The perfect season was in 1972 when the Miami Dolphins did the improbable. They won seventeen games (including the Super Bowl) in a row. People still call them one of the greatest teams of all time. On the other side of the coin, Northwestern lost thirty-four games in a row over a four-year period. The adjectives used to describe these teams were much different. Streaks—either you love them or you hate them. If you are on a roll and winning games, then everything seems to go your way. But if the steak is the other kind—the bad kind, the losing streak—then it seems the harder you try, the more small things grow into huge problems. When you have been on both sides, you learn the difference between winning and losing is very small.

Hockey Chat:  Chasing the puck is easy to do but a bad play to make.  Imagine if you had all 5 skaters on your team chasing after the puck and nobody keeping to their positions.  It would be a big mess.  We all want to grab the puck and make the play, but we need to remain controlled and play our position to make the winning play for the team.

Hockey Chat:  In the 95-96 season of the Florida Panthers, there was one thing truly amazing about the team that out scored their opposition night after night.  Not one of their goal scores were in the top five in the league.  Actually not even the top ten.  You’d have to look deep into the 20’s to find the names of the Panther players.  The reason for this was clear.  It was the reason that one person had a personal record year.  Róbert Švehla had a career high of 53 point, which 49 of those were assists…. And he was a defenseman!  That team’s passing to each other helped them pass the opposition all the way to the finals.

These words from the book of Ecclesiastes ran through my mind during my senior year in high school. We had just won the state championship the year before, but it seemed nearly everyone had already forgotten. The things of the world failed to satisfy my cravings for what was truly real, lasting, and meaningful in life. I was invited to an FCA Huddle meeting where Coach Patterson, one of the school’s football coaches, was scheduled to speak. At a time when I refused the wise counsel of most adults, the idea of hearing a coach’s speech attracted me. The advice of a coach has tremendous influence and power because most athletes are conditioned at a young age to listen to and respect their coach.

Hockey Chat: Goal judges were first used around 1877 in Montreal and stood right behind the goal (a brutal job for someone with no pads). Years later, they sat in elevated cages behind the glass and when they would see the puck cross the line, they’d turn on the bright red goal light to signal to everyone that a goal has been scored.  The red light is a hockey icon now being a symbol of scoring a goal.

A while ago I went on a training run with my wife to get ready for my first 5k race in over a year. It felt great to get back out on the road, and the run was pretty uneventful.

Later that night, we headed to a friend's house, and when I looked down, panic set in. My wedding ring was missing from my hand. I checked my pockets; nothing. I quietly walked outside to retrace my steps, and still nothing. When was the last time I'd had it? How could I lose the one thing that symbolized this important commitment in my life?

During our training run the weather had been cool, my hands sweaty. Somewhere, during the four miles of sidewalks, intersections and city streets, my wedding ring had slipped off.