Be an Improbable Hero
What improbable heroes do you know? Sports Illustrated named the 1983 North Carolina State University Wolfpack’s win over #1 University of Houston as the greatest sports moment of the 20th century.
I became aware of Jim Valvano in 1993 for his Espy’s speech…
I had seen clips of the 30 foot Dereck Whittenburg airball that turned into a Lorenzo Charles dunk and Jimmy V running around looking for somebody to hug many, many times.
But until I watched the 30 for 30 deep dive into their run on Netflix, I had no idea the absolute absurdity and improbability of their win and what they truly accomplished leading up to beating #1 Houston led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.
The ACC tournament – they are up against guys like Michael Jordan at North Carolina who won the year before, and Ralph Sampson at Virginia… and somehow manage to win both games in come from behind victories to win the ACC tournament – which is the reason they made it into the NCAA tournament.
They won 9 of their last 13 games by 4 points or fewer.
Even into the NCAA tournament, they had multiple games where they trailed in double digits only to manage to turn it around, sometimes with seemingly ludicrous fouls in the final minutes to force players to the line to take stressful foul shots.
Jimmy V loved and believed in his players. They had incredible team chemistry.
Some of my favorite Jimmy V quotes:
“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”
“The most important thing in life is to dare. The most complicated thing in life is to be afraid. The smartest thing in the world is to try to be a moral person.”
“Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul.”
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: He believed in me.”
“There are 86,400 seconds in a day. It’s up to you to decide what to do with them.”
Think about your favorite heroes…
I’ve seen some of mine at their peaks and at their valleys. They are human.
I’ve watched my parents age but their greatness doesn’t diminish.
I’ve seen mentors struggle – which makes them more real.
I’ve seen my favorite athletes grow old.
I am blessed to get a lot of fan mail, mentor a lot of folks, get to lead an amazing team, get asked to do a lot of shows and have interacted with amazing people around the world – but it didn’t start like that – it has taken decades of loss, being humbled and becoming selfless.
If you can harness what you’re great at – or even just good at – and use it to solve problems for others and make everyone around you better in some way, you can literally do anything.
#Inspiration #TeamChemistry #Resilience #NeverGiveUp #LeadershipLessons #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork #BelieveInYourself #OvercomeAdversity #Motivation
