Superdome's Blog

Well, hello Urbana, the city that starts with yo"U"!! It's been a while, but I believe it's time for another addition of "The Rant".
In watching the Winter Games, it dawned on me, what is the best way to describe an athlete? I would have to say "heart". When you hear that word, the scientific term means nothing more than an small organe that sends blood through your body. But think of the symbolism. It is THE most vital organ in our body and it sends the necessary blood to the rest of us so we may experience life. So when you describe an athlete, the most complete defenition is "heart". Now, this can be a positive or negative description. We've all heard folks say he or she has a lot of heart or they have no heart. I realize to be successful, it also helps to have God given talent or athleticism. But, if you ask me if I'd rather have a talented athlete or an athlete who is all heart, give me the latter every day. The reason is you cannot measure the power of the heart of someone. The movie "Rudy" comes to mind. He probably had more heart than any football player who has ever stepped foot on the grid iron. Unfortunately, he was undersized and not blessed with much physical talent.
During these Winter Games I have watched JR Celski win a bronze in short track. Here's a guy who skated for the first time since September 2009 due to a serious injury where he almost sliced through his femural artery with his skate. Did that get in the way of his dream? I would say many would use it as a very valid excuse to say it's too hard to go on. How about Lindsey Vonn, who earned the first US Women's Downhill gold yesterday? If you paid any attention, she pretty much skiied over half the run on one leg due to her severly bruised shin.
So, what's my point? It is simply ask the question, what has happened to the "heart" of Urbana's collective HS sports programs? Before you give me 10 examples of those you personally know who do, I realize that, but let's be real here. The present program at Urbana, as a whole is embarassing. Most communities (especially the size of Urbana) define themselves and take pride in their HS athletics. Does that mean throw education out the window? No, it means most folks take an active part in supproting, attending, helping in any way they can to ensure the experience for those student-athletes is as enjoyable and successful as possible. I believe Urbana is both blessed and cursed by the U of I. The college, in my opinion, offers a potential resource to local high schools. However, they won't knock down your door to say "how can I help?" It requires someone willing to be bold enough to find out what resource they can offer and how to go about using it within the rules of the IHSA. This, I believe should originate from the top administration at the school with the coaches taking the "ball and running with it". I also believe Urbana is cursed, as I have seen how many "college towns" (which is what Urbana is) takes the spot light away from the HS (especially in the media). It draws more support and focus away from the HS and often times, the HS is somewhat forgotten.
Having said that, I go back to "heart". A sure way to return Urbana back to at least a shell of itself, athletically is to begin with a look inside ourselves. It would be nice to see this exhibited from the administration and leadership/coaches/parents, etc., but that does not exempt the athletes from their own accountability. Take movies like Rocky or Rudy and you can see what heart can accomplish. I realize these are just movies, but what does it communicate? Your desire to win is measured by what you are willing to do to prepare to do so. Sure, most everyone WANTS to win, but how many are willing to go beyond what they think they can endure to do so?
In closing, let me throw some excuses out there. "I have heart, but I'm only one of maybe 2 or 3 on my team that does". GREAT!, then how are you spending your practice or free time? If you're not competing against those select few during practice or your free time, then how do you expect to get any better? By the way, do you suppose that by doing so it may have a positive influence on your teammates? So, just like that little organ inside your chest, you are the lifeblood to your team. Your success will be directly attributable to how much heart you have. Interstingly enough, it's not something that stays constant, being satisfied with how much you think you have will only see it dwindle. Until we expect this from our coaches/parents and ourselves, the future at UHS sports will be a long, frustrating one regardless of who much talent we think we have.