STAR
September,
2007
VINCE LOMBARDI
June 11th, 1913 - September 3rd, 1970
by
– G. K. Holland
“The quality of a person's life is in
direct
proportion to their commitment
to
excellence, regardless of their chosen
field of
endeavor.” – Vince Lombardi
No Time Outs from Destiny
Just before training camp for his second season with the
Washington Redskins, Lombardi was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in latter part
of June in1970. Lombardi had been a
long-time sufferer of digestive tract problems, and he had avoided going to the
doctor for colonoscopies, and this delay may very well have hastened his death.
Destiny would give him no time outs, no extra time earned to live past the
cancer. He was eventually treated at the
Leadership
is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow..” -– Vince
Lombardi
Lombardi – Boy Do We Need Him Now
Boy do we need him now,
with all the scandals currently plaguing
professional sports during 2007 alone, it would seem a major do over of
sport conduct and ethics is severely needed. In a perfect world, if Vince
Lombardi could come back just for one season, he would certainly stir things up
and turn things around. It would seem all the things he stood for would somehow
step up and challenge all that is wrong with professional sports these days. If
he came back just for a season, I feel he would leave an indomitable print upon
the entire league long lost but much needed to be felt again. I think his
veracity for excellence would ignite a brush fire of wills across the entire
NFL, and other troubled spots in a number of professional sports. It would seem
out of control pay has stifled and smothered what was once fertile regions of
the heart and soul of professional sports. Surely when money becomes the major
prize in place of honor and integrity and upholding a certain image the public
craves, in fact deserves, then the end result seems to be a far less tangible
or desirable end.
‘Boy Do We Need Him
Now’, indeed. This is not to say that there are no outstanding coaches
coordinating the field of football battles today. Rather, there seems to not be
enough ethical fiber being woven certainly as individuals, but also as a whole.
It would seem that in the days of old, there was an unwritten code of honor
among those who were special enough, gifted enough to see beyond the fame, the
money, beyond even the play itself, and see a much higher calling at work. The
professional athlete is a modern day kind of gladiator, a beacon to those
things many find lacking in themselves. This includes the amateur athlete as
well because it is there that one polishes one’s skill that he or she might
rise to a higher level of play.
Therefore it is all the
more tragic when scandal after scandal arises in professional sports,
tarnishing the image of sports in general.
It is interesting that this all comes at a time when obesity in the
young across the U.S. are being found increasingly at risk to worsening health
due to poor diets in the school systems because there is a direct correlation
between what is experienced as being a method towards personal growth and
improvement (sports) and what is perceived. On a wider social scale this is
quite the damaging foul play. That a gladiator will fall to the sometimes
seducing spoils of fame and wealth is perhaps expected, but not one after
another, after another. It is time for a reconciliation between the heart of
professional sports and its ethical pulse.
Winning Takes Us -
Beyond September 11th
In addition to Lombardi's contributions to the history of
professional football, Lombardi is legendary for his coaching philosophy and
motivational skills. Many of Lombardi's speeches continue to be quoted
frequently today, and he is well known as being unequivocally committed to
winning. One of his most famous maxims is "Winning isn't everything; it's
the only thing", although he did not coin the phrase and the exact words
he used are debated upon, "Lombardi time" is the principle that a
person show up at least 15, minutes early, least they be considered late.
And certainly the unbreakable spirit of rising above the
ashes (as we are reminded of all who were lost on September 11th),
the importance of winning trickles down and resonates up from the smallest,
simplest and grandest moments of life. From the fireman who saves the woman and
her baby from the burning building, to the doctor who saves a life if but only
by their kindness and compassion, to the talented singer who can move our very
souls by a simple but heart felt melody, to the architect who designs
structures that may stand for a hundred years, to the teacher who’s care and
encouragement helps to mold our next president, inventor, scientist, or gifted
artist, to the good Samaritan who takes the time to acknowledge and help the
homeless hungry stranger longing for just a hug as he or she, cuddles in the
corner against the hard concrete wall, to the husband and wife who make the
commitment everyday to love and keep their family together, through the bad as
well as the good times. All of these people in all of those moments whether
they realize it or not are putting ‘the mastery of winning’ as Lombardi lived
it, into play. If you simply took the time to just smile at someone, or extend
a kind gesture, you are winning because you are allowing that other person to
win as well.
Vince Lombardi
in the midst of athletic war and game strategy, the place he loved best. Middle
photo – bigger than life statue at Green Bay
Lombardi
Walked In Places Forgotten by Feet
“We are not of those who turn back to perdition.
We
walk in places forgotten by feet. Indeed, we,
are, Ken Ju Kai! – Jebadiah the Prophet Star Walker Radio Episodes
The
elite warriors of Star Walker who train those destined to be Star Walkers are
said to ‘walk in places forgotten by feet’. In other words, the Ken Ju Kai
train and embrace a doctrine so embedded in excellence that their courage and
skill and enlightenment takes them to places once walked by many, but now
walked by only the chosen few. Vince Lombardi walked in places much of the
world of professional sports seems to have forgotten. Like the Ken Ju Kai of
Star Walker, Vince Lombardi walked in places forgotten by feet.
Vince Lombardi you
embrace so much of what Star Walker is about and what it represents that we
acknowledge your great and inspiring story of the mastery of winning. And you
did that in a sport that so much parallels life itself, thereby you leave us
valuable lessons that can be applied to life.
The spirit of
winning teaches us that even in defeat, we win, if, we rise. It is not that a
man might stumble and fall, but it is what he does after he falls that makes
the difference. If the consequences of life cause you to stumble, or if that
stumbling is somehow of your own making, I say to you, ‘get up’ and finish what
you were born to begin and walk in places your feet may have forgotten. I
assure you that even if you show just a little bit of courage, even God will
have no choice but to guide you through, so potent is the spirit of winning.
Within the ranks
of the elite warriors known as Ken Ju Kai (from the world of Star Walker), we
extend to you the honorary 7th Rank Ken Ju Kai. We are inspired by your
subscription and master of the ‘art of winning’. May god continue to embrace
and keep your spirit.
Commenteors –
What other people have to say about this Star Walker of the Month, these
commentaries are like comets and meteors, brief but prolific and enlightening –
sure to leave a trail of insightfulness across your heart - what we call
Commenteors.
To Star Walk –
Click here and find the star of Vince Lombardi as he is forever remembered in
the galaxy of the stars within the Star Walker Universe. View and watch the
skies slowly fill in the coming months and years as the light of Star Walker,
after Star Walker, after Star Walker fills the heavens. We do this as an
interactive tribute to those who have through fate, destiny, and even under
divine purpose, left the rest of us behind, as well as to those who are still
with us.
Star
Past Star Walkers
of the Month:
December
2006 - Paul Allen Knopf
November
2006 - Princess Diana