Article:Healthy Habits: Studying with the Champions

When I put the pen on the pad it’s so dangerous. I’m shooting up and I haven’t felt this high in so looong. This is my welcome back session, so come along.

Kids are the funniest people. Even when they make you upset, the laughter is still coming. So as I worked at the local Boys & Girls club, I took my 6-year old class to get some water. Apparently, they all needed a drink of not-so-cold water at the same time. In our moment of break time from the Healthy Habits course, we went to the gym.

In the gym, I saw a basketball and a group of guys. I simply had a desire to take one shot, one shot. I’m like… “Pass me the ball.”  The hard-headed 12-year old was like… “Na, Na, Na!”

I started to defend him. He tries some want-to-be And 1 moves. I’m thinking to myself maybe I have under-estimated this kid. Then, I was like… “Na, Na, Na!”

Anyhow, the kid proceeded to talk trash, ignoring to ask me if I have been playing sports my entire life or if I study the NBA as if it was my second trade. I see the dribble; I see the sloppiness of the ball-handling skills. I get into my defensive stance, and I start looking at the ball.

He hasn’t figured out that “no matter how much he moves his hands and his feet that he can’t go anywhere without the ball.”

In due time, I have the basketball a.k.a the rock in my hand; the high is coming back. I do simple moves and easily bypass this 12-year old kid. He thinks it is luck. So I repeat my actions and gather the same conclusion: “I bypass this kid.”  Two words: Cloud Nine.

On my way out, I asked this kid “Who is your favorite basketball player?”  His reply: “LeBron James.”  Go wonder.

In today’s youth, they only see the flashiest player and the one with the most potential. The LeBron James and the Ochocincos reign supreme.

While I was teaching my 6-year olds the 5 food groups, [In case you forgot, you have your Grains, your Vegetables, your Fruits, your Milk and your Meats and Beans. And, oil is also in the list (but everyone knows you’re not supposed to have too much of it!)] I was teaching them how to eat right and how to stay fit.

However, the 12-year old missed that lesson back then. He thought that in order to be a champion that you had to study the ringless wonders of the world i.e. King James and the Answer.

By eating right, he should have been studying the real champions:  the Kobe Bryants, the Michael Jordans, the Mia Hamms, the Bobby Coxes and the Pat Summits.

To be an effective player, you must be an effective coach. You must coach yourself to be a true student of the game. It doesn’t simply take God-given athletic ability. The gift is found in studying greatness and unlocking what is truly inside of you.

King James and A.I. have not unlocked it yet. Truth be told, they probably will never possess the key to winning a championship ring.

I have said this since the 10th grade, “A.I. will never win a ring.”  And for the longest amount of time I have believed that King James will not win a ring. Start calling me a prophet. I’m calling my shot.

It’s not their fault. They missed the Healthy Habits course, too. They don’t know how to eat right. They don’t know how to look at the history books and the film recaps. All they look at are their own highlight reels to capture the next cross-over or to see the next stolen K.G. powder move.

Sadly, I can’t even call them Charles Barkley. At least he had a legitimate reason to be ringless: Michaeeel Jooorrrdan! The others cannot win because they haven’t put in the right time in the right place.

Anyway, today’s lesson: Eat Right and Stay Fit. The healthy ones never die too. They live on even after their death.

Oh yeah, lesson #2: Never under-estimate me. “I wanna be, I wanna be like Mike.”  Swoosh!

Hit the books, Kid.