Skip to main content

Attitude

One of the great moments in sports history came on Sunday afternoon when the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions were playing.  The Lions were leading 17-16, with the time running out.  The Saints had the ball in mid-field.  They called time out with two seconds left on the clock.  The coach then sent Tom Dempsey, an uncertain place-kicker born with a deformed right arm and hand and with half a right foot, to try a field goal.
It was a 63-yard attempt. The longest field goal ever kicked in the N.F.L. to date had been 57 yards.  But the athlete with the deformed foot kicked the ball through the uprights and the Saints won.
When asked after the game how he did it, Dempsey attributed his success to high school and college coaches and the pros who “spent so much time encouraging me that they simply forgot to tell me that I couldn’t do.”

Believe in yourself.  Believe that you can.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Contact

“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe….   Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not.   Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?

Speech

  “To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.”     John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent.  Life teaches many lessons.  Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied.  Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.    

The Price of Misjudgment

“If a man does not judge himself, all things judge him, and all things become messengers of God.” – Nachman of Bratslav ”If I do not accept responsibility for the evil I do, the very earth will rise up to judge and condemn me. The stars, the trees in the wind will provide sentence…”   -Julius Lester