At twenty-seven inches tall and dressed in his sleek-fitting evening attire, the adeli penguin looks like a million bucks. A good day for a penguin is a day of “non-event.” It is a day where he has eaten a few fish, slid around on his belly to conserve resources, and has not been eaten himself! A good day for a penguin is one where he is able to wipe his brow at the end of it and proclaim, “I made it.”

Is it possible that one man could have changed Mike Tyson’s problem-filled boxing career? Tyson believes his former trainer, mentor, and legal guardian Cus D’Amato, who died before he won the title in 1986, would have changed things. Tyson said, “It would have been totally different. Cus once told me, ‘You’re the kind of person who has to get hurt to learn.’ I didn’t understand he was talking about life…in the fight of life I am a pug, a palooka [a second-rate prize fighter].”

Lo-debar was a frontier town east of Jordan that controlled a crucial plateau. Although a remote place, Lo-debar was an important route to the interior of the Bashan-Giliad area. Lo-debar was strategically located but not a desirable place to live. It was a town belonging to the tribe of Gad, a tribe that was committed to aiding the king of Israel whenever he needed help. Lo-debar was the town where the Philistines killed King Saul and his son Jonathan, and it became a Philistine stronghold. Later it became the headquarters of King David during the rebellion of his son Absalom. All things considered, it was not the most desirable place to live.

THUD. One. The fierce bite of the whip sunk into Jesus' back.

THUD. Two. A 350-pound Roman guard, unleashing the power of every muscle in his body.

THUD. Three. A short pause, to let the blood ooze and the pain sink in. Forty times would surely kill Him, so they went one less. Then the nine tails. Nine ropes holding the sharpest things they could find. Rusty nails. Baked glass. Jagged razorblades. They all plunged into Jesus' back, mercilessly ripping Him apart and tearing His skin to shreds with force no NFL lineman could hope to muster. They found the roughest thornbush with thorns three inches long pointing in every direction, and they forced it onto His head and ground the thorns into his skull.

That was the easy part.

Over the past fourteen years, I have been a defensive coach in our high school football program. Specifically, I coach linebackers. In order to play linebacker successfully at our level, a player must make a total commitment to the expectations placed upon him. It requires an unwavering self-discipline.

After an All-American college basketball career at Kansas State University, Shalee Lehning experienced a breakout rookie season in the WNBA as a guard for the Atlanta Dream. Not only did she help the team set a franchise record in wins, but also ranked individually among the top 10 in the WNBA in total assists. Now between pro seasons, Lehning is serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater under Coach Deb Patterson.

When I was in high school, I was recruited to play for a prominent summer baseball team. It was a boost to my ego. However, early into the season it was obvious that my coach cared more about the reputation of the team than he did for the players. He’d say things that sounded helpful, but were in truth criticisms, such as “I am only trying to make you a better player,” or “This will give you better exposure for the future.” He wasn’t fooling anyone. Athletes have x-ray vision into a coach’s heart. We knew that all he cared about was winning, and it affected our performance. I noticed later that this team fielded a different roster from year to year. Nobody wants to play for a coach like that.