Blog Posts From Active Team Sports Tagged With sports

Tony Dungy, Great Man, Great Coach

Michael Husted — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:39:22 GMT

I just got off the phone with Tony Dungy. I had called my old special teams coach Joe Marciano, who is now the special teams coordinator for the Houston Texans. I left him a message asking for Tony's cell number so that I could contact him. Joe called me back and told me that he had just got off the phone with Tony and that Tony was looking for my number. That is a "Goocher" in my book.

Tony has decided that he is ready to move on to the next chapter in his life. It was great to hear Tony's voice. It had been some time since I had spoken with him. Espn wrote some great articles on Tony. One in particular was about me and how he handled a slump that I went through in 1997 when my mother was dying of cancer: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcsouth/0-7-74/A-Dungy-story-you-may-not-have-heard.html

Being an athlete and/or a coach is demanding enough. However, how we handle both victory and defeat provides the opportunity to demonstrate character. The NFL is a "machine" and I have seen many people change under its grips. I have heard coaches tell our team one thing, only to have something else happen. That was never the case with Tony. With the amount of money and pressure that is found in the NFL, Tony never allowed it to control him. His faith in man-kind is strong. His faith in God is stronger. This man "Walks the Walk."

I will forever be grateful to Tony not only for how he handled my situation, but how fortunate I am to have him as a friend and the impact that he has had on my life.

A Playbook for the Rest of Your Life

Michael Husted — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:49:33 GMT

Through my experience playing in the NFL and being a union

representative for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I saw first-hand what

happens to athletes when their playing days come to an end and they

haven't prepared for their second career. A very small percentage of

athletes make it to the pros. Of those who do, a smaller percentage

play long enough to retire comfortably for the rest of their lives.

In the NFL alone, the average career is only 3.5 years. You don't qualify

to become an unrestricted free agent (where the big contracts are

usually signed) until you have played four years.

There are a lot of sad stories about pro athletes who didn't prepare themselves

enough for life after their sports career is over. Don't let that

happen to you. It is a long shot to play professional sports. However,

going to college, playing the sport you love and getting a great

education will provide you with an incredible experience that will carry

you through the rest of your life.

No matter what sport you play, your coach develops plays that you use to help the team win. Most

teams have a playbook. Being a student-athlete and trying to have a

game plan for college requires its own "playbook." The NCAA has done a

great job trying to take the burden off of athletes and parents by

creating a game plan to follow. The process to get into college can be

overwhelming. However, using the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete is a very smart thing to do.

Have you gone to NCAAStudent.org site? It is a really cool interactive site.

It is essentially a playbook with information about being an NCAA

student-athlete.

The site itself was designed to look like a playbook. It is a three-ring binder that "is dedicated to helping you

understand the balance between academics and sports required of every student-athlete for a successful life in school, and out. Here you can learn about the NCAA, download the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, and discover how you can go pro in something other than sports."

When you go to the site, the first words that you read are: There are over

380,000 student-athletes, and just about every one of them will go pro

in something other than sports.

I really enjoy the emphasis that the NCAA has put on "going pro" in something other than sports. The

inside folder pocket has an envelope with pictures that open to the

television commercials they have played.

I certainly was not aware of the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete

when I was in high school and there wasn't an interactive website for

me to review. The site and its design effectively simplify the

information.

This playbook discusses:

Amateurism-Eligibility Requirements
Academic-Eligibility Requirements
Core Course, GPA, Tests, Special Conditions
NCAA Eligibility Center
Questions to Ask as You Consider Colleges
Information for Parents and Guardians
Details for High School Counselors and Athletic Administrators
Recruiting Regulations

The media gives a lot of emphasis to professional athletes and thus every

kid wants to grow up to be one. I can tell you personally that although

it is a great experience, it sometimes is not all that it is cracked up

to be.

So check out the site, read it, download the playbook

and follow it. I am confident that if you follow the plays in this

playbook you will be successful.

Sports Weekly - 4/11/08

Active Sara — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:08:15 GMT

Who doesn’t love a good t-shirt? I know I do. ESPN recently published some of the t-shirt slogans that didn’t make the cut in the MLB online team shops. My two favorite slogans just so happen to be from the two teams I love to watch play each other the most – the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Check out Rejected T-shirt slogans to view some of these hysterical MLB rejected t-shirt slogans.

Do you refer to the sport as soccer or football? Well, no matter what you call it you will love this video of the top 50 goals.

How extreme is extreme? Well, a recent photo essay by TIME will show you just what it means to push the limits. The North Pole Marathon, which is run entirely across the frozen Arctic Ocean, is just one of the 13 most Extreme Marathons in the world.

Andy Roddick has the fastest serve recorded in pro tennis at 155 mph. Watch this Active video…

Anyone else thinking, “I wish I could serve like that?” These 10 Tips for Faster Serves from Active will help you be more like the legend himself.

I would assume everyone has at least some knowledge of the protests going on regarding the Olympics and Torch Relay, but have you played the video game in which your goal is to "navigate the Olympic torch away from angry protesters." It is an interesting way of handling the situation to say the least, brought to you by ESPN. Play Torch Run and let us know your thoughts on the game and the situation.

Have you found anything interesting recently? Share it!