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Fathers, we must make a difference in lives

Happy Father's Day.I don't talk a lot about my father.He was an alcoholic and we didn't say a word to each other in the final year of his life.The day he died, I received a phone call at college from my uncle Pat (his brother, also an alcoholic) and when i picked up the phone, I knew."He's dead, right?" I said.My uncle confirmed and I hung up the phone.My father and uncle really didn't like each other and it bordered on hatred.I later figured out it was because they were so much alike.Also, please understand that my uncle never talked to his daughter the last year of his life.She and I ...

Life around the world of sports on all levels

There will be a community extravaganza from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Edison High School with all the athletic teams participating in a chance to say hello to the community and raise some money for all the sports programs.Vanilla Sounded Chocolate will end the night with a donation-only concert beginning at 7 p.m.This is the time for the community to show the kids at Edison they are behind them.There really should be hundreds and hundreds and hundres of people flocking to the high school to help out the kids.All money raised will be evenly split by the 13 programs and those programs ...

What are you doing now?

Every coach says the team gets better during the summer.Teams get better during the summer because individuals get better during the summer.Your opponents appreciate the fact you are not getting better.They like that.They welcome that.They enjoy that.Your teammates very well don't like it, but everyone else does.The three-sport athlete is really a five-sport athlete because you must include weightlifting and the summer activities.There is also no such thing as a one-sport athlete anymore.At the minimum, those athletes are three-sport athletes.More than 100 years ago when I played, there ...

‘We mutually pledge to each other …’

Six words in the Declaration of Independence should be the motto for every sports team: We mutually pledge to each other.The last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is as follows:"We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all ...

Stevens is easy to like as a person, coach

I talk a lot in this column about being humble and how that trait goes a long way with whatever we do.I talk about it a lot because I think it is that important.We, as a society, need more of it.And, that starts with us adults.It is hard for kids to be humble when they don't see it out of us.It is really easy to tell the adults who do not know the word as we all hear them at all types of sporting events.You know, they are yelling how bad the high school quarterback is while mother of the QB is sitting two rows in front.They whine about how tough the coach is, how bad the coach is and how ...

Lead the league in effort

I flopped down and watched a small part of Jon Gruden talking with Manti Te'o on ESPN Monday."Lead the league in effort," Gruden said to the San Diego Chargers rookie linebacker, 'because it doesn't take any ...""Talent," offered the former Notre Dame standout.Having a great attitude doesn't take any talent, either.Lead the league in effort.That just struck a chord with me because it is so easy to do.Effort is contagious, so is the lack of effort.Having a great attitude is contagious, so is having a bad attitude. "Facing The Giants""Your attitude is like the aroma of your heart. If your ...