Greetings!
“Your existence has many doors, and each serves a purpose that ultimately helps define who you are. Sometimes it is hard to open these doors. Often you would think it just won’t work. It takes patience and perseverance, but you must believe that you already have every key for each door you encounter” – stated by an unknown author.
Take Marco Scutaro as another example for perseverance. Here is a player that was tucked away in the minor leagues for seven years searching for a break and wondering if it will ever come. He’s been traded three times during his 11-year Major League Baseball career and shuffled around between the Mets, A’s, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rockies and Giants. Every step of the way he’s always been a serviceable player. Versatile and scrappy. Someone who knows his role in the game and the reputation he brought with him to each city was one of being a ‘great teammate!’
He played in 95 games for Colorado earlier in this 2012 season and was batting a respectable .271 before being dealt to the Giants at the trading deadline. For all the years pent up in him playing the role of a utility man, Scutaro went on an immediate offensive tear in San Francisco that continued through the end of the season and into the playoffs. He batted a Tony Gwynn-like .362 in 61 games and became the team’s inspirational sparkplug on-and-off the field! To think, that the Rockies actually paid (cash in the deal to have) the Giants take Scutaro off their hands!
Scutaro’s baseball portfolio rose to even greater heights during the current post-season. He just tied a MLB Playoff League Championship Series record (against St. Louis) by pounding out 14 hits and captured the NLCS MVP Award all the while surviving one of the most talked about collisions in baseball memory (when Matt Holliday of St. Louis barreled over Scutaro at second base in a double play attempt back in the first inning of Game #2). Suffering a strained left hip, Scutaro showed his true grit and perseverance by never missing an at bat and put together an impressive 9-for-19 run at the plate following the incident. The 36-year-old Venezuela-born Scutaro has finally found a place where fans in San Francisco and elsewhere around the baseball world will now know his name for years to come!
Giants’ pitcher Sergio Romo said it best on what effect Marco Scutaro had on the team and the locker room: "That was the blockbuster trade we made to get that guy. He's been the bridge between the English and Spanish teammates, let alone an unbelievable leader by example on the field. Without him, we definitely wouldn't be in this position, and he's up there for team MVP, right beside Buster (Posey)."
Fellas – as we’ve said many times in past readings, it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted, how old you are, your place in the batting lineup or status in the pitching rotation, you have to be mentally ready when opportunity comes knocking! You have to believe that you can be the difference maker when the call comes to take the mound or step up to the plate! Just check out the names of Cody Ross, David Freese … and now Marco Scutaro. Heroes and Careers are born every year and they come in all ages and sizes!
All the best my friend!
Jim Loria
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“The only thing that counts is your dedication to the game. You run on your own fuel; it comes from, within you” – stated by Paul Brown, Hall of Fame NFL Coach
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Speaking of up and down times on the field, Arizona Diamondbacks’ Manager Kirk Gibson was very frank in a recent interview about his own career. Said he battled through countless slumps during his 17-year playing career. He would lash out at the media and lost his temper in front of the public as a result. After a terrible year at the plate with Detroit in 1983 (4th year in the AL and batted .227), he decided to enroll at the corporate mind-building Pacific Institute in Seattle, where he learned to think positively, work on his mindset and visualize himself in successful situations. “I had to do that stuff because I was a lunatic.”
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MLB Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson’s favorite saying: “Get Out of Your Own Way! Don’t Get in the Way of Your Ability!”
ON HIS SUCCESS IN THE BIG MOMENTS, JACKSON SAYS: “I had a Relaxed sense of Calmness at the Plate in that Moment!”
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FELLAS ALWAYS REMEMBER … “The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour” – Japanese Proverb
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
Friday, October 26, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE
What you are about to read is a true life experience shared with me by a very dear friend - a 19-year-old college baseball player who spent the majority of this past summer working at an orphanage in Ethiopia. His name is Benton Moss. He is entering his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina. I consider Benton to be one of the most amazing, mature, dedicated and giving human beings I’ve ever known! Normally I try to inspire others through my writings. This week, I am proud to step aside for Benton and let you read his words …. Jim Loria
“For six-and-a-half weeks during the recent summer months, I was blessed to be able to serve as a volunteer in Ethiopia, working full time in an orphanage that consisted of 175 kids. The children – paired in eights – would each share and live in (what I would view to be) a tin shack for a home. They all go to school during the day (although it is not anything like the education system in America). Their big meal is a cultural dish called ‘injera’ and ‘wot’ (looks like sourdough bread and stew). They don’t have the luxury to eat beef or chicken because it is very rare in Ethiopia.
Traveling to Africa was the most life changing experience I have had in all of my 19 years. It has been a month since returning from the cradle of humanity, and I’ve had ample time to reflect on how different I am as a direct result of my experiences living in Ethiopia. It is no secret that this country is poverty-stricken and disease-riddled that features dilapidated living environments, homeless children and bad drinking water. It may as well be the antithesis of America: while America is the beacon of liberty and freedom and prosperity. We are not nearly as affected by these diseases as the third world countries. So, after viewing people suffering from a combination of these problems, I found myself angry, full of rage, and crying out daily to the One who crafted this universe to do something.
After a month or so of reverse cultural shock with my return to America, I felt guilty about eating certain things. I was angry at every material extravagance around me, and furious about the indifference of American’s in general to the problems faced by the rest of the world. The average American (myself included) consumes hundreds more than the average Ethiopian. People in the U.S. let 'things' control their lives, they pursue them, they hoard them, they're stingy with them, and then they throw them away... only to do it all over again.
Whereas, most of the orphans that I sweated with, got dirty with, and lived with, for a better part of each day wore the same pair of clothes day-in and day-out because it was an unstated fact that they had one simple outfit; here in the U.S., one might be thought of as a fashion idiot if he wears the wrong colors together. In Ethiopia, the small amount of material things they did have always came second to their relationships among one another. So, because of this strong sense of community inherent in the Ethiopian culture, whether it is kinship or friendship, the result is that each member of the community looks out for the next, sharing with those who have none, and helping those who are struggling. Honestly, it is really the poor helping the extremely poor because there are no real rich in Ethiopia.
I believe that this same sense of community was present at the very beginning of America during the Founding Fathers’ lives at the time of this great nation’s humble beginnings, and I believe that it has been replaced by a rugged materialistic individualism that exalts the individual pursuits above the common good. Often we stuff our lives full of possessions only to find that they drive away all the happiness we knew before we had them and replace it with an ambition for more and more. We attain material desires only to watch those desires multiply. Now, I’m an ambitious person, I’ll admit this. But I’m not merely talking about ambition. I’m talking specifically about life.
I found unconditional love in Ethiopia, and after returning to the U.S., I can see that America is truly the nation in need. Ethiopians may be poor in wealth but they are rich in relationships. It is my greatest prayer that in America, we would see our current circumstances changed: that our material blessings would be leveraged as investments in relationships, that they would be shared to increase the sense of community among fellow brethren and that they would not simply serve to increase our own happiness and personal satisfaction. If they are merely used for our satisfaction, their usefulness fades away after consumption. I left on this trip as a college student in search of something profound, and I found it in the simplicity of God’s unreserved love illustrated every day by the hospitality and community of the people in Ethiopia.”
------------------------------
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES …
“I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again” - stated by Etienne de Grellet, prominent French Quaker Missionary.
------------------------------
“Humanity is the keystone that holds nations together. When that collapses, the whole structure crumbles. This is as true of baseball teams as any other pursuit in life” – stated by Connie Mack, Hall of Fame Baseball Manager
------------------------------
“It's the most breathtakingly ironic things about living: the fact that we are all...alone. Singular. And yet what we seek - what saves us - is our connection to others” – stated by Wally Lamb, Author
------------------------------
“I don't want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well” – stated by Diane Ackerman, Author and Poet
------------------------------
“Sometimes you need to realize that there are different experiences in the world, other than just playing your sport. There are different people who have different types of struggles. You just have to be a part of that, and it gives you a better understanding and appreciation, and makes you understand how lucky and blessed you really are” – stated by Chris Duhon, Duke Graduate and NBA player for the Orlando Magic
###
“For six-and-a-half weeks during the recent summer months, I was blessed to be able to serve as a volunteer in Ethiopia, working full time in an orphanage that consisted of 175 kids. The children – paired in eights – would each share and live in (what I would view to be) a tin shack for a home. They all go to school during the day (although it is not anything like the education system in America). Their big meal is a cultural dish called ‘injera’ and ‘wot’ (looks like sourdough bread and stew). They don’t have the luxury to eat beef or chicken because it is very rare in Ethiopia.
Traveling to Africa was the most life changing experience I have had in all of my 19 years. It has been a month since returning from the cradle of humanity, and I’ve had ample time to reflect on how different I am as a direct result of my experiences living in Ethiopia. It is no secret that this country is poverty-stricken and disease-riddled that features dilapidated living environments, homeless children and bad drinking water. It may as well be the antithesis of America: while America is the beacon of liberty and freedom and prosperity. We are not nearly as affected by these diseases as the third world countries. So, after viewing people suffering from a combination of these problems, I found myself angry, full of rage, and crying out daily to the One who crafted this universe to do something.
After a month or so of reverse cultural shock with my return to America, I felt guilty about eating certain things. I was angry at every material extravagance around me, and furious about the indifference of American’s in general to the problems faced by the rest of the world. The average American (myself included) consumes hundreds more than the average Ethiopian. People in the U.S. let 'things' control their lives, they pursue them, they hoard them, they're stingy with them, and then they throw them away... only to do it all over again.
Whereas, most of the orphans that I sweated with, got dirty with, and lived with, for a better part of each day wore the same pair of clothes day-in and day-out because it was an unstated fact that they had one simple outfit; here in the U.S., one might be thought of as a fashion idiot if he wears the wrong colors together. In Ethiopia, the small amount of material things they did have always came second to their relationships among one another. So, because of this strong sense of community inherent in the Ethiopian culture, whether it is kinship or friendship, the result is that each member of the community looks out for the next, sharing with those who have none, and helping those who are struggling. Honestly, it is really the poor helping the extremely poor because there are no real rich in Ethiopia.
I believe that this same sense of community was present at the very beginning of America during the Founding Fathers’ lives at the time of this great nation’s humble beginnings, and I believe that it has been replaced by a rugged materialistic individualism that exalts the individual pursuits above the common good. Often we stuff our lives full of possessions only to find that they drive away all the happiness we knew before we had them and replace it with an ambition for more and more. We attain material desires only to watch those desires multiply. Now, I’m an ambitious person, I’ll admit this. But I’m not merely talking about ambition. I’m talking specifically about life.
I found unconditional love in Ethiopia, and after returning to the U.S., I can see that America is truly the nation in need. Ethiopians may be poor in wealth but they are rich in relationships. It is my greatest prayer that in America, we would see our current circumstances changed: that our material blessings would be leveraged as investments in relationships, that they would be shared to increase the sense of community among fellow brethren and that they would not simply serve to increase our own happiness and personal satisfaction. If they are merely used for our satisfaction, their usefulness fades away after consumption. I left on this trip as a college student in search of something profound, and I found it in the simplicity of God’s unreserved love illustrated every day by the hospitality and community of the people in Ethiopia.”
------------------------------
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES …
“I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again” - stated by Etienne de Grellet, prominent French Quaker Missionary.
------------------------------
“Humanity is the keystone that holds nations together. When that collapses, the whole structure crumbles. This is as true of baseball teams as any other pursuit in life” – stated by Connie Mack, Hall of Fame Baseball Manager
------------------------------
“It's the most breathtakingly ironic things about living: the fact that we are all...alone. Singular. And yet what we seek - what saves us - is our connection to others” – stated by Wally Lamb, Author
------------------------------
“I don't want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well” – stated by Diane Ackerman, Author and Poet
------------------------------
“Sometimes you need to realize that there are different experiences in the world, other than just playing your sport. There are different people who have different types of struggles. You just have to be a part of that, and it gives you a better understanding and appreciation, and makes you understand how lucky and blessed you really are” – stated by Chris Duhon, Duke Graduate and NBA player for the Orlando Magic
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE
Greetings!
Most all of you that I communicate with are between the ages of 16-22. This is an exciting time for you because Major League Baseball teams, more than I can ever recall, are now allowing their younger prospects to jump right into the starting lineup at a much younger age!
Take for example: Mike Trout, who began this past season at age 20 and just might snatch the American League MVP Award after doing things on the field no one thought possible for his age (.326 AVG., 30 HR, 49 SB and a host of over-the-wall catches). Then there’s Bryce Harper in Washington, who helped spark his team to a first-ever ride to the playoffs. At age 19, he became only the second teenager in the history of MLB to hit more than 20 home runs in his rookie season (22).
Because of their success, Baltimore recalled two of their prized young prospects this season – 20-year-old Manny Machado (who’s now anchoring third base during the Orioles’ pressure-packed playoff run) and 19-year-old pitching star Dylan Bundy, who is the first player (not yet 20) to wear an Orioles’ uniform in the last 45 years!
The Texas Rangers also recalled their top prospect - 19-year-old infielder Jurickson Profar - towards the end of the 2012 season. Just last Friday, Profar was asked to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two on during the Rangers-Orioles wild card playoff game. First pitch – he drilled a base hit to left field. With their season on the line, the Rangers gave their keys to the teenager! And with so much pressure riding, he came through!
Through all my years of following Major League Baseball, clubs rarely wavered in their development of players. You moved up the farm system ladder based on performance and landed in the big leagues after a successful stint in AAA ball usually by the age of 23-24.
Fellas – work hard this off-season because now your opportunity to rise up has no barriers! Focus on your mindset development more than ever! The keys to the player’s you have read above is obviously ability but it takes so much mental toughness and confidence to perform at the highest level in your profession but there is a certain swagger you have to possess to show everyone that you belong!
Speaking of Confidence … look at Baltimore closer Jim Johnson. He was called on Sunday night against New York and gives up five runs in one-third of an inning that allowed the Yankees to win 7-2 in Game #1 of their AL Playoff Series. Johnson comes right back to the mound Monday night and 1-2-3’s New York in a pressure-packed ninth inning and K’s A-Rod to end the game!
YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IN YOU ALWAYS! SAME WITH YOUR MINDSET! NOTHING CAN CLUTTER YOUR BRAIN OR ALLOW WORRY TO TAKE OVER!
All the best my friend!
Jim Loria
---------------------------------------------------------------
THIS QUOTE PLAYS INTO THE REBOUND SUCCESS AND PERFORMANCE BY BALTIMORE’S JIM JOHNSON … “Each point I play is the NOW MOMENT! The last point means nothing; the next point means nothing” – stated by Billie Jean King, Women’s Tennis Legend and Hall of Fame member
--------------------------------------------------------------
Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world” – stated by Helen Keller
---------------------------------------------------------------
Don Baylor, Arizona Diamondbacks’ Hitting Coach, commenting on his talks with outfielder Justin Upton and his battle to become more consistent with his production at the plate: “I told him to clear his mind. He’s got to take all that junk out of the garage and clean it out” (which translated means – clean out all of the distractions from his mindset before his true talents will ever be unleashed).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FELLAS – I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU WHAT I READ ABOUT MICHAEL PHELPS SWIMMING COACH (BOB BOWMAN) WHO ACTUALLY TRAINED HIS OLYMPIC CHAMPION TO DEAL WITH CHAOS AND DISTRACTIONS:
Before certain swimming meets, the coach would hide his goggles so that Phelps had to swim without them. He would deliberately arrange late pickups so that Phelps would miss meals and swim with hunger. He cracked his swim goggles so they would fill up with water and obstruct Phelps’ vision in the pool. In the early days of training, Bowman created uncertainties for Phelps in lower-risk situations so that when it really mattered he had familiarity with the unexpected and a mental adaptability that gave him the best shot at winning. His past dealings with water-filled goggles came in handy during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in the 200-meter butterfly. He won despite the goggle mishap, adding to his record gold medal streak.
##
Written by: Jim Loria
E-Mail Address: loria@sfstampede.com
Most all of you that I communicate with are between the ages of 16-22. This is an exciting time for you because Major League Baseball teams, more than I can ever recall, are now allowing their younger prospects to jump right into the starting lineup at a much younger age!
Take for example: Mike Trout, who began this past season at age 20 and just might snatch the American League MVP Award after doing things on the field no one thought possible for his age (.326 AVG., 30 HR, 49 SB and a host of over-the-wall catches). Then there’s Bryce Harper in Washington, who helped spark his team to a first-ever ride to the playoffs. At age 19, he became only the second teenager in the history of MLB to hit more than 20 home runs in his rookie season (22).
Because of their success, Baltimore recalled two of their prized young prospects this season – 20-year-old Manny Machado (who’s now anchoring third base during the Orioles’ pressure-packed playoff run) and 19-year-old pitching star Dylan Bundy, who is the first player (not yet 20) to wear an Orioles’ uniform in the last 45 years!
The Texas Rangers also recalled their top prospect - 19-year-old infielder Jurickson Profar - towards the end of the 2012 season. Just last Friday, Profar was asked to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two on during the Rangers-Orioles wild card playoff game. First pitch – he drilled a base hit to left field. With their season on the line, the Rangers gave their keys to the teenager! And with so much pressure riding, he came through!
Through all my years of following Major League Baseball, clubs rarely wavered in their development of players. You moved up the farm system ladder based on performance and landed in the big leagues after a successful stint in AAA ball usually by the age of 23-24.
Fellas – work hard this off-season because now your opportunity to rise up has no barriers! Focus on your mindset development more than ever! The keys to the player’s you have read above is obviously ability but it takes so much mental toughness and confidence to perform at the highest level in your profession but there is a certain swagger you have to possess to show everyone that you belong!
Speaking of Confidence … look at Baltimore closer Jim Johnson. He was called on Sunday night against New York and gives up five runs in one-third of an inning that allowed the Yankees to win 7-2 in Game #1 of their AL Playoff Series. Johnson comes right back to the mound Monday night and 1-2-3’s New York in a pressure-packed ninth inning and K’s A-Rod to end the game!
YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IN YOU ALWAYS! SAME WITH YOUR MINDSET! NOTHING CAN CLUTTER YOUR BRAIN OR ALLOW WORRY TO TAKE OVER!
All the best my friend!
Jim Loria
---------------------------------------------------------------
THIS QUOTE PLAYS INTO THE REBOUND SUCCESS AND PERFORMANCE BY BALTIMORE’S JIM JOHNSON … “Each point I play is the NOW MOMENT! The last point means nothing; the next point means nothing” – stated by Billie Jean King, Women’s Tennis Legend and Hall of Fame member
--------------------------------------------------------------
Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world” – stated by Helen Keller
---------------------------------------------------------------
Don Baylor, Arizona Diamondbacks’ Hitting Coach, commenting on his talks with outfielder Justin Upton and his battle to become more consistent with his production at the plate: “I told him to clear his mind. He’s got to take all that junk out of the garage and clean it out” (which translated means – clean out all of the distractions from his mindset before his true talents will ever be unleashed).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FELLAS – I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU WHAT I READ ABOUT MICHAEL PHELPS SWIMMING COACH (BOB BOWMAN) WHO ACTUALLY TRAINED HIS OLYMPIC CHAMPION TO DEAL WITH CHAOS AND DISTRACTIONS:
Before certain swimming meets, the coach would hide his goggles so that Phelps had to swim without them. He would deliberately arrange late pickups so that Phelps would miss meals and swim with hunger. He cracked his swim goggles so they would fill up with water and obstruct Phelps’ vision in the pool. In the early days of training, Bowman created uncertainties for Phelps in lower-risk situations so that when it really mattered he had familiarity with the unexpected and a mental adaptability that gave him the best shot at winning. His past dealings with water-filled goggles came in handy during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in the 200-meter butterfly. He won despite the goggle mishap, adding to his record gold medal streak.
##
Written by: Jim Loria
E-Mail Address: loria@sfstampede.com
Thursday, October 4, 2012
WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!
Greetings!
Sometimes we can get caught up in wealth and material things and never consider the value of one’s legacy when your athletic career comes to an end. What did you leave behind? What was your impact – both on the field but even more importantly, away from the sidelines?
Like USC QB Matt Barkley,
Notre Dame’s all-everything linebacker Manti Te’o, also turned away the
riches of the NFL to return for his senior season in college football. Both are
considered Heisman Trophy candidates in 2012. Each is embedded as one can get in
their university culture and like the Olympic Torch, their “flame” will never
dim in the eyes of their school’s legions of followers and alumni.
“The NFL is my goal, not my dream,”
said Te’o. “My dream is to have an impact on people. I think I'm doing that, and
I'm not finished yet. People all around need to see that there's more to life
than dollar bills, there's more to life than just money signs. It's education, it's relationships with people,
it's honoring people, honoring where you come from. That's what I hoped to
portray with my decision to return to Notre Dame because those things are
important to me."
A humbled athlete who often can be
seen in-and-around the Golden Dome, shaking hands and greeting strangers. Eating
along in the dining hall, more than likely, Te’o is known to invite the person
over to his table. If there’s a need for a player to visit sick children at the
local pediatric hospital or with kids left homeless at a shelter, Te’o is as
automatic as it gets to lend a hand and a smile.
On the field, Te’o has inspired his
Fighting Irish teammates to lofty heights thus far with a 4-0 start and Top 10
ranking in the BCS Polls for the first time since 2006 – all this despite
playing with a heavy heart that would rock the core for any person.
During the week leading up to Notre
Dame’s showdown match with Michigan State on Sept. 15th, the senior captain
received news from his family in Hawaii that his Grandmother had passed away.
Six hours later while standing at his football locker, Te’o received word that
his girlfriend from back home also died after battling a long fight with
leukemia.
While he decided to play, over 80,000
fans piled into the Notre Dame stadium to pay tribute to their team and
community leader and shower him with a level of adulation befit of a hero not
seen in South Bend since the likes of Rudy Ruettiger (who’s story of
courage and determination on the field at Notre Dame in the 1970’s inspired the
award-winning movie RUDY). At this game, the thousands of fans each
wore a Hawaiian Lei and promoted the Michigan State game as a “Wear a Lei for
Manti” in honor of his heritage.
After the game as Te’o reflected back
on the memories of those that he lost, he recalled one of his girlfriend’s
favorite sayings: “Send roses while they can still smell them, tell people you
love them while they can still hear!”
I’s not too late to start
writing the first chapter of your own legacy! Always remember that baseball bats
can break. Seams of a Baseball can rip. Wood will rot. Your life’s legacy that
gets left behind will go on and on for always. Make sure your family and your
own (future) family will have something to be Proud of when your name is written
about”
MY BEST FOR YOU!
Jim Loria
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If you have a chance to accomplish
something that will make things better for people coming behind you and you
don’t do that, you are wasting your time on this Earth” – stated by Roberto
Clemente, the great humanitarian and legendary Hall of Fame Baseball
player, who died in a plane crash while taking supplies to survivors of an
earthquake in Nicaragua a year after leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a World
Series in 1971
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“WHEN I PASS AWAY, IF ALL I’M KNOWN
FOR IS A ‘FOOTBALL PLAYER’, THEN I FAILED IN LIFE” – stated by Reggie
White, an NFL Hall of Famer and one of the greatest pass rushers ever seen
in pro football
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"It is not the critic who counts, not
the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds
could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose
face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy
cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who
at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his
place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known
neither victory nor defeat" – stated by Teddy Roosevelt, 26th U.S.
President (1901)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Don't cheat the world of your
contribution. Give it what you've got” – stated by Steven Pressfield,
American Author of historical fiction
###
Jim Loria
E-Mail Address: loria@sfstampede.com
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