Those of us who watch a lot of sports programs on television have probably seen the St. Louis Cardinals’ “blanket” commercial. It begins with a man who wraps a red St. Louis Cardinals’ blanket around himself. As it turns out, the blanket is the one constant in his life as he grows up. As a child, he uses it as a cape when he runs up the steps, and he drapes it over his bed when he studies. It is on the seat when he learns to play the drums as a teenager, in the trunk when he moves out of the house, and around his girlfriend while they watch a movie. The commercial ends with the man wrapping the blanket around his child as these words come on the screen: “Without sports, what would we hold on to?”

The Madness is here for sure. This year's NCAA Tournament had its share of upsets and surprises, one of which was West Virginia's advancement to the Elite Eight. They earned it, though. Cinderella team or not, they played their way in and deserve to be on the dance floor. But let's think about that term "Cinderella team." Do you find it interesting that basketball teams are compared to a lowly girl who got an amazing, some may say, undeserved gift? I'm sure West Virginia didn't mind the term this year. I say if the shoe fits, wear it. Make the most of it!

Their comes a point in life where nothing just seems to go right. We get bad grades, we have to deal with injuries while we play a sport, we're not fitting in with the right crowd, or something just as simple like "I don't belong here." Trust me. I've been through my fair shares of these plenty of times. But no matter how dull life may seem, or how unlikely your luck is to turn around, you can't lose your Faith. Even when you think that everything seems impossible, it's not. Luke 1:37 states that NOTHING is impossible with God. More people need to believe this saying, because with all of the difficulties we face in the world everyday, I don't see how any of us could get through life without Christ.

In college, my computer teacher taught me the acronym GIGO. It stands for “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” As athletes, we know that this phrase can relate to our bodies. If we fill ourselves with junk, junk will come out in the form of poor performance.

The GIGO acronym is even more powerful when we apply it to our hearts. If we put garbage in our hearts, garbage comes out. Think about this: if a tube of toothpaste is squeezed, what comes out? Mustard? No, toothpaste comes out, because that is what was put in the tube.

When I run, I really like to run through the woods as opposed to on the streets. I just like being with nature and running over and around tree roots instead of flat pavement. There was a 3.5-mile route I had learned that went around my school. I usually ran the same loop, sometimes backwards to mix it up. Every time I would run, though, I would pass another path I’d never tried that branched off into the woods. For a long time I would just run the same route, over and over again, always feeling an inner tug toward the other trail. I would always think to myself, “I like where I’m at. I know where I’m going; I’m comfortable with it. If I take that path, I could get lost. That other trail could be longer or more difficult.”