WINNING!

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t do things right once in a while; you do things right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

There is no room for second place. There is only on place in a game, and that’s the first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he’s got to play from the ground up- from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That’s O.K. you’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different from running any other kind of organization-an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win- to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don’t think it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they are there-to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get into the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules-but to win.

And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

I don’t say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or the man must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in GOD, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour- his greatest fulfillment to all the he holds dear-is that moment when he has to work his heart out for a good cause and he’s exhausted on the field of battle-victorious.

---- Vince Lombardi
(P.S. For those of you who dont know, Vince Lombardi was one of the most successful head coaches in the history of American Football. He was the driving force of Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967 and won 5 NFL tournaments during his 9 year tenure.

The 153rd day of 2007

Today was a different day not because it is the 153rd day of this year (for those of you who are still scratcing their heads trying to figure out the date its June 2nd) but because how this day made me do certain things I would never normally do.

What started as a very ordinary and to an extent boring day ended to be one of the more fulfilling days. After getting up horribly late and having one of the laziest afternoons in recent times, I had got ready to go for my cross-country walks ( a desperate attempt to burn up those extra calories, or maybe more of an escape route to make me feel less pathetic about my growing waistline). Well I was just about to leave when I got a call from one of my friends who actually had got his long awaited car delivered and was proposing if I am up for a drive. I could already see a silver lining :-). Incidentally Aerosmith was performing LIVE that day in Bangalore (and even though I never made a sincere attempt to get tickets for the show) suddenly the whole idea of going to the show (of course without ticket) seemed quite appealing. And the whole idea of driving a new car on Sat night in Blore roads (incidentally thats the only time Blore roads are a bit empty) was just too much for me. So off we went, 3 of us for the concert and after some moving around reached the concert venue. Well we started walking towards the stage, expecting anytime a cop would spring up asking for tickets and we might as well have to end our adventure there. To my surprise none came, we kept walking in till the point where we were next to the VIP entrance of the concert ( a freaking 1800 bucks). And what served as the perfect icing on the top was the fact that the show wasnt over and we got to see them performing arguably their most famous number "I dont wanna miss a thing".

Well I am an optimist but I guess this exceeded all my expectations. We returned after the show feeling like warriors after winning a battle, proud of our accomplishment. Well that was not all, after the show we ended up going to one of my friend's place (who was leaving for US the same night). We reached at 1, scared her mom who mistook us for some thugs :-) helped him pack up a bit and after exchanging the normal pleasantries finally reached home (ya this time I meant my home sweet home) at around 2:30.

Incidentally this was the first time I properly drove a car in namma bengaluru........