“Every time you compete, try harder to improve on your last performance. Give nothing short of your very best effort.”
– Elgin Baylor, former NBA great
Granted, I sound more like Dad or Starky every day, but Elgin Baylor was a ‘baller, during a time when the team mattered more than the Twitter feed.
Watching Jordan Spieth’s performance today — he played at UT and The Middle and I saw him briefly at The UTGC shortly after we joined — was to watch a young guy who simply tries to get better all the time.
It made Michael Jordan even greater than he would have been. He not only out-talented everyone, he out-worked them, too. He gave his very best effort every time.
I get a kick out of people that throw around terms like “give 110%,” or “1,000%.” Um, do the math. 100% equals all you got, bud.
But 100% is what we ought to give.
I watched The Middle battle on the mound today — and give the best he had, and it was pretty cool to see him compete, and win, with his teammates. I watched The Eldest literally fight tooth and nail against the other soccer team’s best player — to the tune of a headache, a sore set of ribs, grass stains and scraped knees — and I watched her walk off the field, with her teammates, victorious.
Lombardi said, “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” It’s easy to remember that Lombardi talked about winning, but he always — always — talked about it in the context of leaving nothing unspent. Not talent. Not intelligence. Not experience. Not effort. That last one is important. If we end up lying on the field, with nothing left unspent, and we didn’t win — we gave it all we had. We competed.
An 11-year-old boy. A 14-year-old girl. A 20-year-old professional golfer with ties to the land about 250 yards from the back door of the house. A team of people in Tampa, schlepping ice cream in the name of a better way of banking. A sister preparing for her 40th dance recital, on behalf of 100+ kids who show up every week, trying to get better. I am surrounded by competitors, and they make a difference for me.
I love competitors. I love competing. I love Masters week.
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