Basketball great, Bob Cousy once said, "Sports give your life structure, discipline and a genuine fulfillment that few areas of endeavor provide." I couldn't agree with him more. Sports can make a lasting impact and difference on every athlete's life. It's about facing adversity, handling the challenges of competition and dealing with the pressures of the game. Those combined through athletics forges our character and reveals our class.

 

What is class? I believe it's an easily recognizable quality that is hard to define. Class is demonstrated by athletes and coaches through their actions under pressure, in both victory and defeat.

 

There are two basic ways to do anything in sports and in life: with class or without class. Class involves being a good person, showing sportsmanship and taking responsibility for your actions. You have class if you show humility and self-confidence without being arrogant. Class handles victory with humility and defeat with dignity. Class doesn't brag after winning or make excuses for losing. Class always shows, whether you win or lose.

 

Class never:

-Runs scared

-Makes excuses

-Tries to build itself up by tearing others down

 

If you've got class, you don't need anything else. If you don't have class, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make much difference.

 

In every high-pressure situation, you can react like most people, or you can choose to be different. The Phillips translation of the Bible puts Romans 12:2 this way: "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity."