When I was 17, I was a young, brash, three-sport athlete who took any challenge that came my way. My aggressive personality allowed me to “hang with the big-dogs” on the court, in the field and on the track. That personality, however, also caused many setbacks.

My all-time favorite comedian is Brian Regan. He is funny and clean--a hard combination to find these days. In one of his routines, he talks about running into a "Me Monster," a guy he doesn't even know who is doing all the talking for everyone else.

Despite losing yesterday’s Super Bowl to the New York Giants, Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady seems—from the outside looking in—to have everything: money, fame, a high-profile girlfriend, a winning team and Super Bowl rings. But what about on the inside? 

Edwin Moses glided fluidly over the track of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. He had no idea he was being watched by someone who had no idea who he was. The power of his stride captivated the observer who was dazzled. Though the spectator didn’t know the runner, he was awed by what he saw.

The observer was playing tennis with a friend and asked, “Who is that?”

”That’s the Olympic hurdler Edwin Moses,” the friend said. “Allegedly he practices over here because Oglethorpe has the best track surface in the area.”

I became a baseball fan during the magical season of 1961. I lived for the trek to the mailbox for the morning paper. Turning to the sports section, I would devour the scores, especially those of the New York Yankees, where the nation focused on the home run race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. These two players fascinated me. Though Maris won the home run race that year, Mickey Mantle was my hero. He moved with grace and hit with power, and his statistics were incredibly impressive.

As I grew older, however, I learned of many poor choices made by Mantle. His decadent lifestyle and forty-year abuse of alcohol had shortened his career, prevented him from reaching his full potential, and clouded his mind.

Late in 2002, Francisco Rodriguez burst onto the Major League scene as a 20-year-old fireball pitcher, and he promptly helped the Los Angeles Angels win the World Series. On September 13, 2008, he nailed-down the final three outs of the team’s win over the Seattle Mariners to earn his 58th save of the season, thus, breaking the Major League record. After the game, Rodriguez said that during the experience, he could feel the presence of his grandfather, who had passed away 10 years earlier. “I felt like he was right next to me,” Rodriguez said. “He's with me every day. I would give up anything to have him right next to me and enjoy this moment.”

After a tough loss on Sunday, I really didn’t feel like being very positive. It took me awhile to get out of the locker room because I didn’t want to talk to anybody, let alone face people who would inevitably ask that question, “Did you win?” I shut myself up in my room and didn’t move for a few hours, feeling like not only was I a failure, but also the whole day was as well.