“Hey man, we gotta replace the garage-door system soon and have that beer,” were departing words to a wonderful neighbor family. My buddy, his beautiful bride and their two darling children are moving a few blocks away. They popped in, while I was watching college football, to let me know, after much delay, they closed on a better-suited, nearby home.
Earlier in the day I had been blessed with initial joy while spending time with another cherished buddy talking about raising children. It ain’t ever easy I suppose, but the teenage years offer interesting moments, don’t they? Anyway, this long-time friend has more experience with raising teenagers. I’m picking his brain about strategies. I value his opinion. You have a buddy like that? Someone you can talk about life in a frank and sincere manner? I’m a lucky guy to have many wonderful friends smarter than me. I try and learn from them. Thank you.
These wonderful moments from an absolutely beautiful mid-November Saturday afternoon in the Centennial State were competing for the cranium’s attention with another, less uplifting, experience: listening, on the radio, to another Colorado Buffaloes’ blowout loss. I spent many years covering the Buffs when it was much different, they won often, and still spend considerable time with many of the coaches, players and staff from those wonderful years. I also talk about the Buffs often on the afternoon sports talk show, The Odd Couple: Afternoon Drive with Mac and Goodman, co-hosted along with Eric Goodman weekdays on Mile High Sports Radio. Full disclosure, I graduated from Mizzou twice - stop laughing - but am a Buff to the bone. The football program’s struggle under second-year coach Jon Embree is producing, potentially, the worst season in program history.
I was in the car running errands and listening to the announcers, accurately in my opinion, describe the mess. The sideline reporter was Jeb Putzier. It was the first time the former Denver Broncos’ tight end had joined the broadcast team. His sideline reports were revealing.
What bore into cranium, from Putzier’s comments, like a fist through a wall was this: If we’re in a situation in life where deficiency in skill, discipline or desire hamper progress toward our goal, we better make damn sure we compensate with an overabundance of excellence in other areas. In this instance, the CU Buffs, athletically are not as big, fast and strong as most of their opponents. They need to compensate with excellence in discipline and desire.
Putzier, who played seven NFL seasons, was very informative in telling listeners that, for instance, when kicking off, some CU players, once seeing the ball was not going to be returned, stopped running and headed for the bench. Meanwhile, according to Putzier, who played special teams most of his career, every member of the University of Washington Huskies’ kickoff team sprinted into the endzone, regardless of whether the ball was returned or not. It speaks to discipline and desire.
I personally witnessed, while watching the game on television before heading out, many plays in the first half where the 1-10 team committed silly penalties or carelessly turned the ball over. It speaks to discipline and football intelligence.
It should speak to each of us. Let the Buffs be our guide. When it comes to the building blocks of a successful life, would it be fair to suggest skill, discipline and desire are vital?
And could we also make the argument that IF there’s deficiency in one area it would be wise to have an overabundance in the others? The challenges before us might be winning in sports, business, family or life. It doesn’t, my opinion, matter. What matters is us. Will we muster the courage to become superior to our former selves when it comes to skill, discipline and desire?
Sometimes an overabundance ain’t such a bad thing. How about this week, we have an overabundance of traits we totally control: discipline and desire. While there is no guarantee of success, life is chock-full of examples where an overabundance of each has boosted others to - despite obstacles - play like champions. Home, work and elsewhere. It can work for us too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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