February 4th, 2014 | Uncategorized
Hi everyone! Hope this blog post catches everyone on a great start to the week! This past weekend, we had two tough away games against the two best teams in our league. We lost both to the two Cup Finalist teams, Limerick and Glanmire. Losing is never easy for anyone, and with how competitive I am I take every loss to heart. Playing hundreds of games in my lifetime, it never gets easier. I’ve put in countless hours of hard work and preparation towards this sport, and it is hard to handle when you do not succeed. However, I was reminded this weekend about one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from sports.
This weekend, as most of you probably know, the Denver Broncos were badly beaten by the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. The Broncos were the favorite to win, but came up short in the most important game of the year. Neither team has ever been my favorite, but I had one reason to be cheering for the Broncos, and that reason is Peyton Manning. He’s someone I have looked up to for a long time as an athlete, not only for how tremendous he is on the field, but for the person and leader he is known for being off the field. He is the epitome of hard work and class.
He proved this class and leadership at the post game on Sunday. I read many articles following the game, to see how Peyton handled the loss. The more I read, the more my respect for him continued to grow. One article talked about how he gave autographs to fans after a very tough press conference. One article spoke about his praise of both his team and the opposing team. One article spoke about how he immediately asked how one of the players on the opposing team was doing after an injury during the game. With someone as competitive as he is, it would have been easy for him to crawl into a hole, avoid everyone in the public, and blame other people. Yet, he did the exact opposite. He is a legend on the field, but an inspiration to all on and off the field. He is humble, respectful and a true competitor. His sportsmanship is also incredible; he acts with class after both victory and defeat.
He shows that no matter whether you win or lose, it’s all about how you treat people. I believe what really matters about a person is how he or she treats people and also how they treat people in moments of defeat. He is an inspiration to me, and a true role model for people of all ages.
