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In 2001, golfer Annika Sorenstam dominated the women’s professional tour, winning eight tournaments and topping two million dollars in earnings. After that phenomenal year, Annika’s chief rival, Karrie Webb, commented that she’d eat her hat if Annika won eight tournaments in the coming year. The following season, Annika won eleven tournaments and earned nearly three million dollars in prize money.
In America, we believe that we can make everything better. In fact, we relentlessly pursue improvement. And this can often be a good thing! It can make us examine our hearts and actions and get right with God and others. It can bring new advances in medicine, travel, industry and the environment. It can even help us discover and understand God in new and deeper ways.
But many times our efforts to improve on God’s design give us a far inferior result.
Three weeks ago, the name Shaka Smart was not one most people would have recognized (outside of VCU nation, of course). However, Coach Smart—the head coach of NCAA men’s Final Four team Virginia Commonwealth University—is now a household name after their great run through the tournament. After the season, it’s a safe bet that Coach Smart will even be offered a number of coaching positions at larger schools. It’s just part of the situation for a once little-known coach who is now one of the hottest names in the sport today.
While out on a run the other day, I thought to myself, "I need new running shoes." Not WANT new running shoes; NEED new running shoes. These things are terrible! They are several years old, have been worn down, used and abused. They are literally falling apart! Sometimes I think it would be healthier for me not to run instead of grinding it out with these things.
As the run went on, all I kept thinking about was the need for new running shoes, and soon I realized that there was a spiritual parallel here. Stay with me on this one.
I don’t usually watch the show “The Biggest Loser,” but when I get a chance to see it, I always love it. There’s always something to learn about our human nature through that show, and I usually come away from it inspired in some way.
Last night, I caught part of the show and was struck by a particular comment from trainer Jillian Michaels. One of the participants had been giving her particular trouble through his poor attitude, and she commented on how it was affecting not only him, but also his entire team. I might botch the quote, but Michaels said something like, “The problem with teams is that the actions of individuals don’t just affect individuals, they affect the other people on their teams.”
Best Practices with Roger Lipe and FCA's Jill Perry at the University of Georgia.
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During the 2012 Summer Olympics, the world watched as US athlete Gabby Douglas claimed gold in the all-around portion of the gymnastics competition after anchoring the team’s run to a gold medal two nights before. When interviewed immediately after the competition, Douglas flashed her trademark smile, then displayed a depth of maturity rarely seen: "I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him, and the blessings fall down on me."
I love to visit and speak at our area Huddles. Recently, after speaking at a school in Geneva, Ill., I lingered to visit with the Huddle Coaches before I left. That day, I’d spoken about making a difference by doing a radical act of kindness for a person in their building. As with all of us who share messages in front of crowds, I never know what impact my words will have on the lives of those who are listening, but being faithful to deliver the truth of God’s promises is what matters most.
I will go on record and say I am not a big Terrell Owens fan. However, what he did in the Super Bowl was quite impressive and worthy of acknowledgement. Though he was hurt and his doctors discouraged him from playing, he knew he had to step up and play to help his team. He did a great job, and I am sure he played through a lot of pain. But he knew he was needed and did what he knew was the right thing for his team.
Nashville Predators goalie Dan Ellis, former Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Josh Davis, former college football coach Brian McNeely & FCA President Les Steckel.
Cleveland Browns General Manager Phil Savage, FCA One Way to Play spokesman Steve Fitzhugh, University of Buffalo head football coach Turner Gill and FCA President Les Steckel
Indianapolis Colts head Coach Tony Dungy, Green Bay Packer Aaron Kampman, San Francisco 49ers assistant coach and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary
Guests include Ohio State Head Football Coach Jim Tressel, former University of Florida Guard Lee Humphrey and former Congressman J.C. Watts.
Have you ever found yourself “between a rock and a hard place,” “at the end of your rope,” “out on a limb,” with “your back against the wall,” or in “hot water?” These are just a few ways people describe life’s challenges. In football terminology, life can cause a “sudden change.” Changing our circumstances cannot always be avoided.Still, we can control how we respond to them. Life is 5 percent what happens to us and 95 percent how we respond.
As the new year begins, many of us will make common resolutions to lose weight, get better grades or spend more time in the Word. As athletes and coaches, it’s a safe bet that many of us will also resolve to train harder, practice more or establish better nutrition habits. I'll be honest, some of those are mine, too, but there is one I have added to my life this year, and it’s one that I hope many others are adding, as well.
As I read my Bible and listen to worship songs, one central message keeps coming up: BECOME MORE LIKE CHRIST. God’s Word tells us over and over again to be like our Lord and to show His love to others.
Remember those things that we were so committed to doing at the start of 2006? You know, those resolutions? Some of us may have resolved to read the Bible more or to pray every day while others may have made commitments to get in shape or to lose weight. Whatever our New Year’s resolutions, chances are good that by now we’ve already broken or forgotten them altogether. So with all these good intentions, why is it always so difficult to actually do what we say we are going to do? With respect to our health, most of us have heard and know what we need to do to get in shape. But hearing, knowing and doing are very different things!
Washington Redskins wide receiver Malcolm Kelly, FCA Health and Fitness executive director Jimmy Page, Lenoir Rhyne College head football coach Fred Goldsmith and FCA President Les Steckel.
Steroid use has in many ways cast a shadow over the entire world of sports. Many fans have been left wondering whether or not anybody in big-time athletics is clean. At this stage of the game with penalties for positive drug tests escalating, an athlete would be a fool to take a chance with steroids. But the quest for glory still lures some into a reputation-destroying mistake.
Welcome back to the real world, kid. It’s a far cry from the experience you just had, feeling so close to God and all. But now, you need to start thinking about — check that — start worrying about “more important” things.
Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, Anthony Munoz, Bruce Matthews and Jeff Siemon
Long after the last confetti streamer had fallen to the floor and the echoes of the crowd’s deafening roar had stopped ringing in his ears, Lee Humphrey felt an odd sense of emptiness.
It didn’t happen right away, mind you. After all, April 3, 2006, was the greatest night of his basketball existence. That night, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Humphrey and his University of Florida teammates polished off UCLA with ease in the NCAA championship, 73-57. Humphrey himself had enjoyed a great game and a monster tournament, setting records and winning awards along the way.
All-time basketball great David Robinson, FCA Vice President for Camps and Campus Jeff Martin, soccer star Chris Klein & FCA President Les Steckel.
I was in graduate school when the dean from a Christian college where I was working asked me to coach the women’s field hockey team (the team’s head coach had fallen ill). Although I loved playing field hockey, I had never considered coaching. But the players were due to arrive in two days, the dean looked desperate, and I didn’t have the heart to say no. I knew the game like a close friend—how hard could it be?
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