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As a child, I dealt with the embarrassment of having to wear glasses and braces. And to make matters worse, I had problems with my hearing which required me to wear a hearing aid and affected my speech. You can imagine the name-calling that ensued. I remember one day on the way home from school, I was so frustrated that I took off my hearing aid and threw it into a ditch. Needless to say, my parents weren’t too happy about that.
Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Ben Zobrist wasn't drafted by Major League Baseball out of high school. In fact, he wasn't even offered a baseball scholarship to play in college. Yet, after attending a skills showcase the summer after his senior year, one college coach saw potential in Zobrist and offered him a position on the team.
Now one of the brightest young infielders in the game, Zobrist has experienced a divine path to success--both on the field and off. Just before the start of the 2010 season, Zobrist sat down with FCA's Sharing the Victory magazine to talk about that career, his family and, most importantly, his faith in Jesus Christ.
This year, the world of baseball gave us a very good example of perseverance. The Boston Red Sox, down three games to none against the New York Yankees, did not quit. They defied the odds and made something happen — something their organization had been incapable of doing for 86 years. They won the World Series. The Red Sox dug in and won eight straight games against probably the two best teams in baseball, the Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals.
What happens when we get asked a question we are not prepared to answer? If you are anything like me, one of two things happen. The first option could be your heart beats rapidly and you blabber incoherently for a few seconds in an effort to form an answer. The other option is to pause, take a deep breath, and calmly say what is on your heart. By the Lord's grace, I experienced the latter recently.
While preparing for an upcoming presentation on Leadership and Career Development to a group of aspiring young athletic professionals, I was blindsided by a question in a conference call with the symposium leader.
2004 was an interesting year in sports…
1. The BCS became the biggest college football screw-up of all time.
2. Hockey was shut down except for one night in Detroit.
3. Steroids became all too real.
4. Terrell Owens proved that he is a better football player than actor.
5. Coaches were hired, fired, hired, fired, hired, fired ... You get the idea.
6. The Olympics offered more medal controversy.
7. Shaq and Kobe split.
8. And Kobe had a little courtroom drama.
Many players head off to college to play sports with dreams of making it to the big time. Jonathan was no different. Coming out of high school, he was a talented player with a promising future. But he arrived to school only to find disappointment and hard times. Like many new players in their first year, adjustments came hard for Jonathan. He didn't get in one single play last season. He was ready to give up and give in to his frustrations and disappointment, but did what every good young athlete should do in a case like that … He talked to his mother. Her advice was to stick it out, stay in God's word and wait on the Lord. He did just that.
Due to Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints began the 2005 NFL season with more on their minds than winning football games. Katrina caused devastation not only in the lives of many Saints fans, players and families, but also to the whole city of New Orleans. In the season opener, kicker John Carney hit a 47-yard field goal with three seconds left to give the saints a 23-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers. “You don’t want to attach too much importance to it, you know, because it’s still just a football game,” Carney said. “But, sure, there was a sense that we were playing for more than ourselves today."
As an NHL player, I’ve never been quick to admit my fears, but I’ve definitely had them. When facing Edmonton in game seven of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, I was more nervous than I’d ever been in my athletic career. Leaning on God during that game helped me find strength to face my fears head on. We ended up winning the game and the Stanley Cup, a first for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Looking back on the past weekend's FCA 50th Anniversary celebration, I can only think of one word: AMAZING. I am not sure how many people were there, but it does not matter, it was the spirit of fellowship, spirit of unity, and the Spirit of God that was present in Kansas City. All who attended were blessed in a great way.
Athletes today live in a “me first” society. Many like to be served, not serve. Some professional athletes lead the way on “me first!” Yet, we hear stories of some who put others in front of themselves. Jason is one of those athletes. He has learned the art of “you before me.”
Paul teaches us that we can be very selfish. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul explained that others are more important than ourselves. This is not to put us down, but to lift the needs of others higher. A dear evangelist friend of mine, Aidan McKenzie, once said, “If there are two people in the room and you are one of them, guess who is more important? It’s not you.” That is something good to live by.
He received the handoff, and moved towards the line. They had him cornered, pinned in the backfield for a big loss. But next thing you know, Barry Sanders wiggled his way through all the defenders for a touchdown. Left standing in his dust, the linemen had to think, "We had him trapped! There's no way he could have gotten out of that jam." More often than not, Sanders did get out of the jams, and that is what made him such a special player. A modern-day football Houdini, Sanders broke through many traps set before him and turned calamity into celebration. All it took for Sanders was a small opening.
Every Wednesday night at about 6 p.m. I hear these words: "We need to get in the right place before Saturday!" This is the charge given to his team by Coach Randy Walker, head football coach at Northwestern University. He challenges his team, staff and everyone present to get in the right mindset mentally, physically and spiritually before they play on Saturday. He is constantly encouraging his team to get in the right place.
It appears that the sports world has been overtaken with the “somebody-owes-me-something-because-I-am-somebody” attitude. The big 10-dollar word for that attitude is “entitlement.” It is the belief that we deserve some reward or benefit because of who we are. Somehow we think everyone owes us, and that we owe nothing in return. If you watch SportsCenter, it sometimes sounds more like CrimeCenter. So many athletes think they can do anything they want—that they are above the law.
The story of Texas Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton has been well-chronicled. Major League Baseball’s first overall draft pick in 1999, his career and future was derailed by drug and alcohol addiction beginning in 2003. In his own words, he hit rock-bottom on Oct. 5, 2005 when he stood on his grandmother’s porch, having nowhere else to turn after going on a drug binge. She took him in and under her care Hamilton’s heart was opened to God’s love and how much he needed Him to heal the brokenness in his life.
The big item of the week has been the surprise firing of Tyrone Willingham after completing only three seasons of his five-year contract as the head football coach at Notre Dame. Kirk Herbstreit, analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, said, "This firing is all about wins and losses … it's about failing to produce wins." The Notre Dame AD said Willingham was an "outstanding coach" with an "impeccable reputation." Indeed, it seems as if this decision all boiled down to one thing: performance.
Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden once said, “A leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example. There is hypocrisy to the phrase ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ I refused to make demands on my boys that I wasn’t willing to live out in my own life.”
Too often as athletes and coaches, we desire to live a life we know we cannot live. What I mean is that we desire for our external life (the life everyone sees—wins and accomplishments) to be greater than our internal life (our thoughts and desires).
I love to run. It allows me an extra opportunity to connect with my Creator. It’s more than just seeing His beauty in nature, so much more! The longer I run, the more I hear His voice. Is it the physical exertion? Can it be the steady cadence? I think it’s more about just being quiet.
I hit the road taking my usual route. I crave the familiar. I run it many times each week and know it well. Halfway through, I prepare for my least favorite part: a sizable hill with a nasty bend. I’m tired and, yet, I’m far from done. In order to tackle this ascent, I need the Lord to carry me.
As a coach, my faith was wavering. I watched my unpredictable punter jog onto the field, doubt washed over me with every step. I never knew what to expect. It might go 40 yards in a tight spiral, or it could be a 10-yard shank off the side of his foot. Every kick was an unpredictable adventure.
It was late in the game and field position was critical as my team lined up in punt formation. As the punter waited for the snap from center, the unexpected happened. The gentle breeze that had been blowing all night suddenly transformed into a stiff wind. My punter handled the snap cleanly, took two steps and kicked the ball high into the air.
She was a cute and happy kindergartener in the very first PE class I taught in 1987. I knew she would grow up to be quite a young lady. Seventeen years later, Kristen is a senior playing basketball for a Christian college in Indiana. Coming off an outstanding high school career, Kristen has had a hard time finding success at the next level in most people's eyes. You will not find a harder worker or a more disciplined ball player than this young lady, but for some reason her number is not called too many times. Many players in her situation would have quit by now, but not Kristen.
As March Madness winds down, we can clearly see the parity that exists at the highest level of college basketball. It’s been excited to watch the thrilling overtime victories and the games that have been decided by three points or less. Teams have matched up toe-to-toe, scraped, hustled and competed to extend their seasons for one more game. At the end of every game, one team has been left celebrating while the other has left empty-handed, perhaps stunned, that the game got away in the final ticks of the clock.
Wright College had a football team of 100 players. Every player knew the system, except for one. He was lost. A freshman who had never played football before, and had walked on to the team. He thought it would be fun, but he was lost. Everything seemed foreign to him. On plays, he would go one way, and everyone else another. He was always last in drills and always making his unit run for his struggles. Many players did not like this freshman, but he was still part of the team — the body. Ninety-nine players and one who was lost.
One athlete’s career-threatening injury is another athlete’s blessing in disguise. At least that’s been the case for Major League Soccer veteran and four-time All-Star Chris Klein, who tore his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in 2001 and his left ACL in 2004.
This year, my son Caleb is playing freshman football at his school, and as he’s discovered, being one of 70 players is tough. He loves the game and enjoys certain drills in practice, but lately his teammates have been the bigger challenge for him. Two of the guys he considered to be his best friends have been verbally mocking him and putting him down. As a teenager, he expects that from some of the guys on the team but not his closest friends. All he wants to do is be his best and help his team in any way he can.
John was a great miler. He always liked to take the lead early in the race and run to victory. His coach, however, was concerned about an upcoming race. John's top opponent would be one who liked to come from behind to win.
When the race started, like clockwork, John raced to the lead. His coach told him to move to the inside of lane one, but John ignored him. He liked to run in the first lane, but not always on the inside. Laps two and three, his coach said the same thing, but John only grew upset with him. John knew he had the lead — the victory was his. On lap four, his coach was more insistent that John move to the inside of lane one, but John stayed firm in the middle of the lane.
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