Tip of the Week

There have been a number of memorable stories from the Olympics the past two weeks.  Let’s end them by remembering two incidents which show athletes acknowledging that some things are bigger than the game as they stop what they are doing to honor the national anthem. First, you can see this US pole vaulter stop…

Good Uber driver Ellis Hill had a passenger, Liz Willock,  who said she knew an Olympic swimmer.  Hill said his son was a shot putter on the US team.  When Willock learned that he couldn’t afford to go see his son compete because of the expense, she volunteered to raise the money to get him…

As the Olympics begin, we do well to recall the “Olympic spirit” – what is it?  A starting place could be the Olympic creed: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.…

Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey were inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame last weekend. Both gave emotional speeches.  Griffey, with tears in his eyes, remembered that he never would have made it without the unconditional support of his father.  In the same way, Piazza, referring to all of the other Hall of Famers present…

It appears that the entire Russian team may be barred from the Olympics, not just the track team, for using illegal drugs to gain a competitive advantage.  What does this have to do with the Code?  The Code says, “I will play within the letter and the spirit of the rules of my sport.”  Winning…

Who is the greatest player not to have a “victory” celebration retirement?  And why not?  Here’s part of the story of Tim Duncan taken from Yahoo sports: San Antonio Spurs big man Tim Duncan, a five-time NBA champion, two-time Most Valuable Player and three-time NBA Finals MVP regarded by many as the greatest power forward of…

Pat Summitt received the Wooden Cup four years ago because she represented the highest and best values in sport.  A great athlete, and a great coach, it was the values that undergirded who she was that made her one of the great role models of our time.  Every player she coached at Tennessee graduated.  No…

Not long ago LeBron James held a dinner at his house for the team.  He stood up during the meal and systematically addressed each member of the team and told them why they were important to the team, and that if they all did their part a championship was possible.  The Code says, “I will…

Draymond Green of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors was suspended for one game because he had collected his fourth flagrant foul in the post season.  A flagrant foul is one which is excessive and in which a person could be injured.  It is extremely rare for a flagrant foul to be accidental.  Flagrant fouls represent…

Muhammad Ali was declared the “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated at the end of the last Century.  He was the most recognized person in the world for many years.  Yet his career began as a loud-mouthed upstart (the “Louisville Lip”) who angered the vast majority of white America for his brashness and lack…