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After I finished up my preseason football camp, I reflected heavily on how the mental aspects of sports take a toll on us all during any kind of camp or season; whether it be learning technique, understanding key team concepts, memorizing plays, you name it.
It seems like, in this day and age of the free agent, the pressure on our coaches to win is heavier than ever. Everyone is chasing the brass ring. More and more coaches just want to land that next big job. They are constantly looking at the green grass on the other side of the fence. Don’t get me wrong, I am an extremely competitive person, myself. I can’t stand to lose! It seems, however, that just like everything else, we have taken the “win at all cost” mentality to a very dangerous level.
When I was at the University of Kentucky, my team was expected to win a National Championship every year—and we did. It was the cheerleading team, and I was the mascot. Regardless of the sport, expectations go a long way in determining wins and losses. What about in faith? What are our expectations for winning and losing spiritual battles?
As coaches, we’re subject to having good days and bad days. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I always like winning better than losing. Enough losses in a row, and any of us can get a little blue. So how do we maintain a joyful life? The Bible gives us some good answers, as in the text above.
Often times we are faced with adversity or obstacles in our path in life. Everyone’s trials, although similar in many ways, are unique to that person. We can never look at someone else’s suffering and how he or she handles it and lay judgment of the strength of their faith. Each one of us deals with our challenges in our own distinctive way as God deals with us in His unique manner.
A workout partner is someone who will be there for you. It is a person who has your same desire to succeed. A workout partner is someone who can't wait to train with you. It is someone who can't wait to be energized by your energy level.
Paul was writing to the church in Rome. He couldn't wait to see them and spend time with them. Paul was excited to help them train. He was excited to tell them about Jesus. Paul was excited to train with them and be mutually encouraged by them.
Saying goodbye is a tough thing to do. I have been doing it a lot lately. My two best friends moved on the same day last week — one to New York, the other to Texas. This week, I have said goodbye to a close friend who is moving on to the next level in his sport … the NFL. As I think about my dear friends and the challenges they will face in their new places, I realize that they all will do well. Why? They are all grounded in the truth.
It’s hard to decide what Kara Lawson is most known for.
SEC fans remember her as the All-American from the University of Tennessee who led the Lady Vols to three Final Four appearances between 2000 and 2003. Followers of the WNBA know her as a key member of the 2005 league champion Sacramento Monarchs and now as the starting point guard for the Connecticut Sun. Still more recognize her as a member of the ESPN college basketball broadcasting team through which Lawson serves both as a studio analyst for the NCAA women’s tournament and a color commentator for men’s games. And fans of the Summer Olympics would most likely know her for the gold medal she won with Team USA in 2008.
Everybody wants the glory. Why shouldn’t we? It feels good to have someone say we played a good game. It feels good when someone compliments our athleticism or coaching skills. It feels good to hear our name over the loud speaker after a good play. The problem is, we didn’t do anything to deserve it.
Paul told the church at Corinth that they didn’t have anything they didn’t receive. That means they didn’t have anything at all that God did not give to them. Most of our society today has forgotten this.
In today’s world of sports, it seems that anything done for an advantage is fair game—as long as you don’t get caught.
As a Major League pitcher, I have seen it all. Managers who spend their entire careers stealing the signs of other coaches from the dugouts and down the baselines. Players who reach base do the same thing. Pitchers are supposed to throw a clean, unscratched ball, but you can do some pretty cool things with a scuffed baseball.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that without love nothing we are and possess nothing. This is a fundamental truth of Christianity. It’s so simple and yet so complex. We can say we believe it but our relationships with others will reveal whether or not we really do.
I’m a big believer that God is in charge of your life. I believe this because I’ve seen how God has directed my path, even though I might not have been aware at the time.
So many times I was in a certain place, like when I played for the Chicago Cubs, and I thought that I was going to play there the rest of my career. Then I went to Colorado and I thought I’d be there the rest of my career. And then I went to New York. In the beginning, New York was very difficult. I didn’t understand why God put me there. But I realized over time that there was reason for everything He does, and ultimately, He’s in charge.
Most cars don’t even travel 422.6 miles in three days, but that’s the very distance that a man named Gary Brasher did a few years ago on behalf of FCA by taking on three iron-distance triathlons in three consecutive days. I’ve run a few marathons in my life, but those were nothing! Gary Brasher took on a whole different level.
One of the biggest conflicts I've had with teams that I've coached is how much they've said they loved the game. I would watch a game with them, and they'd tell me over and over how much they loved to play and how great the game is to them. I would immediately ask them, "When is the last time you were in the gym working on it?" I would get the same response, "I love to play, not practice."
When is the last time you thought my life is worth nothing? In a culture of self-esteem where everyone wins because we don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, this is not a popular theme. We often see athletes pointing to their names on their jerseys or thumping their chests when they make a great play. Still other athletes refuse to play for a team because they don’t have a chance of winning a championship. It is the ultimate in selfishness!
We have plenty of examples of the “It’s all about me” belief in sports and in life. After all, there’s no “I” in team, but there is “me”!
About 13 years ago during college I started running as a way of staying in shape. Over the years, I’ve come to love the sport, and because of that, the verse above caught my attention, and I have continued to meditate on it.
I recently read a research article about the physical size of a person’s heart muscle. The research noted that the size of a runner’s heart was measurably larger than the size of an ordinary person’s heart. As the runner trains on a regular basis, the heart begins to pump blood with more volume and with more power, causing the heart muscle to strengthen and increase in size. Doesn’t that sound a lot like Psalm 119:32? I believe this concept can help our hearts grow spiritually as well.
Most people don’t figure out their purpose until adulthood. But for me, everything happened when I was four years old. That’s when I started playing hockey and that’s when I began to follow Jesus. Both of my passions kicked in right away. I’m still working on my game and I’m still working on my relationship with God, but because I discovered my passions at an early age, being bold in my pursuit of those things has come naturally for me. Most importantly, however, is my passion for Jesus. That passion gives me the strength to be totally unashamed of Christ. I never want to hide my love for him. Whether it’s something I say or how I act, I have to reflect Christ. I’m not going to be afraid to say something or be afraid of people criticizing me or putting me down for my faith.
I don’t know about other neighborhoods, but when I was younger we had the “do-over.” If our feet went out from under us or we miskicked the ball in a kickball game, what were the first words out of our mouths? “Do-over!”
Amazingly, God gave us a do-over! Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that when they accepted Christ, they were a new creation. The same is still true for us. When we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we are a new creation. This means that no matter what our lives were like before we knew Christ or how many times we slip, we get a chance to do it again, completely free of charge.
Even as the words float off the end of my tongue, I realize I blew it. This kind of situation usually involves my saying negative words to teammates or others. It’s easy for me to become the cut-down king. It doesn’t take much—maybe just calling someone a name. Other teammates usually laugh, but those reckless words cut. They pierce like a sword and cause damage. Playing the cut-down game means going with the flow. I realize now that I want to play the BUG.
“You have no wall.” The cardboard sign tacked to the telephone pole couldn’t have appeared at a better time. As I pushed my legs up the hill of mile 10 in the local half marathon, I knew this would be the toughest part of the race. During training, mile 10 had always been the hardest both mentally and physically—and now it was uphill.
“You have no wall.” It was like God’s voice resonating in my mind as I pushed my legs a little harder, trying to crest the incline as fast as I could. And just then it hit me—I had no wall. I had trained hard enough to make it through mile 10 and finish the race well.
My older brother Steve whooped on me on a regular basis. He was bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, and better than me in everything! We would play football, baseball, or a form of these from sun-up to sunset in the summer; and during the school year, from the final bell of class until the sun was long gone. Steve always beat me until he saw I was about to quit, then he would let me win so he could keep playing.
I fantasized of what it would be like to have Steve’s skills and size, but knew it was a waste of time. Fantasy got me nowhere. Steve was so good that I never really beat him for years. I gave it all I could but to no avail. But I kept coming back . . . kept working.
Basketball has brought me so much in my life, and I have such a passion for the game. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through it is one that I learned during my college career. I learned that my love and passion for the game does not come from my own ability but from the love that Jesus has for me. It is the gift He’s given me that brings out joy when I compete on the court.
When it came time to choose a career, I knew that I wanted to teach the game of basketball and develop athletes not only as players but as people. So, what profession do you think I went into after graduation? The wonderful world of collegiate coaching, of course!
In today’s world many people seem to have forgotten about this wonderful word "thankful." Some of us are thankful when times are good, but as soon as anything bad creeps into our lives, this word tends to be thrown to the curb.
There are many things in life that just do not go the way we think they will, but we must remember that this is God’s path for us. I know that when the going gets tough it’s hard to be thankful, but God says to give thanks in all circumstances.
Jack Nicklaus, at age 59, underwent replacement of his left hip in January of 1999, forcing him to miss his first Masters in forty years. His doctors had predicted the six-time Masters champion wouldn’t be able to return to PGA tour golf for six months. Pleased with his rehabilitation, which included 18 holes daily, doctors released him to play again after four months.
Injuries can be a discouraging setback for an athlete—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Paul’s advice to Timothy is good for us to remember when we get discouraged. “I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you…God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Tm 1:6–7).
Weight training is a must for athletes in order to prepare their bodies for practice and competition. The benefits of weight training and conditioning are increased muscle size, increased strength and the power to maximize their abilities. Weight training also reduces the number and severity of injuries. It overloads the muscles and breaks down muscle fibers. The muscle then recovers, becoming bigger and stronger.
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