I've been sitting on the couch with Isabel and Peter, watching VCU and Butler in the Final Four Battle of the Underdogs, and I think it's kind of cool that one of them was guaranteed a spot in the final. Looks like it's going to be Butler. Go Bulldogs. Can't say, as a Louisville alum, that I'm all that excited about either Kentucky or UConn this year.
Anyway, watching The Underdogs made me think of Jimmy V.
I wrote about him a while ago, on one of my special anniversaries, though he's certainly well-known without me writing about him. Jim Valvano is probably best remembered. The first was coaching the North Carolina State men's basketball team to an NCAA championship in 1983. His team was the heavy underdog -- like Butler will be -- and the video of him running around, looking fo someone to hug, gets shown every year at tournament time.
But the second thing he was most famous for was a speech he gave at the ESPY awards ten years later, when he recieved the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. In his speech, he announced the creation of The V Foundation, which funds cancer research.
The speech kills me every time. It shows a man who has no illusions about where he is and what he wants, and who is clearly prepared to fight for it. And he gives some excellent advice about day-to-day living: make sure every day that you try to laugh, to cry, and to think. Not as hard as it might seem. It is, really, about living your life fully.
Here's the speech. Watch and remember what he has to say.
Anyway, watching The Underdogs made me think of Jimmy V.
I wrote about him a while ago, on one of my special anniversaries, though he's certainly well-known without me writing about him. Jim Valvano is probably best remembered. The first was coaching the North Carolina State men's basketball team to an NCAA championship in 1983. His team was the heavy underdog -- like Butler will be -- and the video of him running around, looking fo someone to hug, gets shown every year at tournament time.
But the second thing he was most famous for was a speech he gave at the ESPY awards ten years later, when he recieved the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. In his speech, he announced the creation of The V Foundation, which funds cancer research.
The speech kills me every time. It shows a man who has no illusions about where he is and what he wants, and who is clearly prepared to fight for it. And he gives some excellent advice about day-to-day living: make sure every day that you try to laugh, to cry, and to think. Not as hard as it might seem. It is, really, about living your life fully.
Here's the speech. Watch and remember what he has to say.
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