early. And a quick tricklecharge in the car doesn't seem to help at all.
Have you ever considered how much sleep for your body is like recharging your own battery? When we don't get enough sleep, we run out of charge.
Emotions are never in short supply during open-mic time. Although not many people knew this particular couple's past when the man grabbed the microphone, during the brief minutes that followed, they became part of a story they would never forget.
With tears in his eyes and a quiver in his voice, the man explained to the crowd at the 2007 FCA Couples Getaway at The Cove that he and the woman next to him didn't really know how they got there.
It took all of four days for the spiritual inquest of Allison Whitworth to begin.
On March 5, Whitworth, a goalkeeper in the first-year Women’s Professional Soccer League, was riding in the car with some of her FC Gold Pride teammates. The players were just getting acquainted, having started preseason camp on March 1, but it was already evident that Whitworth was different. She was handling the pressure of rapid-fire roster cuts with remarkable poise. Her demeanor was kind. Her language was clean.
Bryan Clay knows there are skeptics. As the gold medalist in the decathlon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Clay took over the title of "World's Greatest Athlete." But he realizes a title that bold only invites arguments, particularly in today's debate-driven sports culture.
Carey Casey wants to start a revolution. He travels around the country, rallying and recruiting men to join him and asking them to enlist for the cause. His goal: an army of 6.5 million.
Not to be confused with any militant operation, Casey's is more of an intimate and personal quest: changing the world one championship father at a time.
The spotlight is shining on the STV Hot Seat again, and this time we're grilling the WNBA's Jia Perkins. Can she handle it? You bet.
The face of the Houston Astros has changed.
Jeff Bagwell has been retired for nearly four years. Craig Biggio bid farewell to Minute Maid Park after the 2007 season. And last year, fan favorite Brad Ausmus packed up his catcher's gear and opted to close out his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Houston is officially Lance Berkman's team. And he's OK with that.
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