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The key to much of our success in all of life’s endeavors is not the will to win; everyone wants to win. The key is the will to prepare. When the AHSAA called me back in the spring and invited us to play 3A State Champion Leeds, I understood what a task this would be. Not only had they won the ‘08 Championship, they had a dominating defense that shut out something like 8 teams last year. Scoring double figures on them was deemed impossible. As I pondered the invitation, two things stood above all else:
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I knew that our team would want to play
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I knew they would prepare like a championship team
As it has tuned out I was right on both accounts. The effort of this team at preseason practice has been solid. They took no days off. Because they understood the task in front of them and the tradition behind them.
In October 1974, Muhammed Ali faced heavyweight champion George Foreman in Zaire, Africa for the Heavyweight Championship of the world. Ali, the former champ, was much older than the young champion. Foreman had won the title by knocking out the invincible Joe Frazier several months before. No one wanted any part of the young champion. When the match with Ali was set, sportswriters everywhere predicted Ali’s doom and some feared for his health. But Ali understood his strengths and decided to use them to his advantage.
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ALI WAS WILLING TO SUFFER TO BE CHAMPION AGAIN. No one could train like Ali. He could push himself to incredible limits. While Foreman was busy being champion, Ali quielty trained and suffered. He got in the best physical shape of his career to handle the heat and humidity of Zaire. He knew the match would be won at the end.
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ALI HAD A PLAN. He had a brilliant plan to rope a dope Foreman and tire him out. His strategy was risky at best. He left himself open to great criticism if it did not work. It was the opposite of what most thought you must do to have a chance against Foreman. But it worked brilliantly. As the fight went on, Foreman’s massive arms and legs grew weak.
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ALI HAD THE COURAGE TO GO FOR THE WIN WITHOUT CONCERN ABOUT DEFEAT. When the fight opened Ali challenged Foreman in the middle of the ring and the first round was very physical. He sent a message that he had come to win, not to survive. The tactic shocked Foreman who was used to seeing opponents duck and dodge and try to stay away from him early.
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ALI BELIEVED HE COULD WIN. He spent weeks convincing himself that his plan, his condition ing and his courage would give him the victory. He had convinced himself so much that after Foreman entered the stadium announced as the heavyweight champion, Ali walked in to the cheers shouting, “Here is the heavyweight champion!” Of all of his attributes, Ali was great because of his great heart and great courage. When Foreman was so tired he could barely lift his arms, Ali went for the victory. A crushing right hand sent Foreman to the canvas and made Ali champion once again.
This is just a preseason game and not a championship. But how do you prepare to fight a champion without giving your best effort. At the end if the day, it is not about the victory or an old champion desiring to defeat a new one. It is about how you feel about yourself, what you learned from this challenge and where you are going in the future. When you walk off the field, will the fans and players from the past feel a certain pride about the performance of the 2009 edition of T.R. MIller football? Have you built toughness through suffering? Do you know your plan? Do you have the courage to go for the victory without concern for defeat? Do you believe in yourself, your teammates and your team?
“Suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion!”
Muhammed Ali 1967
