I was blessed to play one season of basketball with my hero, two-time Olympic Captain, Naismith Award Winner, first female Globetrotter…Lynette Woodard. The first day I practiced with her, I tried to do everything like she did. I stayed after practice with her and as she touched the rim ten times and made ten free throws in a row, I touched the backboard ten times and made five free throws in a row (It was a start!). I even went so far as to get my hair permed into a curly white-girl’s afro … anything to be like Lynette.

Is it possible that one man could have changed Mike Tyson’s problem-filled boxing career? Tyson believes his former trainer, mentor, and legal guardian Cus D’Amato, who died before he won the title in 1986, would have changed things. Tyson said, “It would have been totally different. Cus once told me, ‘You’re the kind of person who has to get hurt to learn.’ I didn’t understand he was talking about life…in the fight of life I am a pug, a palooka [a second-rate prize fighter].”

It’s been a while since I was in high school, but I still vividly recall one day during my junior year. It was the day my coach called me into his office and told me he was moving me from fullback to tackle. As a sophomore, I had weighed 200 pounds and was pretty fast. I gained 35 pounds over the summer and was a little slower at that weight. The coach told me I was too good of a player to sit on the bench, but that I was now too slow to be a running back. He asked me to make a personal sacrifice and move to a new position on the line so that I could help the team have a chance at the conference title.

Eight years ago, I started the simple discipline of picking a one-word theme for the upcoming year. That’s right—one word—not a phrase or statement, just a single word. And to this point, it has been nothing short of life changing. Through this exercise, God has stretched me spiritually, physically, and emotionally. This exercise cannot be approached  alfheartedly. Satan will come out in full force. This is truly a discipline for those who want to press in and see God do great things through them.

It’s for those who want to live life to the fullest—no retreat, no regrets. It’s also a process of teaching, correcting, and molding, for when we are soft in the Creator’s hands, He can form us into His vessel!

Hockey Chat:  “He was yelling pretty urgently. There’s different pitches of yell and he was screaming.” - Jarome Iginla on Sidney Crosby calling for the puck prior to scoring the game-winner in OT of the gold medal game on February 28th 2010.

It’s the start of practice. Everyone has high hopes, goals, and expectations for the upcoming season. As Christians, the biggest goals are the ones God has for us as coaches and the athletes He has entrusted to our care.

God has created each one of our team members, the coaching staff, parents, and all those connected with our programs. Twice in the verses above we are reminded of Jesus’ work in creating all things. In fact, today’s passage tells us that all things were created not only by Him, but also for Him. He also promises to hold thing—all things—together. This may not mean victory, or lack of challenges, but things will be  held together to accomplish His perfect plan and will in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

As coaches, we have a rule on our hockey team. If you get hurt during play, you must do your utmost to stay involved in the play or get yourself to the bench. We expect this not because we are hard-nosed or don’t care about the well-being of our players, but because we expect our athletes to persevere and work through adversity.

Fourth and five, with less than a minute in the game, and Peyton Manning had one more play to make something happen. He took the snap, rolled to his right, lofted a pass to Dallas Clark and…it was dropped. The Colts will not defend their Super Bowl Champion title. Immediate disappointment set in for players, coaches and fans. There were questions asked, but not many answers.

“Back in ’82, I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile. How much you want to make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains? Yeah. If coach would've put me in fourth quarter... We'd have been state champions, no doubt. No doubt in my mind. You better believe things would have been different. I'd have gone pro...in a heartbeat. I'd be makin' millions of dollars and...livin' in a... big ol' mansion somewhere.” - Uncle Rico, “Napoleon Dynamite”

Baseball is a game that can be dominated by a pitcher. It seems that no matter how well a hitter prepares for a game, if a pitcher is “on” and executes his pitches, there is really nothing a hitter can do. Many times a hitter will try to “step out” in order to disrupt the rhythm of the pitcher. Or, in other situations where a pitcher is dominant, the hitter may try bunting in order to get on base.

Hockey Chat:  There are so many terrible players that we skate with.  They miss the open net.  They bobble the pass that was right to them.  They can’t skate fast enough to make the play.  And one more thing…….they are just like you and me.  Give them a break when they goof and maybe they’ll cut you some slack next time it’s your man you should’ve been defending that scores or you shoot wide of the pipes.  NOTE: The worst thing about wanting to be on a perfect team is that they will only take perfect players.  Where would that leave you?