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Competing is about performance. We prepare hard and we quickly learn there are two outcomes: perform or perish! As competitors, we step onto the field or court, set everything aside and perform our best! Regardless of what is going on inside, we are expected to play well. We train ourselves to not let the inside struggles affect the outside performance. We are still expected to compete at a high level.
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.
In some ways it was an uncharacteristic win for Tiger Woods at the 2005 Masters. While entering the final 27 holes four shots behind Chris DiMarco, Woods stormed back with four straight birdies to turn the deficit into a two-shot lead. And just when it looked like he might run away with a big victory, DiMarco showed resolve by sticking with Tiger and sinking his par putt on the final hole to force a playoff. "This was one fun victory, but also a lot of work because I was playing with one heck of a competitor," Woods said. "He put up a heck of a fight."
Kobe Bryant said that Karl Malone was like a "big brother — a mentor," as well as a friend to him last year as he played alongside of him as part of the Los Angeles Lakers. This week, their relationship has blown up in front of the whole nation. In response to the fireworks, Charles Barkley said that these two "know better. They know to take care of these things in private and not let it out into the public."
In Matthew, Jesus says that we should approach those who have hurt us first and foremost in private — one on one. We should be honest and try to show them how they've upset us. Chances are we can work it out right then and there, as many conflicts between "brothers" are miscommunications and are readily forgiven.
Bobby turned the ball over for the fourth straight possession and the coach called time-out. As Bobby came to the bench his teammates were all over him. Bobby’s response was “Where’s the love guys?” At that moment there was very little love for Bobby or anyone on the team. They allowed the distraction of the turnovers to affect their attitudes toward their teammate.
The key ingredient of any relationship is love—agape love—a love that is self-sacrificing and cares more about the person than any situation. Every gift we have been given by God needs to be exercised in this kind of love—God’s genuine love. What do we do when evil sets in or when we go off on a teammate? We need to cling to what is good.
There is a beginning and an end to all things here on earth. After making the cut in 142 consecutive PGA tournaments over a seven-year period, Tiger Woods' streak came to an end at the 2005 Byron Nelson Championship. "I just had a tough day," Woods said after making a bogey on the final hole to miss the cut by one stroke. "Things I don't normally do, I did today."
After becoming a Christian, the Apostle Paul found himself entrenched in a war with the sin in his life. We sometimes think that after surrendering our lives to Christ the battle with sin will subside, but that's not the case. That is actually when the real struggle with sin begins because that is when we become more aware of our own sinful nature.
Whoever said life is a roller coaster must have been a coach. It seems that on a daily basis, the coaching profession can send us rocketing toward glorious, adrenaline-boosted highs. But it can also throw us into a downward spiral with exasperating emotional lows.
How many different ways can you get to FCA Camp? Planes, trains, automobiles. Those are just a few, but they come from all directions to make it on time. Once they arrive, the games begin and the coaches find each athlete has a different way of playing their sport. Each technique is similar but has its own unique way of getting things done.
After I had my blood cholesterol levels checked last week, I met with the doctor to discuss my results. Because I exercise regularly and eat well, I anticipated good results. As I expected, the doctor said my results were great and that he was very pleased. In fact, he said he wished that all of his patients had such positive results and that 90 percent of them didn’t.
With the 2005 spring training underway, the biggest issue facing Major League Baseball seems to be steroids. Who has used or is using them, what should be done about it, how can it be prevented, does it affect broken records, etc.? Unfortunately, baseball isn't the only sport battling steroid problems, and steroids are not the only drugs causing problems in the world of sports. There are many harmful substances that athletes are putting into their bodies -- some for performance, some for pleasure.
A Division I basketball school entered its conference tournament as the number eight seed, which meant a low probability of making it to the NCAA tournament. Despite the odds, they achieved that goal by knocking off the one-, two-, and four-seeded teams, thereby earning entry into the NCAA tournament. As one team member summarized, “We put it together when it counted most.” We all know that falling short of our expectations leads to disappointment both on and off the court. However, if we, like that eighth-seeded team, keep looking forward to even a small hope of success, we’ll often be glad we did.
There are two sayings that I have heard hundreds of times in my life. One is “You can’t tell a book by its cover,” and the other is an advertising statement that assures us “It’s what’s up front that counts.” I would like to take a little liberty with those two statements and apply them to the world of sports. I think that anyone who has played baseball can attest to the fact that “You can’t tell a baseball by its cover” and “It’s what’s inside that counts.”
As the time winded down at the end of the Illinois/Louisville game in the 2005 NCAA Final Four, the celebration began. Players began to jump up and down, coaches started to walk towards each other to exchange pleasantries, and one player stood alone. Roger Powell, Jr. stood at the foul line focused on one thing.
Historically, as found throughout scripture, when victory was won in battle the people of God gave praise to the Lord. But many kings and warriors over the years also chose not to give proper praise to God for His goodness in battle. They chose to celebrate how great they were instead of how great God was in the victory. This is still a fault of many today.
In the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, sprinter Bob Hayes tied the Olympic record on his way to winning the gold medal in the 100-meter dash. Just a few months later, Hayes was dashing past defensive backs as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. It was a radical idea at the time: taking a world-class sprinter and turning him into a football player. Hayes’s success altered defensive strategy and changed how football was played.
I once worked with a head football coach who had a large sign behind his desk that simply read “No Excuses.” What this meant to his staff and players was that he would not accept any explanations when something went wrong. He wanted them to be personally responsible and not put the blame on any other people or circumstances.
In my four years of college basketball, one particular weekend stood out to me more than any other. My teammates and I traveled down to Cookson Hills, OK, in the school’s two vans and loaded our luggage into the house where we would be staying. When we got there, however, we realized that the family we would be staying with had been stricken with the flu. We had no choice but to stay there, as other families already had teams they were housing.
Today is the birthday of Fernando Tatis. Fernando is the only player in Major league history to have hit two grand slams in one inning. On April 23, 1999, Tatis hit two grand slams while playing for the Cardinals in the second inning of a game against the LA Dodgers. Tatis, who had not hit a major league grand slam before, connected off Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park. When asked what the key was for his success Tatis said, “Besides God, the key for me has been learning consistency. You have to be consistent and disciplined as a hitter and consistent and disciplined in your preparation to be successful in this game.”
It was an ancient custom to shoot an arrow or cast a spear into the country which an army intended to invade. We see this in college football when the Florida State Seminole rider hurls the spear into the ground or when the USC Trojan warrior pierces the soil with his sword.
An open window in the pasage above symbolizes a variety of opportunities that come to us during the course of a competitive contest. The release of the arrow in this opportune moment is our ability to capitalize on the opportunity and turn into a surge of momentum for the team. The bow and arrow represent the strategic development of our talents and deployment of our assignments.
Cat Whitehill knows a little something about dynasties. She played for the University of North Carolina soccer program, which through 2007 has accumulated 18 of 26 NCAA titles—including championships in 2000 and 2003 (Whitehill’s freshman and senior seasons at Chapel Hill).
Since 2000, Whitehill has been a mainstay on the historically dominant U.S. National Team, which over the last 17 years has claimed two World Cup titles, 3 Olympic gold medals (Whitehill played on the 2004 team, but an injury kept her from contributing to the 2008 team), 3 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Championship titles and 3 CONCACAF Gold Cup championships.
Ever forget anything? Lately I have been very forgetful. I once heard the story of a man who used to tie a string around his finger to remember important things. However, once he had 10 strings on his hand, he couldn't remember what each string meant! I guess it's a little silly what people will do to try to remember things, but the point is that these things are important to them.
I was raised a coach’s son and have coached football for 16 years at the college and high school levels. In that time, I’ve learned that both levels have had one thing in common. I’m not talking about blocking and tackling, but the time between the third and fourth quarters. When everyone in the stadium holds up four fingers representing that their team is going to close the game out by winning the fourth quarter.
As Christian competitors, we realize that God has called us to serve. But do we understand that we should be consumed to serve? Is there a consuming fire that burns in us to serve others around us who are hurting and to help those who need to experience the love of Christ through us?
Did you ever notice that discipline and disciple share the same root word? The concepts are the same: surrendering ourselves to something or someone, similar to an athlete surrendering his will to a coach. Discipline is defined as instruction, correction and the training which molds, strengthens and improves character. It is also moral education obtained by the enforcement of obedience through supervision and control. Discipline is required is every area of sports. Athletes must be disciplined to run the correct plays and follow their coach’s instruction. They must also be disciplined by working hard in the weight room and taking good care of their bodies by eating properly and getting enough rest.
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