The Road Ahead

Sometimes I think the fates must grin as we denounce them and insist,
The only reason we can’t win is the fates themselves have missed.
Yet, there lives on the ancient claim - we win or lose within ourselves,
The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow’s game.

So you and I know deeper down there is a chance to win the crown,
But when we fail to give our best, we simply haven’t met the test
Of giving all and saving none until the game is really won.
Of showing what is meant by grit, of fighting on when others quit,

Of playing through not letting up, it’s bearing down that wins the cup.
Of taking it and taking more until we gain the winning score,
Of dreaming there’s a goal ahead, of hoping when our dreams are dead,
Of praying when our hopes have fled. Yet, losing, not afraid to fall,

If bravely we have given all, for who can ask more of a man
than giving all, it seems to me, is not so far from - Victory.
And so the fates are seldom wrong, no matter how they twist and wind,

It’s you and I who make our fates, we open up or close the gates,
On the Road Ahead or the Road Behind.

*According to Coach John Wooden, this poem was written by George Moriarty, a former major baseball umpire.

The Global Village

From Coach Tressel's book, THE WINNER'S MANUAL:

If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely one hundred people, with all the existing human rations remaining the same, the village would include..
60 Asians
12 Europeans
15 from the Western Hemisphere (9 Latin Americans, 5 North Americans, and 1 Oceanian), and 13 Africans.

Of those one hundred people…
50 would be female
50 would be male
80 would be nonwhite
20 would be white
67 would be non-Christian
33 would be Christian
20 would earn 89 percent of wealth
25 would live in substandard housing
17 would be unable to read
13 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would die within the year
2 would give birth within the year
2 would have a college education, and
4 would own a computer

From there, it’s only a short jump to apply the same principle to our everyday lives. Sure, the guy at the next locker has a better car, or he’s a starter on the team, or there are scouts looking at him; but in the big picture we are all blessed, and we need to recognize that and let it work its way into our lives

To determine whether people are living a grateful life, we can look in the classroom or the home or wherever they spend their time. If they’re not committed to becoming the best students in the classroom of the best sons or daughters at home, that’s a huge warning sing. I think the person who has a right attitude is able to say, “Man, am I lucky to be here! I need to study- I really don’t like this class, but I’m so thankful I’m here that I’m going to study hard. Practice is hard, but I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity I have.” Constant reminders of how fortunate we are can help us to keep things in proper perspective.

Attitude, Effort & Preparation

"With Larry Bird, it was always about the joy of TEAM. It was always about the joy of WINNING...Here's a guy not blessed with a terrific body, a guy who was not fast, a guy who couldn't jump high. Yet, he was a phenomenal offensive player and an incredible team defensive player...Two things separate Larry- how smart he is and how hard he works."
~Bill Walton


"I always thought I played the game at the level that I was pleased with. I always tried to play as hard as I possibly could and I always prepared myself to play."
~Larry Bird