Baseball has always been a way of life for Boston Red Sox slugger Adrian Gonzalez. The three-time Gold Glove winner and four-time All-Star has excelled at the game since he first picked up a bat and ball as a young boy in San Diego. But when asked to put his life and nine-year MLB career into perspective, he explains how it has been and always will be about so much more than just the game, “You look at the big picture of life; there’s going to be more time when it’s going to be you and Jesus than in the field.”

He had accepted his dream job as the head football coach in a highly successful school. He had always been successful. He won lots of games and championships in his first few years of coaching and now had just completed his first two losing seasons. He was hearing boos from the public, and his wife could barely take the unending criticism flooding from the stands about her husband.

As a competitor, it is hard to give glory where glory is due, when others deserve it more than we do. Training, discipline, perseverance, and drive are all characteristics that can propel an athlete to the next level, making good athletes into great athletes.

But often after achieving a goal, we feel that it is our hard work that got us to that point. The praise, honor, and glory are focused on us as individual athletes.

Part of FCA’s Competitor’s Creed states:

“I do not trust in myself.

I do not boast in my abilities

or believe in my own strength.

I rely solely on the power of God.

I compete for the pleasure of

my Heavenly Father, the honor of Christ

and the reputation of the Holy Spirit.”

Rick Carlisle took over as coach of the Detroit Pistons and went on to become Coach of the Year because he directed his team to the NBA Eastern Conference finals in back-to-back fifty-win seasons. Unfortunately it wasn’t good enough. Carlisle was fired because the management of the Pistons decided to go in a different direction.

When it comes to excellence, I first have to look at everything through God’s eyes. I look at who Jesus was as the ultimate example of excellence, service, and humility, and all of those values. I look at Him, and I obviously fall short in each of those in comparison to Him. His example is the pure definition of excellence. It all starts with Jesus and looking at Him and His life. You look at the Christian faith and who we are as people, and we all fall short of Christ’s example. But that doesn’t mean we should stop striving for excellence. I think when we give up on that, we sort of miss the whole concept that Jesus teaches us.

Sometimes we are up against opponents who may seem insurmountable, like an all-state player to guard or an all-conference tackle who has completely buried us in the past. Sports psychologists and coaches agree that the way we prepare for competition determines how we will perform in the heat of battle.

Daniel saw a vision of how the world was going to end and was so frightened he was shaking. An angel placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder and reminded him of a few things.

Don’t be afraid. That is a command, not a suggestion. Our training prepares us to meet any challenge. We may not overcome every opponent, but as children of God, we do not need to have fear. God treasures us. He loves us very dearly and will take care of us.

The foundation for success in any sport relies primarily on the mastery of fundamentals. Champion athletes spend time perfecting their skills by focusing on fundamentals. At times it may seem trite, but to error fundamentally could produce devastating miscues! It doesn’t matter at what level you compete, ignore the fundamentals and your performance will suffer.

While watching an NFL game I saw something that made me scream out. I hollered a saying that everyone, especially sports commentators, uses when there is an incredible play. "Are you kidding me???"

Football is a physical game and requires self-control by coaches and players. We know there are consequences when someone loses the ability to control himself or herself. When a coach or a player loses the ability to control his or her emotions, everybody loses. Not only is the one who lost control penalized, but so is the team.

As coaches, we are to be examples of self-control for our players and fellow coaches. It is very easy to allow our emotions to get the best of us at practice or during a game. The situation that causes us to lose it could be a controversial call by a referee, a blown assignment by a player, or something that we have absolutely no control over. The situation is not the important thing; it is how we respond.