In 1990 a 6’3” quarterback from Bellingham, Washington finished his standout career as the quarterback for Northeast Louisiana University. As the career leader in multiple passing categories for the Warhawks, Doug Pederson awaited for his name to be called in the National Football League draft. His name was unfortunately skipped in the draft, but he was able to sign a contract with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.
The 1991 season would be Pederson’s first of a seven year career in the NFL with a few years of experience quarterbacking overseas. In seven years as an NFL quarterback…
With the 44th selection in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft, the Cincinnati Reds selected a left-handed hitting first baseman out of Richview Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Ontario. The second round pick was committed to attend Coastal Carolina University before agreeing to head into professional baseball in the Cincinnati Reds organization.
After five years in the minor league system, Joey Votto made his debut on September 4, 2007, against the New York Mets. He finished the 2007 season with the major league club before fully joining the team in the following season as he split time with a journeyman first-basemen…
On January 8th, 2009 the University of Florida Gators squared off against the University of Oklahoma Sooners for the BCS National Championship to determine who was the top college football team in the land. Over 78,000 fans packed into Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida, to see two storied programs lock horns. Having gone an impressive 13–1 in the 2008 season with six wins against Top 25 opponents — the Florida Gators held a ten point lead as the final seconds ticked off, giving the Gators their second national championship in three years under head coach, Urban Meyer.
Having arrived at…
Why You Shouldn’t Quit: The Story of Tim Grover. Three Fears We Must Embrace.
In the early 1980’s Tim Grover was working as a personal fitness trainer at an obscure Chicago health club. A former NCAA division I basketball player at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Grover was eager to train basketball players. With a desire to train professional basketball players he began reaching out to the Chicago Bulls training staff hoping to gain a foot in the door towards possibly training some of their players privately. Really he was wanting to train with ANY of their players. Any. The Chicago…
In July of 2018 our son Judah was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We brought him home after he was born at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. After we loaded him up in our car we cautiously took a right-hand turn onto Chicago Avenue South and went north. After three miles of winding through the streets of downtown Minneapolis we carried Judah up to his new room in our two bedroom apartment.
Had we taken a left on Chicago Avenue South after leaving the hospital and headed south one mile, instead of north towards our apartment, we would have driven to Cup Foods…
In the fall of 1994, the motion picture written and directed by Frank Darabont titled The Shawshank Redemption hit theaters throughout the United States. The film starred actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman with a captivating story and plot line. Darabont wrote the script himself basing it after the 1982 Stephen King novel, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption in which the main character Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) was sentenced to life in prison despite claiming he was innocent. …
In the spring of 1971 a 6-foot-11 center from Cypress College in California was in search of an NCAA division I basketball scholarship. A junior college all-american, the former Dutch immigrant drew the attention of many small division I programs. His college coach at Cypress College, Don Johnson felt he could aim higher. After some convincing, the legendary coach John Wooden offered him a scholarship to join the already established dynasty at UCLA. Swen Nater would join the Bruins for his final two years of college basketball. He would go on to be a backup for the Bruins, never starting…
Tim Howard started playing soccer at a young age. Never really an enthusiast for school or the classroom environment; Howard loved sports. After playing T-ball and hating it, his mother signed him up for soccer. At first he hated it as well. He couldn’t dribble, wasn’t coordinated enough to pass or shoot, but was bigger than all his peers. His youth coach convinced him to play goalie because of his towering size over his peers and his fearlessness of the ball in goal. …
In June of 1944 the world was at war. The world’s greatest global conflict was five years deep and the world powers involved were now in a gridlock. On both sides of a small body of water that separates France from the United Kingdom known as The English Channel sat two of the world’s most equipped war machines. The Allied Powers and the Axis Powers were preparing for a critical crescendo on the coast of western Europe. Involved in this conflict on the channel were some of history’s most recognized and celebrated military leaders. The German Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. Future…
Take a peak at many ‘New Year Resolution lists’ and you will find a few common culprits of habits that most people are seeking to add to their lifestyle. There’s of course the diet component, the exercise more desire, the invest more money, spend less money. You’ll often find a list of “stop” habits — quit smoking, stop watching television all night, stop wasting money on fast food. A common habit that should be at the top of everyone’s list is the desire to read more. Read what? Anything. …
