Mark McIntosh's Blog, page 39

New Pep Talk: "Parenting PEP Talk"

It was a typical weekend morning. I'm at the gym grunting, sweating and watching television. A commercial, "Colorado Dads", appears on the screen. This program has been around since 2006 and tries to strengthen father/child relationships and improve parenting.

The commercial, slowly but surely, unveiled three strategies for men to become better fathers and parents; the first was patience. Defined as: "an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay" w...

This week's Pep Talk: "Walk the Talk"

Now that football season is upon us, I can remember a Sunday afternoon last December, the undefeated Indianapolis Colts were defeating the spirited Denver Broncos to win a NFL record-setting 22nd consecutive regular season game. I'm watching the game, reading the newspaper when I get hit between the eyeballs by a story in PARADE magazine.

Written by David Baldacci, it's a "catching-up-with" piece about our nation's 41st president George Bush and his wife and former first lady, Barbara. First, ...

This week's Pep Talk: "Trust is Key"

Are you a horse lover? I can remember childhood days in suburban Kansas City, Missouri. Our family, actually my older sister, had a Shetland pony, Tonka, which was kept at a stable not too far from our modest middle-class home. I can remember, many times, watching her stubbornly refuse to gallop away from the barn but, WHOA, once she turned in the corral and saw home, that little horse did its best Secretariat impression. However, right before the gate leading back to the barn, she would slam...

This week's Pep Talk: "It Ought to be Possible"

In a 1999 survey of public address scholars, Martin Luther King's infamous "I have a Dream" speech was ranked the top speech of the 20th century. It was, and remains, a stirring speech. In part for its use of what's called anaphora, which is repeatedly using a phrase like "I have a dream" to introduce and connect related themes.

Less documented, two months before King's 1963 message, was President John Kennedy's call for change in America. In what has become known as Kennedy's Civil Rights Add...

This week's Pep Talk: "Learn from Losing"

I recently read a fascinating book about legendary college football coach Eddie Robinson. Grambling University's head coach for 57 years, the Louisiana native's career paralleled the Jim Crow era of segregation in the Deep South and every major event of the Civil Rights Movement.

Grambling University, and other predominately black colleges, was loaded with outstanding black athletes until the late 1960's and early 1970's because the more powerful athletic conferences, like the Southeastern an...

This week's Pep Talk Blog: "Jump Time?"

I have recently returned to my sports roots and, daily, co-host two hours of sports talk radio. It's fun chatting up co-host, Jimmy Doogan, guests and listeners about sports, which have been a huge part of my life.

Recently, Dave Krieger, outstanding columnist for the Denver Post, was a guest. We were talking about, at the time, the Colorado Rockies' inability to deliver key hits late in baseball games. Krieger, when talking about the problem, suggested the modern-day player's ability to watch...

This week's Pep Talk: "Matters of the Heart"

Do you have a "bucket list" of things to accomplish? Whether expressed publicly, written and stuffed away or secure in our heart, I think most have a list. It might be big: becoming president, curing cancer or advancing world peace. It might be personal: having a child, running a marathon or visiting a foreign country.

One thing vanished from my list recently after recording my first hole-in-one. On a par-3, 165-yard hole, a properly struck seven-iron ended up in the cup. The guys in our three...

This week's Pep Talk Blog: "PRIDE vs. PITA"

I was on the phone with a dear friend, and during the course of the conversation, she got around to speaking of her children. One of her daughters had a situation at school that was challenging. "Boy," she groaned, "There's an administrator at my daughter's school who is really acting like a pita."

A perplexed look came across my face as I asked, "What the heck is a pita?" She went on to explain that "pita" is an acronym for "pain in the ass." I had never heard that before and got a pretty goo...

This week's Pep Talk Blog: "Bang Your Drum"

It was a cool and blustery first day of May, a Saturday, as I exited the gym. Workout behind me and short walk - nearby service station for car after oil change - in front of me, the moment was interrupted by my cell phone ringing.

It was a wonderful interruption. As I walked, a friend described in great detail what I encourage others to remember in each Pep Talk musing or message: "the more we give, the more we receive."

I have known Lisa Girard for many years. We worked together in the televi...

This week's Pep Talk: Perseverance and Principle

It was a Saturday morning, a buddy who takes care of my lawn sprinklers and yard lights is making a few minor adjustments to each, I'm chatting with him while picking weeds when the conversation turns to John Wooden. The legendary basketball coach, who won ten national titles with UCLA, had died the day before. "Do you realize Wooden did not win his first national title at UCLA until his 16th season?" my buddy suggested.

I paused with the pulling and pondered that fact. "Really?" was my surpri...