Did you ‘Get the Champion’?

Before we had children, Mr. R made the pilgrimage to South Bend to watching BYU play at Notre Dame.

It’s a trip we hope to make with our children one day (see bucket list #48). For all college football enthusiasts, Mr. R says it is a must. Among the goodies that he brought home from that game were a “Play Like a Champion Today” poster. Although he attended that game years ago, the poster still hangs in our garage where we see it as we come and go during the day.

What does ‘Play Like a Champion Today’ mean?

After Lou Holtz took the head coaching job at Notre Dame back in 1986, he commissioned a simple piece of artwork for the locker room–an old slogan of the school from before the 1900′s, “Play Like a Champion Today.”

“Everybody is going to hit it on the way out to the field to remind them of all the sacrifices they have made, their families have made and other people have made for them to be there.” -Lou Holtz

Doesn’t this photo give you goosebumps?

Last year our children started playing indoor soccer.

For some reason, they called trophies “champions” and the goal was to “get the champion” after every game …even though there wasn’t a trophy given every game. It didn’t matter because they would each ask me, “Mom, did I get the champion?”

Of course they always did.

Tyson definitely got the champion when he scored his first soccer goal and his mom went all crazy-loud on the sideline …at an indoor game, mind you. I shed a tear of pride! I swear they should pass out Kleenex tissues before each game to all the emotional proud mamas.

Gavin was definitely the champion when he was “still in”. Somehow he mixed up baseball and soccer and thought he was winning every game because he was “still in”. Yes, once again I was choking back tears when he said, “I’m still in, Mom!” and trotted down the field. He never scored a goal and only actually kicked the ball a few times, but DANG IT, he was always “still in.” What a little champion.

Imagine how powerful it would be if we all started playing like champions–remembering the sacrifices of others to get us to where we are today in our story.

Especially in adoption, it’s a powerful message.

Here’s to all you champions out there. May you get “the champion”.

And may you ‘Play Like a Champion Today’ and everyday.

 
Get a Kleenex custom oval BOGO until 11/15/12, just use the code PLAYOFFS at checkout on the MyKleenex site. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.