Off-Season Training

Lifted weights upwards of 4 hours in the morning, broke for lunch, then did running in the afternoon (e.g., miles, 880's, 440's, etc.).

I knew it was necessary for me to work harder than anybody in front of me to have any chance of getting playing time.

In the years since, that lesson has been forgotten. Until recently.

When I finish this book, I'll know the lesson has been re-learned.

Once I'm out on book tours and interviews, I might be able to claim that I've finally come off of the bench.

And it will have only taken me 25 years.

Sure beats the alternative.

Lessons Re-Learned ("You Have to Try")

Years after my dad gave me the words of wisdom about "you have to try... otherwise you'll be looking back when you're thirty wondering if you could have made the team", there was a bit of role reversal with my nephew, Nicholas.

When my dad gave me his words, I was a teenager, and he was in his thirties. When I re-learned the lesson, Nick was in his teens, and I was in my 40's.


He asked me if I'd thought of going back to be a comedian again.

I heard myself saying, "Well, I'd really like to, but...".

If you ever hear yourself saying, "Well, I'd really like to, but..."... stop whatever you're doing, and go do that thing that you'd really like to do.

There is no "but"... aside from the "but" loaded with lame excuses.

This isn't a dress rehearsal.

The years will pass whether you're doing the things you dream of doing or not.

In the words of the Nike corporation, just do it.

For years, I forgot. I slipped into a "normal" life. I forgot the words of my dad, and the lessons I learned about hard work on the USC football team.

It's not too late for me, and it's not too late for you. If you want a bunch of stories about people who got "late" starts in life, there's plenty of motivational materials you can buy. I won't regurgitate them here (though I have provided a list of recommended reading). It boils down to one simple idea. Do it.

In the words of my dad, here's a toast...

"Here's to it, from it, and to it again. If you ever get to it to do it, and don't do it, may you never get to it to do it again."

Actually, I believe in second chances, but his words are still true in a lot of cases. Sometimes you don't get a second chance. You can't go back. There's no Mulligan. So, why not treat all of your opportunities that way? You never know which ones are going to be "once in a lifetime" opportunities.

As Bruno once said, "Don't just think about it, do it".

Wind Sprints

Anybody who's played football remembers "wind sprints".

Wind sprints sucked.

For those of you who never experienced them, here's what happens...

At the end of practice, the entire team lines up at one end of the field. Everbody has to sprint to the other end of the field, usually the entire 100 yard distance, then turn around and do it again. And again. And again.

"One more", the coaches keep yelling in between.

What they mean by "one more" isn't that we only have one more to go. It means we will keep running "one more" until we can't run anymore. And then we'll run "one more".

The wind sprints soon turn into wind jogs. Then wind walks. Finally, wind crawls.

Everybody is bending over between "sprints" (or crawls), gasping for air.

Coaches can be evil.

But there's a reason.

If you haven't already figured it out (or even if you have), they do this to prepare us for the end of the game. When it comes down to crunch time... the proverbial "4th and goal to go with 4 seconds to go in the 4th quarter"... the team that wins is going to be the team that's in the best shape... mentally and physically.

You have to give all you can give... and then give a little bit more.

Wind sprints sucked.

The results were worth it.