The 2008 Summer Olympics

The World Summer Olympics will be starting on August 8th this year which is next week. I can’t believe another 4 years have gone by. As you grow older the years start to really go by quickly. When the next Summer Olympics take place, it will be 2012. I will be approaching the “hill” as I will be turning 38 years old. All of my kids will be in grade school, and hopefully our country has pulled itself out of the economic “rut” we are currently in.
Anyway, back to the Olympics…

This year’s Olympics will be in Beijing, China. It should be a great event to watch. I have always enjoyed watching the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics. It signifies the opening of 16 days of the world’s top athletes competing to gain the title of the best in the world at that particular sport. It is fun to watch the athletes from the United States and other countries walk into the stadium of the opening ceremonies and see the excitement on their faces. It is also fun to see some of the smaller countries being able to participate and send their athletes and have them be part of such a large spectacle.

The Olympics exist for the athletes to share with the world their talents and show their many years of hard work and determination. One of the things I love most about the Olympics is to hear the stories of those athletes who have risen up to overcome different circumstances to be part of the greatest athletic event in the world and strive to take home that Gold medal. Who can forget Carl Lewis in track and field, Mary Lou Retton with her pair of 10’s in gymnastics in ‘84, the “Dream Team” basketball team’s dominance in ’92, Greg Louganis and the more recent star Michael Phelps in swimming, and countless other US athletes that have received medals for their respective sports.

My personal favorites are the basketball games, swimming races, gymnastics, and the track and field races. No matter what events you enjoy and what athletes or countries that you are cheering for, the Olympics will be exciting and a joy to watch and will be 16 packed days of awesome stories, awesome finishes, painful endings, and countless medal ceremonies where the athlete can enjoy his/her few minutes of fame.
Enjoy this year’s Summer Olympics because it won’t be back for another 4 years and you will be that much older, too.

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High School Hero

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about the Hoyt family- a story of a father with a son who was disabled from birth who made his son’s life joyful and happy by taking him along on his marathons and triathlons. Today I am writing about another disabled young man who had his own dreams come true. His name is Jason McElway.

Jason lives in Rochester, New York and was the team manager for the local high school basketball team. Jason suffers from autism. On the final game of the basketball season the coach asked Jason to suit up for the game. The coach didn’t know if Jason would be able to play or not but wanted to at least have him be part of the team for the last game. Jason ended up playing in the final few minutes of that game and had his dreams come true. I have posted the video of this amazing story below. Scroll down to see it.

I get goose bumps and shivers every time I watch this clip about Jason. The part that is most exciting for me to watch is his classmates and team’s reaction of him going in to play and every time he makes another shot. It is neat to think that these kids had such a great love for this young man and wanted to see him succeed. In a world where many kids are putting down others and making fun of children it gives me hope and joy to watch a story where the high school kids are cheering for someone who has a disability.

I hope that as we go through life we can be sure to watch for others in need and give them those opportunities to succeed. It might be fun to be successful at things but it is far more enjoyable to watch someone like Jason be successful at something he loves. I hope that we can teach our children to love and respect others and to be like the kids at Jason’s high school. We can start by being a good example and also watch for those little teaching moments.

Jason’s dream were made true not just because his coach gave him a chance to play in the basketball game, but also because he had the team, the coach, and the whole school cheering him on. What a difference it would make if we could all follow their lead and make every child’s dream come true. We could start by making our own family feel loved and giving them opportunities to succeed and to make their dreams come true. It may not be as dramatic as Jason’s experience, but we could start by cheering for those who surround us and help them to be the best they can be.

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Football Training Camp

July is the month known for the 4th of July, 24th of July, hot weather, and…football training camp. I know it seems early to be talking about football, but for us die hard football fans talking football is a year round hobby. It all starts with the NFL draft in late April and then comes the mini camps in May and June. Then the real training starts in late July.

Training camp is a very hard and demanding time for the players. They have 2-a-day practices on the hot field; they learn and perfect the plays not only on the field, but also in the film room and the class room. The players move in together to eat and breathe football 24/7. (If you asked my wife, she would tell you that I eat and breathe football 24/7 all the time).

I am a huge football fan. I am also a dedicated Green Bay Packers fan. I love to watch football, talk football, and read about football. I love to read articles about training camp each year. All of the players come in to Green Bay to practice together and make themselves better as a team. I served a mission in Green Bay and was able to attend a training camp practice. You would think it was a live game by the amount of fans that would show up for these training sessions. People would line the fences and cheer and yell and act like it was a playoff game. I love this time of year because there is so much hope and optimism for the coming season. It is fun to listen to fans talk with each other about players, strategies, coaches, and anything football related. The amount of time and money that fans spend on football is astounding. When you factor in players and coaches salaries, game tickets, concessions, apparel, trading cards, fantasy football leagues, etc—it is easy to see why this is truly America’s favorite sport.

My anticipation for this year is already starting to build. The training camps are opening soon, the fantasy football leagues are starting to form, the football fields are being groomed and prepared for that day when the players take the field, and both the fans and players alike are full of hope that this season will be the one where their teams go on to win the Super Bowl.

(Of course we all know that the Packers will be the team this year to take home that honor.)

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Bowling, not yard work

Summertime has finally arrived. This is most kid’s favorite time of year. No school. The days are longer and hotter. They can go to the pool, sleep in, play with their friends. For most men this is not our favorite time of year. Football has ended, the NBA Finals are wrapping up, there is yard work to do, and the kids are driving their Mom crazy so we husbands have to find creative ways to make them feel better, (like actually listening). What is a man to do during the summer to avoid losing his mind?

Football and Basketball may be over, but the one sport that will continue all year long and comes on every Saturday afternoon is……Bowling. Okay, I don’t know for sure if it still comes on every Saturday afternoon or not, but I do remember as a 10 year old kid watching this “sport” on late Saturday afternoons when my chores and yard work were done and it was too hot to go outside. I am sure many of us will recall those afternoons when the Pro-Bowling tour would come on ABC and we would be glued to the TV for the next 2 hours watching a bunch of guys in argyle sweaters and bell bottoms throw a ball down an alley to see if they would be able to knock down the pins or not. Here is a link that plays the music when it came on ABC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKug7fdX2Eo

I can still remember the tension in the announcer’s voice when the bowler was trying to pickup the spare to win the game—the excitement in the crowd when the bowler got the spare or the feelings of disappointment when he failed. Okay, it must have been pretty difficult to make bowling sound exciting, but as a 10 year old boy on a boring Saturday afternoon this was a lot of fun.

I was amazed when I googled the Pro Bowlers tour that in the Wikipedia it said “Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Pro Bowlers Tour typically outdrew college football and college basketball in the ratings.” In today’s sports world I don’t even know if they even have a Pro Bowlers Tour anymore and even if they did, it would be nowhere near the ratings that college football and college basketball get. It is hard to believe that back in the day, the guy wearing argyle throwing the ball down the alley beat out watching the helmet-wearing quarterback throw a successful 50 yard touchdown pass to his wide receiver with 10 seconds left in the game.

I don’t think you will have too many kids watching sports on Saturday afternoons in this modern world. They have their iphones, laptops, X boxes, cell phones, text messages, but maybe some of us older than 30 would enjoy watching some good old fashioned bowling rather than doing more yard work this Summer.

(When does the first day of football start again?)

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Sports Criminals

In today’s sports world it is not uncommon to read a story weekly or even daily about an athlete that is in trouble with the law. We have all heard about the steroid use in Major League Baseball, drugs used in the summer and Winter Olympics, and all kinds of criminal activity in the NFL and NBA. This trend of behavior has got to slow down because at this rate, all the professional sports programs will be obsolete in 5 years because all of the athletes will be in jail or suspended from the sports programs.

I enjoyed watching sports as a child. I remember the great players in basketball- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Dr. J. I remember the awesome football players- Joe Montana, John Elway, Tony Dorset, Eric Dickerson, and the great Chicago Bear’s defense. I am not much of a baseball fan, but I do remember watching Reggie Jackson, Roger Clemens, and Pete Rose play. What I don’t remember as well is all of the legal and criminal trouble that we see in today’s sports. I know that Michael Jordan got in trouble with gambling, but that arose when his career as a sports player had ended. I know that Pete Rose got in trouble for a similar problem. I don’t remember players being investigated for murders, robberies, assault and battery, illegal dog fighting matches (Michael Vick), drugs, steroids, and all kinds of other illegal and criminal activity.
While reading this list, you start to forget about sports and start thinking you are reading a New York City police arrest report!

My biggest problem with this type of behavior is that these athletes are rich! They don’t need to rob a store because they are out of money! They aren’t living in the ghetto! They are getting paid to play a sport! They are given millions upon millions of dollars to shoot baskets, throw footballs, hit baseballs, run. These are things that most of us enjoy doing on the weekends with our friends. We can’t even imagine being paid for it, let alone get paid millions. The biggest problem with today’s athlete is that they have turned into spoiled adults. If you think a spoiled kid is a problem, wait until you meet a spoiled adult. This is someone who gets a lot of money, spends it on a lot of frivolous things, has too much time on their hands, gets into trouble a lot, and basically can’t find any happiness because they still haven’t learned the old adage that money can’t buy happiness.

The biggest problem with athletes in trouble with the law is that they have the money to hire the best lawyers money can buy. Money may not be able to buy happiness but I think we have all witnessed it buying an athlete’s freedom. Remember the football player by the name of OJ? He was found innocent of the murder that he was on trial for, but I think most of us think that he was guilty.

I think that most fans would like to see a return to the old days when the biggest criminal offenses were gambling related. Those seem rather minor compared to today’s crimes. I don’t know that this will ever happen but I do know that if the current rate of criminal activity continues, the future of sports will change for the worse. Which reminds me of another old adage; crime doesn’t pay (unless you’re an athlete).
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Celtics and Lakers

The Playoffs for any sport are always an exciting time. The NBA playoffs are no exception. Each team has a renewed sense of hope, a chance to win the Title, and they get 7 possible chances with each team they play. The players “kick up” their energy and playing level another notch. The crowd seems to get louder and more obnoxious. This is the time of year that most basketball fans look forward to all year long.

This year, the teams that made it to the NBA Finals were the Lakers and Celtics. What an awesome rivalry over the years: two of the greatest teams in NBA history squaring it off in 2008. 2 of the NBA’s best players will go head-to-head, Kobe Bryant (this year’s MVP) and Paul Pierce. I am not really a fan of either player, but those 2 should be able to make this year’s Finals pretty exciting. There are also 2 great veteran role players for each team- Kevin Garnett (Celtics) and Derek Fisher (Lakers).

This rivalry has a great history of awesome players from the past as well. I am sure all of us remember Magic Johnson and his unbelievable passing ability and drives to the basket. Who could forget Larry Bird and his awesome shooting ability and the way he played the game? Kareem Abdul Jabar had a hook shot like no other. Michael Cooper was a 3 point sharp shooter. Kevin McHale was a “beast” on the boards. And who could forget Kurt Rambis, with his curly hair and big safety goggles being a tough scrappy player who was so much fun to watch.
We all had our favorites and enjoyed watching each year when they would take center stage in the NBA Finals

The Celtics-Lakers rivalry has been renewed and even though the names and players have changed, the attitude and passion for the game still exist. Instead of Magic driving to the hoop, we now have the ultra energetic Kobe Bryant. Instead of having Larry Bird lighting up the scoreboard with his jump shots, we now have the high scoring Paul Pierce. We no longer have the super-short, tight shorts; we have the baggy shorts that hang down to your knees. We no longer have the afros; we now have the corn rows and shaved heads. The black and white television sets with the bunny ear antennas are long gone being replaced by the 60 inch Plasma big screen TV’s.

The one thing that still remains is the greatest rivalry in history- the Celtics and Lakers. (and the refereeing is still terrible).
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The Love of a Father

Every so often you hear or read a story that makes you feel good inside and may even bring tears to your eyes. I came across such a story a few months ago. It is a story of a father who gave something to his son that was very special. His son was disabled at birth being strangled by the umbilical cord. His name is Rick Hoyt and his father’s name is Dick Hoyt. You may have already heard this story or seen the video on YouTube, but I was able to do a little research on this man and his son and found some other very interesting details that you might not be aware of.

When Dick first took his son Rick for a run, by pushing him in his wheelchair, he was sore for weeks. But then Rick typed “Dad, when we were running, I felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore”. That sentence would change both of their lives forever. Dick started with marathons and then moved up to triathlons, anything to give Rick that feeling of being alive and whole again.

Now they have together completed 212 triathlons, 24 Boston marathons, and countless other events. They not only have completed these events but have also placed very well in each event. Rick types “The thing I would most like, is that my Dad sit in the chair and I push him once”.

There are times in our lives when we are like Rick and we need our other Heavenly Father’s help. Just like Dick, our Father in Heaven will do everything he can to help us finish the race and to feel whole again.
There are times when we need to be like Dick and help our friends, spouses, children, parents, and grandparents get through the hard times by strapping them on our backs and doing all that we can to help them finish the race of life.

The lesson that needs to be learned is that all of us need to finish the race and not only finish but enjoy the journey. If we will help others to the end of the race, we will also find ourselves at the end as well.

Dick Hoyt would have never been able to accomplish all that he had without Rick, and Rick in turn would have never accomplished all that he did without the help of his father.

Here is a link to the video that goes along with this story and plenty more inspiring details about this father and son team.