Your Word and Handshake
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by NFL commentator and former Harvard basketball player James Brown, and it was taken from his book Role Of A Lifetime. The scripture is Matthew 5:37 Simply let your Yes be Yes, and your No, No; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
James Brown was a high school All American in basketball, and he was recruited by nearly all of the top teams in the country except for UCLA which was in the middle of their run where they won 10 national championships in 12 years. He finally narrowed his decision between Harvard and UNC. Below is from his book.
After an agonizing and long period of introspection and analysis, the process finally resulted in my selection of Harvard. They offered me early admission, because of my grades and the situation I was in with my recruitment elsewhere, to allow me to effectively end the continuing recruitment process and put it all behind me. I accepted and said that I would attend.
That is when the letter arrived that threw our house into chaos. Any thoughts of being a role model in Cambridge were put on hold when I held in my hands the envelope with UCLA written on its face in deep sky blue and sun gold.
Mom, this is from UCLA. I have to go. I have to at least visit. Pauley Pavillion. John Wooden. It is U-C-L-A. I said it slowly, carefully enunciating each letter, as if she were having trouble with my spelling. It is the mecca of college basketball. They dominate college basketball-they have won two straight national championships and four of the last five.
My mother was unmoved. My father, too, was completely unmoved. They sat me down. James, you have given your word to Harvard. Your word means more than anything, son. You shook hands and said that you were coming-you cannot change your mind now. You are going to Harvard. That was that.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
Posts
