Are You Going To Drink That?

 Batch has been writing a weekly piece for the HUB paper all season.  He's a pretty good writer, and I enjoy his insight.  Normally I would not choose to post any of his stuff, but this one seems different - dare I say a bit Tony Dungy-esque?  Operative word: perspective.

We are at the midpoint of the season, and we are straddling the fence at 3-3. This past Saturday we lost to Oklahoma State at home. I think this might have been one of the more frustrating losses just because I know how hard the team has been working for the past few weeks. If someone had told me that at this point in the season we would be a 3-3 football team, I wouldn’t have believed it. However, the record is what it is, but there is still a lot of football left to play.


This week we head to Boulder, Colo. to take on the Buffaloes. This is a pivotal point in our season because we have our backs against the wall. I love it! I’m the type of person that loves high-pressure situations where it requires a clutch performance. It’s like the tenth frame in bowling when you’re down by 29 pins and need to strike out! Yes, I just used a bowling reference.


I think the Rolling Stones had it right: “No, you can’t always get what you want; you can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well you just might find. You get what you need.”


With that being said, there are three types of mentalities people can have. Some people have the pessimistic glass half empty mentality. Some people have the optimistic glass half full approach. My mentality is neither. My approach is this: “Are you going to drink that?”


The “are you going to drink that?” mentality is something that I have had to grow up having. It’s the realization that nothing is given and success is not appointed. It’s the “scrappy” mentality. The “scrappy” mentality knows that every day you have to go to work with your lunch pail and hardhat. It’s not being too good for crumbs that are left behind after a banquet because the “scrappy” mentality is always hungry. When the “scrappy” mentality sees a cup left out, whether it is half full or half empty, it asks, “Are you going to drink that?” because the “scrappy” mentality doesn’t know when its next drink will be. The “scrappy” mentality takes nothing for granted.


I am a firm believer that hard work always pays off. Sometimes it might not be when or how you might have imagined, but it always pays off. This week a fan asked me, “So how is the team feeling? The season is lost, huh?” I sat and thought for a minute before I responded, “Absolutely not”. There are still many more cups left to drink.


The easiest thing in the world to do is quit on something. Quitting takes zero effort. Quitting can even be justified with excuses and legitimate reasons at times. When someone quits at something they can even lie to themselves by saying that what they quit on wasn’t that important. To those people with that mentality, this is what I have to say: If it was important enough to start, it is important enough to finish. Don’t quit. Hold on, cling to what is yours until your fingers cramp, and once your fingers cramp switch hands.


Saturday a Rutgers University football player named Eric LeGrand was paralyzed from the neck down after a hit on a kickoff. I encourage everyone to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. After hearing this news everything was put into perspective for me. Most fans don’t like to hear that winning isn’t everything, but it’s not. I’m sorry if that busted your bubble. Football is a game, just like ping-pong. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and it’s important to me, but it’s a game nonetheless.


Life is real. Life is what matters. Helping and investing in others is what’s really important. In this day and age it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of the moment. It’s easy to consume our minds with winning and losing when neither is what life is about. When winning or success becomes everything it’s easy to quit when that is not attained. I challenge everyone to invest. Not in the stock market, but in people. When all is said and done, that’s what it’s about, because when you really think about it, someone invested in you. What you invest in others is the return for your investor. Are you cheating someone out of their investment? Are you a thief? This week’s food for thought is several “gut check” questions.


1. Who invested in you?
2. Are you making a return on their investment?
3. Are you finishing what you started?


And last but not least: Are you going to drink that? Because if not, pass it my way! Wreck em’ and God bless.