Sports and Life

Life lessons are experienced in sports. Having been involved in sports my whole life, I've seen many exceptional and exciting games, but more importantly, I've been blessed to witness many more exceptional people. Those people who demonstrate those qualities that make them exceptional.

Growing up in Dallas, I've always been a Cowboys fan. My favorite Cowboys growing up were those guys on the Doomsday defense, Bob Lilly, Randy White, Cliff Harris and Charlie Waters to name a few. Of course, I loved watching Roger Staubach play. He had that never quit mentality that I loved so much. With all of the Ring of Honor, All-Pro and Hall of Famers on those great Cowboy teams, my all-time favorite Cowboy is #40 Bill Bates. Bates was an undrafted free agent who was too small and too slow to play in the NFL. He made the team because of his special teams play and was one of the hardest hitters to play the game. Bill Bates spent 15 years with the Cowboys, not too bad for someone that couldn't make it in the NFL. What was it about Bill Bates that allowed him to make a career in the NFL? Tom Landry once said "If we had 11 players on the field who played as hard as Bill Bates does and did their homework like he does, we'd be almost impossible to beat." What was it about Bill Bates that was different from the rest? Well, I've never had the priviledge to meet or talk to him personally and I haven't read his book, but I think I know what it was. Bill Bates was determined to be a NFL football player.

Determination is defined as a pronounced decision. Bill Bates made the decision that he was going to be successful and do what he had to do to make it happen, but I believe that you can't have determination without perseverance. Perseverance is a persistent course of action in spite of difficulties or discouragement. Bill Bates is the poster boy for determination and perseverance. Too slow, too small to play, but he did it anyway. How about those Cubs fans? Is there a more loyal bunch of fans than the Cubs fans? Doesn't that take a lot of determination and perseverance to stay with the Cubbies? I know for a really long time that's what we thought about the Rangers fans too!

You know, there are numerous times in our lives when we need to make a pronounced decision follow up that decision with perseverance as we face difficulties and become discouraged. There have been many times in my life where my decisions were wishy-washy or with the first sign of difficulty I'd waver or lose focus or just plain give up. I was taught to never give up on the ball field or the court and to be honest, I don't think I ever did. Every game I played, I went down playing hard. I wish that I'd had that same determination and perseverance in some other aspects of my life.