You know it is tragic to see a person [grow, excel] in one area and not grow in another. Some of you remember reading about Babe Didrikson Zaharias, perhaps the greatest woman athlete ever to live in America. In 1932 she won gold medals in the Olympics in the hurdles and in the javelin throw. She was not only a great track star, but she was an All-American twice as a basketball player. She was an outstanding swimmer. She didn’t play golf until she was grown. But in 10 short years after she took up golf, she won 17 major tournaments. In 1953 they discovered that Babe had cancer. So she had surgery and immediately upon dismal after surgery and treatment she left the hospital and went to Florida and played in the Tampa Bay Classic Golf Tournament.
She wasn’t running awa...
Knute Rockne was one of the greatest football coaches ever. In his 13 years at Notre Dame, his teams won 105 games, lost 12, and tied 5. He never had a secret practice. In fact, he sometimes put up a sign for visitors that said, “Secret practice. Come and bring your notebooks.”
On one occasion when an Army scout missed a train connection and didn’t get to the Notre Dame game he was to cover, Rockne obligingly sent him the plays he planned to use against the West Point men. He explained his actions by saying, “It isn’t the play that wins; it’s the execution.”
All great coaches agree: champions are made by majoring on the fundamentals – blocking and tackling. They execute well. Teams seldom win by trick plays or gimmicks.
The same is true of life. Tricks and gimmicks will seldom get you to the top in any endeavor and can never keep you there. Major on the basics in all of life – work hard, honor God, be honest, kind and helpful to others, and go to church regularly.