Collapse at Staples Center

There were two games played at the Staples Center last night.  The Lakers won the first game, the Celtics won the second.  That's one way to look at it.  The other, correct way is that the Lakers took a seemingly insurmountable lead into halftime and totally collapsed in the second half to lose to the Celtics.  Kobe said they wet their bed.  That they did.  They totally collapsed last night.  I think they got comfortable with their first half blowout and didn't think they had a chance of losing.  Did they forget who they were playing?  The Celtics are a TEAM.  Every day, you have two choices to make -- how you start and how you finish.  Start strong AND finish strong in every aspect of your life.  Finish strong in working, doing, loving, giving, worshipping, praising and all things positive.  If you don't, you can bet that negative things will overtake you.   Don't collapse in the second half of your game, your day or your life.  "Run in such a way as to finish the race!"  That's the mark of a true champion.  

Farewell Jim McKay

Sports broadcasting legend Jim McKay died today at the age of 86.  I met Jim in the early nineties while I was part of the team that was setting up the Baltimore Orioles first credit card program at Camden Yards.  Back then, I was doing some of what I'm doing now, just on a smaller scale.  Writing and being a sports entrepreneur.   Jim and I met through mutual friends and he was one of the nicest guys I ever met.  He was a superstar in sports media, but also a regular guy.  I didn't see him again until a couple of years later.  When he saw me, he yelled across the room "Hey, A.J. like Foyt, Ali like Muhammad!"  I was blown away by his memory, and to this day I use that phrase occasionally when telling people my name.  He made me feel ten feet tall.  He really had no reason to remember me from our first meeting, but he did.  And, he took the initiative to speak to me before I had a chance to speak to him.  That's a little thing, but little things matter.  They obviously did to Jim.  In my humble opinion, he was the greatest sportscaster that has ever lived.  No wonder.  He made even the little things seem ten feet tall.  He took us around the globe with him on the Wide World of Sports and made us feel as if we were really there.  And for those of us that met him, he had a way of making us feel as if we were the only person in the room.  Many things will be written about him.  This is my story.  Farewell Jim.  You will be missed.  Your life and your work was the embodiment of "The Thrill of Victory."