Donovan, Isner, and the Hurricanes

The last couple of days have been monumental sports days for fans of our generation.

I believe that Landon Donovan's late game heroic goal could have changed the plight of American soccer for good. I think the state of the game of soccer was in trouble in America if our team would have been sent home after yet another tie. His goal put us in the "bracket of hope" at the World Cup and I actually look forward to the next match. Had we had another tie (which in my opinion is a very frustrating result to any competitive game), I would not have cared about soccer for another 4 years. That goal gives us a hero, hope, and one more reason to care for America's sporting step-child.

If you don't follow tennis, I understand. But the war of attrition that became the match at the biggest tournament of the year, Wimbledon, was absolutely mind boggling. American John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut in a fifth set. The score of the fifth set was 70-68. Most major tournaments have gone to a tiebreaker even in the 5th set. That matched proved the drama that I think should change that rule back to eliminating them in the major tournaments. The fifth set lasted 8 hours which is 1 1/2 hours longer than any completed match in the history of the sport. The total time of the match was over 11 hours. Next time you put in an exhausting 11 hour day, imagine having to do that while swinging a racket and charging the net thousands of times. Exhausting! I love tennis and still play as much as possible and played in leagues before I left Houston. I always fell apart in the third set of matches because I was not in great shape. Once I hit the second hour of play, I was spent. I cannot imagine the level of physical and mental toughness it takes to play for 11 hours. Isner lost his match this morning in three easy straight sets 6-3,6-0,6-2. I don't think anyone can blame him for running out of gas. Historical! Tip of the cap to Isner, I am glad it was an American.

The lessons learned are seizing opportunities like Donovan and mental toughness like Isner's. Another impressive group that I experienced yesterday was the Flomaton Lady Hurricanes.

Flomaton is a small town in Alabama of about 1500 on the Florida panhandle border about 45 minutes from Pensacola. They are coached by Leroy Steele and Jarrod Green. Coach Steele cold-called me a couple of weeks ago about coming down to do a one day satellite camp at their high school with his girls. I have a heart for a coach that cares enough about his kids to put in the time and effort to calling some college coaches to bring them in to help get their team better. I agreed to do a 2-5 PM camp yesterday in exchange for their time over dinner so we could talk about that area from a recruiting standpoint and so we could talk x's and o's. I was extremely impressed with the talent and coachability of the kids. I have alot of respect for kids that will take their afternoons over the summer and make it a priority to get off their backsides and get into a gym to get better for the sake of their own health and their team's goals. I have become a fan of their program and will be watching their results this season for sure. I consider the coaches new found friends. I was reminded about the commitment it takes to be a championship calibur program by the Lady Hurricanes. Thanks Ladies!

Blessings,

Reed