Excitement for the fans
OCTOBER 30, 2007 (TUESDAY) – It has been called a “Lateralapalooza.” You don’t have to learn the word, because chances are it won’t come up again for a while. It was the last play of Saturday’s game between Trinity University and Cal-Stanford. Trinity was going to lose the game unless they came up with something spectacular, so they did. A pass was completed, and from there on for 46 seconds the ball changed hands 15 times with one lateral after another. When the last player got his hands on the ball, he ran across the goal line with no time remaining on the game clock. The Trinity coach said, “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” I don’t know about you, but neither have I. One thing for sure, every player on those teams will talk about that play for the rest of their lives. Fifteen laterals on one play brought excitement to thousands of people.
Pro Football is preparing for Sunday. Thousands will gather to see the Colts and the Patriots play. No one will be surprised if it turns out to be an exciting game, as two famous quarterbacks (Peyton Manning and Tom Brady) take their undefeated teams (8-0 and 7-0) to what promises to be a great game.
Sports competition is always exhilarating. Whether it’s a match up between two great football teams or a tennis match between father and son, it’s exciting. There is always “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
That’s two of the great lessons we learn along the way in life: how to win and how to lose. Each has a special grace. We need to learn both.
I recall a story about Lou Gehrig, who was an introverted, quiet man, but a truly great baseball player. He never did anything unseemly on the field, and always accepted the umpire’s call when he was at the plate. But one day after he let the third strike go by, he turned and said something to the umpire. The crowd went wild, and the news people could hardly wait until the game was over to find out what he said to the umpire. When they asked Lou what he said, he turned to the umpire and said, “You tell him, Ump.” The umpire quoted Gehrig, “He said, ‘Ump, I’d give ten dollars to have that one back.’” To this day, long years after Gehrig’s career ended in illness and death, he is still a shining example of knowing how to conduct himself as a gentleman on and off the field. It’s people like that who created the image of the player who has great and good influence upon kids and young people.
There are still a lot of good things happening that can be found by looking for them. The winners in today’s world are those who leave behind a legacy of a good influence. The losers are the other guys.