Hockey Chat:  With the NHL expansion in the late 1960s and the emergence of skilled players like Wayne Gretzky, enforcers became more common.  Their role was to try to knock those skilled guys on the other team off of their game.  The enforcers were poor at nearly everything else because their main role was to hunt down the good guy and get ‘em and they spent their ice time doing just that.

I had the privilege of working with Texas high school football coach GaryGaines, best known as the former head coach of State Football Champion Odessa Permian High School as spotlighted in both the book and movie, Friday Night Lights. Gary would often muse, “Coaching would be the perfect profession if only it did not involve the massive highs of winning or the bottomless depths that come about from losing. The extremes are too huge.”

In his book "Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way," Pope John Paul II took a chapter to talk about the steps he used as a new bishop to initiate fellowship. He wrote that prayer prepared him for his encounters with others. He suggested that we pray for everyone every day, and also offered that praying as soon as you meet someone would help in all relationships.

If you want to know how much an athlete loves his or her particular sport, find out about that athlete’s daily routine. The basketball player might shoot hundreds of jump shots and free throws. The baseball or softball player will likely spend an entire afternoon in the batting cage. The weightlifter can probably be found doing reps in the gym before and after class. The cross-country runner can usually be spotted jogging along the city’s sidewalks.

Why do these athletes discipline themselves to such regimented and demanding workouts? They put in the time because they are driven to succeed. They are driven to be the best. And, ultimately, it’s this simple: They have a passion for athletic competition.