Greetings Nick!
MY INSPIRATIONAL STORY THIS WEEK: I love to watch how teams win. I am not always enamored with statistics. It’s more about resolve and how individual players can sacrifice for the better, lay it on the line and perform in the clutch. Doesn’t matter how much fame you have or dollars in the bank account. Let LeBron James serve as your poster boy from now on when I speak of developing your “mindset” and how everything above your neck all connects the dots with your lower body and has the final say with your ultimate performance on the field.
The NBA hasn't really seen a player with LeBron’s physical gifts? He’s rare in that James is at or near tops in his sport with the ability to score, dish out and even defend better than most. But there’s been this knock on his basketball resume that he couldn’t perform in the clutch, especially at the end of games. That was painfully obvious during the 2011 NBA Championship series when Dallas ran past the same Miami cast of players and James averaged a dismal three points in fourth quarters of those six games.
Things were so bad that this past year, an NBA player poll was conducted and James did not receive one single vote for the “player you would want to take the last shot in a game.”
The key for any athlete, no matter their sport, boils down to your STOMACH and STAMINA; WILL POWER and MINDSET that determines many an outcome! At the pro level, the player that can block out the thousands of voices creeping into your head daily will make the difference.
What changed it all this year for LeBron when suddenly he put up Hall of Fame numbers during the recently concluded NBA Playoffs – averaged 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds per game? “He was thinking too much” said Miami teammate Dwayne Wade.
LeBron realized that to manage expectation, to meet expectation, HE HAD TO REMOVE HIMSELF FROM THE EXPECTATION! Last year and in season’s past, LeBron was a tortured soul. Yes, he was hated for his decision to leave Cleveland and then to boast about the numerous championships he would win in Miami.
“The best thing that happened to me two years ago was us losing the Finals, you know, and me playing the way I played. It was the best thing to ever happen to me in my career because basically I got back to the basics. It humbled me. I knew what it was going to have to take, and I was going to have to change as a basketball player, and I was going to have to change as a person to ultimately get what I wanted. “
"It took me to go all the way to the top and then hit rock bottom, basically, to realize what I needed to do as a professional athlete and as a person," James said. “I had to get back to being myself."
Coming to grips with all of this has been one of the great challenges of LeBron’s life. Here’s a superior player. One of the world’s most recognizable faces and wealthiest athletes yet LeBron took it upon himself during the summer of 2011 to strip every part of his living being and face the “demons” head-on that occupied his mind for much too long. He was on a personal mission to reclaim his confidence and joy about playing basketball. He asked for the help of other professionals. He worked on his game and moves around the basket. He sought out other leaders in the sports profession to develop an understanding on what does it take to be a leader? He found out that it’s more than just scoring a lot of points and making a fiery speech before a big game. It took humility, self-evaluation and soul-searching to re-focus LeBron James.
"I was very immature two years ago," said James. "I played to prove people wrong instead of just playing my game, instead of just going out and having fun and playing a game that I grew up loving. One thing that I learned, and someone taught me this, the greatest teacher you can have in life is experience and then confidence to go out and perform in your sport."
The LeBron who'd been skewered with so much hatred for the past two years ... that wasn't him, he said. He absorbed the hate and tried to fight it -- tried to dish it right back, with every move he made. It didn't work -- in fact, it failed epically -- and he wouldn't have gotten his first NBA title without letting it all go and reshaping his mindset.
ALL THE BEST MY FRIEND!
Jim Loria
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“You have got to Win in your Mind before you can Win in Life” – stated by an unknown author
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“Our mistakes don’t make or break us. If we are lucky, they simply reveal who we really are, what we’re really made of. Challenges will come, but if you treat them simply as tests of who you are, you’ll come out of it not bitter and victimized, but smarter and stronger” – stated by Donn Moomaw, Pro Football Player
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“We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future” – stated by Robin Sharma, Author
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“No matter where you are in life right now, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are – it is never too late to be who you are meant to be” – stated by Esther & Jerry Hicks
-------------------------------------------------
“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself” – stated by Mark Caine
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Hi Nick! RE: Weekly Motivational Piece - Dated: June 24, 2012
Greetings Nick!
This player is all but 23-years of age. At 19, he was the consensus National College Basketball Player-of-the-Year. The NBA Rookie-of-the-Year at 20. The youngest player ever to win an NBA scoring title at 21. Today, he is now known as a 3-time NBA scoring champion.
Meet Kevin Durant. Like Drew Brees, QB of the NFL New Orleans Saints, Durant is one of those rare athletes that carries the weight of his sports team franchise and perhaps an entire city on his back. He is one of those rare breeds found in sports. He is a living BRAND who is worshipped by the entire population of Oklahoma City. Yet he is as genuine as they come! He gives as much to the tenth man coming off the bench as he does to the starters. He never travels with a posse or security guards like most NBA superstars. He drives a plain everyday conversion van to-and-from the arena.
The local OKC fans took to Durant from the very beginning. It started off with the little things… people saw him attending local church each week. They saw him slap five to every child sitting courtside. They saw him hug his mom before each tipoff. They saw him sign autographs. They saw him pay homage at the Oklahoma City National Memorial (that honored the 168 citizens killed in the bombing of the 1995 Federal Building). They saw him give every custodial worker inside the Oklahoma City Arena the same respect – much like Peyton Manning during his days with the Indy Colts – as he gives his teammates and family.
“I like to see people smiling,” says Durant. “So I do whatever it takes. The fans make time for us as players. They don't have to go out of their way to drive to the game. They don't have to go out of their way to buy our jerseys, buy tickets, come scream and support us every game. They can save their money. But they choose to come watch us play. So that's the least I can do, just showing them that I appreciate them.”
At a young age Durant's parents instilled a sense of humility and often told their son that “IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE YOU” when they realized Kevin was developing an athletic gift. Says Durant: “That's as simple as it can get! My parents taught me with those words that it could be the guy living across the street that's in my shoes. I was blessed to be a guy that's been chosen to do something. I've been put on this earth to do something that I love and I can't take that for granted.”
One of the things that impresses me so much about Kevin Durant is how he GETS IT! He’s making tens of millions. Actually turned down ten$ more! Doesn’t need the big city lights like Miami or L.A. to make him famous. He loves being tucked away in Oklahoma City. When asked why he didn’t bolt the Thunder franchise for more riches as a 22-year-old free agent and league scoring champion, Durant said: “OKC fits my personality very well. It's laid back and calm, and that's the kind of person I am. The people are tremendous. And I love the organization and what we have in store. We're big on family and that's what we have in Oklahoma City.”
That is such a key fellas. Finding a school (college) and or pro organization that you feel comfortable. That you have a trust. That your skills and beliefs match up with the program or organization. No matter how much money you may be paid someday, establishing that comfort zone and daily routine is one of the keys to helping you perform and reach the excellence you have come to expect. No matter how much we're all compensated in life, every human being has to feel loved and feel that inner happiness in order to succeed!
ALL THE BEST MY FRIEND! KEEP BELIEVING IN YOU ALWAYS AND GO CAPTURE YOUR DREAMS!
Jim Loria
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
“Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success” - stated by Vince Lombardi, the legendary NFL Hall of Fame Coach
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent" – stated by Unknown Author
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to its possessor” – stated by John Milton, English Poet
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Confidence is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony” – stated by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India during the early 1900s
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
This player is all but 23-years of age. At 19, he was the consensus National College Basketball Player-of-the-Year. The NBA Rookie-of-the-Year at 20. The youngest player ever to win an NBA scoring title at 21. Today, he is now known as a 3-time NBA scoring champion.
Meet Kevin Durant. Like Drew Brees, QB of the NFL New Orleans Saints, Durant is one of those rare athletes that carries the weight of his sports team franchise and perhaps an entire city on his back. He is one of those rare breeds found in sports. He is a living BRAND who is worshipped by the entire population of Oklahoma City. Yet he is as genuine as they come! He gives as much to the tenth man coming off the bench as he does to the starters. He never travels with a posse or security guards like most NBA superstars. He drives a plain everyday conversion van to-and-from the arena.
The local OKC fans took to Durant from the very beginning. It started off with the little things… people saw him attending local church each week. They saw him slap five to every child sitting courtside. They saw him hug his mom before each tipoff. They saw him sign autographs. They saw him pay homage at the Oklahoma City National Memorial (that honored the 168 citizens killed in the bombing of the 1995 Federal Building). They saw him give every custodial worker inside the Oklahoma City Arena the same respect – much like Peyton Manning during his days with the Indy Colts – as he gives his teammates and family.
“I like to see people smiling,” says Durant. “So I do whatever it takes. The fans make time for us as players. They don't have to go out of their way to drive to the game. They don't have to go out of their way to buy our jerseys, buy tickets, come scream and support us every game. They can save their money. But they choose to come watch us play. So that's the least I can do, just showing them that I appreciate them.”
At a young age Durant's parents instilled a sense of humility and often told their son that “IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE YOU” when they realized Kevin was developing an athletic gift. Says Durant: “That's as simple as it can get! My parents taught me with those words that it could be the guy living across the street that's in my shoes. I was blessed to be a guy that's been chosen to do something. I've been put on this earth to do something that I love and I can't take that for granted.”
One of the things that impresses me so much about Kevin Durant is how he GETS IT! He’s making tens of millions. Actually turned down ten$ more! Doesn’t need the big city lights like Miami or L.A. to make him famous. He loves being tucked away in Oklahoma City. When asked why he didn’t bolt the Thunder franchise for more riches as a 22-year-old free agent and league scoring champion, Durant said: “OKC fits my personality very well. It's laid back and calm, and that's the kind of person I am. The people are tremendous. And I love the organization and what we have in store. We're big on family and that's what we have in Oklahoma City.”
That is such a key fellas. Finding a school (college) and or pro organization that you feel comfortable. That you have a trust. That your skills and beliefs match up with the program or organization. No matter how much money you may be paid someday, establishing that comfort zone and daily routine is one of the keys to helping you perform and reach the excellence you have come to expect. No matter how much we're all compensated in life, every human being has to feel loved and feel that inner happiness in order to succeed!
ALL THE BEST MY FRIEND! KEEP BELIEVING IN YOU ALWAYS AND GO CAPTURE YOUR DREAMS!
Jim Loria
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
“Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success” - stated by Vince Lombardi, the legendary NFL Hall of Fame Coach
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent" – stated by Unknown Author
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to its possessor” – stated by John Milton, English Poet
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Confidence is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony” – stated by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India during the early 1900s
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Hi Nick! RE: Weekly Motivational Piece - June 14, 2012
Greetings Nick!
Once again, I am staying on the same theme for those who were recently drafted and to those working their way up in the minor pros. To the highers schoolers and next year's draft prospects - this will serve as a great remidner for the next 12 months!
Regardless of status, a great big landscape awaits all of you! When you took that pen and carved out your signature on the Major League Baseball contract, you left the amateur ranks to now become a “businessman in spikes!” You have to punch in the clock every single day! Fear no one! Be in awe of no one. From Babe Ruth to YOU, thousands of players have walked the same steps you are now taking and those that pursued their dreams with desire, dedication and discipline, took care of their body away from the field, perfected their craft and made adjustments, never caved in to the daily baseball politics and distractions … advanced to the SHOW! It's all there for you to make your goal in life come true! Leave no regrets behind!
Now that you are wearing the insignia of a MLB team on your cap, be very careful, too, on how far you want to go when promoting your own Image? In a blink of an eye, you can derail those dreams you've killed for and ruin your financial wealth! To succeed at the big league level, you might as well refer to yourself today as a Corporation. You are a BRAND IMAGE and it needs to be cultivated! A successful and well liked image can lead to THOUSANDS or perhaps MILLIONS of endorsement dollars in the future when you combine your IMAGE with SUCCESS on the FIELD!
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or other forms of social media, you control the Image you want your Big League Club (and others) to see! Showing a very immature portrait of yourself, be it from photographs, Tweets or a wall posts, can be a very dangerous warning sign to your future MLB team and the financial value they will place on you as one of their investments.
AWAYS REMEMBER THIS QUOTE NICK: “Today I Will Give All I Have .. For This Moment Will Never Come Again!" So True! Enjoy the other terrific quotes below that I wanted to share with you!
All the best!
Jim Loria
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Some opportunities only come once. Seize them. Go out and start creating. Live your Dream and Wear your Passion” – stated by an unknown author
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“I never wanted to be one of those people who looks back and says, ‘I wonder if …‘. If I have a goal, I’ll go out and set forth to achieve it. When something is your passion, it becomes everything. You put everything into it without hesitation. No questions. No doubts. Nothing to stop you” – stated by Kim Fitchen, Cross Country Runner and member of three U.S. World Cup Relay Teams
------------------------------------------------------------------
Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation” – stated by Brian Tracy, Best Selling Author and Success Expert
------------------------------------------------------------------
“Unfortunately many athletes are so focused on getting into professional sports that they never think beyond that. The goal isn’t to get to the pros, it’s to STAY in the Pros! Do you want to be a first-round pick, sign a rookie contract, and then be out of the League after a couple of seasons in the minors? Or is your goal to have a 10-year career in the Big Leagues and not care where you’re drafted” – stated by an unknown author
----------------------------------------------------------------------
“It’s not what’s happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it’s your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you’re going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny” – spoken by Anthony Robbins, American Self-Help Author and Success Expert
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail Address: loria@sfstampede.com
Once again, I am staying on the same theme for those who were recently drafted and to those working their way up in the minor pros. To the highers schoolers and next year's draft prospects - this will serve as a great remidner for the next 12 months!
Regardless of status, a great big landscape awaits all of you! When you took that pen and carved out your signature on the Major League Baseball contract, you left the amateur ranks to now become a “businessman in spikes!” You have to punch in the clock every single day! Fear no one! Be in awe of no one. From Babe Ruth to YOU, thousands of players have walked the same steps you are now taking and those that pursued their dreams with desire, dedication and discipline, took care of their body away from the field, perfected their craft and made adjustments, never caved in to the daily baseball politics and distractions … advanced to the SHOW! It's all there for you to make your goal in life come true! Leave no regrets behind!
Now that you are wearing the insignia of a MLB team on your cap, be very careful, too, on how far you want to go when promoting your own Image? In a blink of an eye, you can derail those dreams you've killed for and ruin your financial wealth! To succeed at the big league level, you might as well refer to yourself today as a Corporation. You are a BRAND IMAGE and it needs to be cultivated! A successful and well liked image can lead to THOUSANDS or perhaps MILLIONS of endorsement dollars in the future when you combine your IMAGE with SUCCESS on the FIELD!
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or other forms of social media, you control the Image you want your Big League Club (and others) to see! Showing a very immature portrait of yourself, be it from photographs, Tweets or a wall posts, can be a very dangerous warning sign to your future MLB team and the financial value they will place on you as one of their investments.
AWAYS REMEMBER THIS QUOTE NICK: “Today I Will Give All I Have .. For This Moment Will Never Come Again!" So True! Enjoy the other terrific quotes below that I wanted to share with you!
All the best!
Jim Loria
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Some opportunities only come once. Seize them. Go out and start creating. Live your Dream and Wear your Passion” – stated by an unknown author
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“I never wanted to be one of those people who looks back and says, ‘I wonder if …‘. If I have a goal, I’ll go out and set forth to achieve it. When something is your passion, it becomes everything. You put everything into it without hesitation. No questions. No doubts. Nothing to stop you” – stated by Kim Fitchen, Cross Country Runner and member of three U.S. World Cup Relay Teams
------------------------------------------------------------------
Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation” – stated by Brian Tracy, Best Selling Author and Success Expert
------------------------------------------------------------------
“Unfortunately many athletes are so focused on getting into professional sports that they never think beyond that. The goal isn’t to get to the pros, it’s to STAY in the Pros! Do you want to be a first-round pick, sign a rookie contract, and then be out of the League after a couple of seasons in the minors? Or is your goal to have a 10-year career in the Big Leagues and not care where you’re drafted” – stated by an unknown author
----------------------------------------------------------------------
“It’s not what’s happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it’s your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you’re going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny” – spoken by Anthony Robbins, American Self-Help Author and Success Expert
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail Address: loria@sfstampede.com
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Hi Nick! RE: Weekly Motivational Piece - June 7, 2012
Greetings Nick!
To the many of you that were drafted this past week by Major League Baseball – CONGRATULATIONS! To the many who continue to climb the ladder in Minor League Baseball, keep pushing onwards to reach your Dreams! To those in High School and or underclassmen in college, you now know exactly what you’re working for … to hear that MLB team call out your name next year!
For everyone, it doesn’t matter what uniform you wear or dollar you are paid, you all can have this “Dream” of yours stripped away or kicked to the curb in a matter of seconds all because of a knucklehead moment.
As many of you will be celebrating this week for reasons of accomplishment, know that another player in your sports fraternity – Justin Blackmon, is now having his life torn apart by national media, millions of football fans all over the country, the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and toss in one angry man known as NFL Commissioner Rodger Gottlieb who will rule on this young man’s ability to step on the football field this September and pursue his Dreams like yours.
WHY: Blackmon, an incredibly talented wide receiver from Oklahoma State University and a top “5” pick in the recent 2012 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, was charged with one count of aggravated DUI on Monday. The player’s blood-alcohol level registered a POINT-26, which is over three times the legal limit (.08). He was arrested at 3:00 AM in the morning!
Here’s a player that was willing to put at risk the biggest football Lotto ticket he might ever cash, and do it for an alcohol high especially when he just sabotaged his own contract negotiations with Jacksonville! Still unsigned, Blackmon was easily going to get a deal for $20-Million not to mention the offers that were coming in from Corporate America because this player had a gift to SMILE and ENERGIZE people around him! He was expected to join Cam Newton from the Carolina Panthers as another charismatic megawatt star! I’m sure you’ve seen the many national television commercial spots that are popping up everywhere featuring the former Auburn QB and Heisman Trophy winner!
Well, now Blackmon is one big question mark? Jacksonville was ready to open up the vault and pay this player handsomely while splashing his face on every highway billboard in Northeast Florida. The NFL club and the player are both in a difficult PR position on how severe of a financial repercussion will he be penalized for his first pro contract? If not enough, there will be the moral outrage from the Jacksonville community raining down on the player as well as the franchise (this is Blackmon’s second DUI arrest in two years). Blackmon’s story has been even much more magnified because of the fact that there’s been 11 other Jaguars’ players arrested in recent years.
Now, one drunken night has turned his entire world around for Justin Blackmon. Gang, this is another lesson to take to heart! Have fun away from the field but you have to be careful. Most of you are now professional businessmen playing a kid’s game. Unfortunately your name is also now a BRAND and your IMAGE is connected with a Major League Baseball franchise, also a business.
Don’t play the CHUTES & LADDERS game in real life. Justin Blackmon did. He was on the verge of taking his game piece all the way to the top of the game board but chose to roll the dice one more time. Picked up the wrong card and now has been sent back down to the bottom of the game board to start all over.
One other thing: As a high profile athlete. You never walk into a courtroom to a face a judge who is in control of your life’s freedom wearing a long sleeve button-up polo. Another PR blunder for this player of which his every move is now being scrutinized more than ever before.
I care about you guys and don’t want to see you lose out on your Dreams and the consequences of forfeiting millions in earnings because of one poor choice in life. Be smart!
MY BEST ALWAYS!
Jim Loria
--------------------------------------------------------------
“True success is one of our greatest needs. Success is not something you stumble onto or come to by accident. It is something you must sincerely prepare for. Take a good look at successes, and you’ll see the same consistent qualities all the time – qualities of one’s character that make one strive for a goal with a standard of unmatched excellence” – stated by Reggie Jackson, one of baseball’s all-time greats and Hall of Fame member
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Be responsible for your actions but emotionally as well. You have created something special, a one of a kind, never to be repeated again person; don’t miss the wonder of it” – stated by unknown author
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“If I could get the ear of every young man but for one word, it would be this; make the most and best of yourself. There is no tragedy like a wasted life--a life failing of its true end, and turned to a false end” – stated by T.T. Munger, a Pioneering Research Scientist from the early 1900’s
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
To the many of you that were drafted this past week by Major League Baseball – CONGRATULATIONS! To the many who continue to climb the ladder in Minor League Baseball, keep pushing onwards to reach your Dreams! To those in High School and or underclassmen in college, you now know exactly what you’re working for … to hear that MLB team call out your name next year!
For everyone, it doesn’t matter what uniform you wear or dollar you are paid, you all can have this “Dream” of yours stripped away or kicked to the curb in a matter of seconds all because of a knucklehead moment.
As many of you will be celebrating this week for reasons of accomplishment, know that another player in your sports fraternity – Justin Blackmon, is now having his life torn apart by national media, millions of football fans all over the country, the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and toss in one angry man known as NFL Commissioner Rodger Gottlieb who will rule on this young man’s ability to step on the football field this September and pursue his Dreams like yours.
WHY: Blackmon, an incredibly talented wide receiver from Oklahoma State University and a top “5” pick in the recent 2012 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, was charged with one count of aggravated DUI on Monday. The player’s blood-alcohol level registered a POINT-26, which is over three times the legal limit (.08). He was arrested at 3:00 AM in the morning!
Here’s a player that was willing to put at risk the biggest football Lotto ticket he might ever cash, and do it for an alcohol high especially when he just sabotaged his own contract negotiations with Jacksonville! Still unsigned, Blackmon was easily going to get a deal for $20-Million not to mention the offers that were coming in from Corporate America because this player had a gift to SMILE and ENERGIZE people around him! He was expected to join Cam Newton from the Carolina Panthers as another charismatic megawatt star! I’m sure you’ve seen the many national television commercial spots that are popping up everywhere featuring the former Auburn QB and Heisman Trophy winner!
Well, now Blackmon is one big question mark? Jacksonville was ready to open up the vault and pay this player handsomely while splashing his face on every highway billboard in Northeast Florida. The NFL club and the player are both in a difficult PR position on how severe of a financial repercussion will he be penalized for his first pro contract? If not enough, there will be the moral outrage from the Jacksonville community raining down on the player as well as the franchise (this is Blackmon’s second DUI arrest in two years). Blackmon’s story has been even much more magnified because of the fact that there’s been 11 other Jaguars’ players arrested in recent years.
Now, one drunken night has turned his entire world around for Justin Blackmon. Gang, this is another lesson to take to heart! Have fun away from the field but you have to be careful. Most of you are now professional businessmen playing a kid’s game. Unfortunately your name is also now a BRAND and your IMAGE is connected with a Major League Baseball franchise, also a business.
Don’t play the CHUTES & LADDERS game in real life. Justin Blackmon did. He was on the verge of taking his game piece all the way to the top of the game board but chose to roll the dice one more time. Picked up the wrong card and now has been sent back down to the bottom of the game board to start all over.
One other thing: As a high profile athlete. You never walk into a courtroom to a face a judge who is in control of your life’s freedom wearing a long sleeve button-up polo. Another PR blunder for this player of which his every move is now being scrutinized more than ever before.
I care about you guys and don’t want to see you lose out on your Dreams and the consequences of forfeiting millions in earnings because of one poor choice in life. Be smart!
MY BEST ALWAYS!
Jim Loria
--------------------------------------------------------------
“True success is one of our greatest needs. Success is not something you stumble onto or come to by accident. It is something you must sincerely prepare for. Take a good look at successes, and you’ll see the same consistent qualities all the time – qualities of one’s character that make one strive for a goal with a standard of unmatched excellence” – stated by Reggie Jackson, one of baseball’s all-time greats and Hall of Fame member
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Be responsible for your actions but emotionally as well. You have created something special, a one of a kind, never to be repeated again person; don’t miss the wonder of it” – stated by unknown author
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“If I could get the ear of every young man but for one word, it would be this; make the most and best of yourself. There is no tragedy like a wasted life--a life failing of its true end, and turned to a false end” – stated by T.T. Munger, a Pioneering Research Scientist from the early 1900’s
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
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