John Danker
Administrator
What we're seeing here of differences of opinion has a great deal to do with age and library of life experiences.
All are entittled to their opinions. It's quite likely that those of us who are among the elders of the City here had very much the same opinions as younger men as some of those who define success and champions as those only who win tournaments or are ranked highly nationally.
<trying to figure the best way to say this>
I've been very blessed in life to have been assiciated with, trained with, and have been able to coach and lead many "champions" and groups of champions. I've been blessed to have been on teams with some of the toughest, most highly competitive, and best trained athletes in this the USA. With those people I've seen 7 national titles, 5 top 10 placements in world championships, I've helped coach one team to a world championship. I suppose I could go on the point has already been made that I've been blessed with my share of "champions" or winning seasons.
After 25 years in one sport, and having seen SO much sacrifice, sweat, blood, tears....and having retired from it now for a couple of years I've realized a few things.
First, being a champion by yourself, FOR yourself only does one thing. It strokes YOUR ego. Nothing more. That's the reward. If somone's ego needs stroking so badly that they're willing to sacrifice all else in their life to attain a championship I understand it. We all love to be able to claim to be a "champion" in something at least once in our lives. It is, however, short lived and shallow without others around to celebrate success and the joy of victory with.
Secondly I've realized that the joy of being a champion greatly depends on who's eyes you're a champion in. For those of you who have never been married or have never had children it's going to be difficult to explain to....but if you're not a champion in your family's eyes.....little else matters. All the trophies, medals, and tittles in the world won't replace the respect you get from your own family when they look at you with adoration and respect and see you as THEIR champion.
Third, real champions don't need the acolades of others to be one. REAL champions have class, poise, and dignity. Perhaps a few of you have had the distinct honor of playing against a fellow judge friend of mine named Simon. Simon is Florida and a L3 judge. If you've every played agaist this man then you know he's leathal. Funny thing about Simon though is he's such a complete gentleman that he can wipe you out in a heartbeat and afterwards you walk away having still enjoyed the match. You'd LIKE to hate the guy for just cleaning your clock but you just can't! He sets the standard for being polite, a gentleman, helpful, and still maintains the ability to make you look silly.....and enjoy it. People talk about intimidation? Funny thing is THAT still IS intimidation. When you walk away from a match where you just had your clock cleaned and the guy had complete poise and honor, where he needed no mental games, reminded you of everything so you wouldn't make a stupid mistake, and stood immediately afterward and shook your hand firmly and genuinely thanked you for a well played match (even though you know you just got owned)....you walk away thinking "WOW....now THAT guy HAS it. He didn't need one trick, not one mental game, all he needed was to play clean and without error" Yeah, you're intimidated then. On top of all of this Simon GIVES of himself to so many as a teacher (in the public schools) as a judge, as a friend, as a father, and as a husband.
How you become a champion, who defines you as such, and who's lives that you touch along the way are what determine weather the title of champion is one to celebrate or one just in name only.
All are entittled to their opinions. It's quite likely that those of us who are among the elders of the City here had very much the same opinions as younger men as some of those who define success and champions as those only who win tournaments or are ranked highly nationally.
<trying to figure the best way to say this>
I've been very blessed in life to have been assiciated with, trained with, and have been able to coach and lead many "champions" and groups of champions. I've been blessed to have been on teams with some of the toughest, most highly competitive, and best trained athletes in this the USA. With those people I've seen 7 national titles, 5 top 10 placements in world championships, I've helped coach one team to a world championship. I suppose I could go on the point has already been made that I've been blessed with my share of "champions" or winning seasons.
After 25 years in one sport, and having seen SO much sacrifice, sweat, blood, tears....and having retired from it now for a couple of years I've realized a few things.
First, being a champion by yourself, FOR yourself only does one thing. It strokes YOUR ego. Nothing more. That's the reward. If somone's ego needs stroking so badly that they're willing to sacrifice all else in their life to attain a championship I understand it. We all love to be able to claim to be a "champion" in something at least once in our lives. It is, however, short lived and shallow without others around to celebrate success and the joy of victory with.
Secondly I've realized that the joy of being a champion greatly depends on who's eyes you're a champion in. For those of you who have never been married or have never had children it's going to be difficult to explain to....but if you're not a champion in your family's eyes.....little else matters. All the trophies, medals, and tittles in the world won't replace the respect you get from your own family when they look at you with adoration and respect and see you as THEIR champion.
Third, real champions don't need the acolades of others to be one. REAL champions have class, poise, and dignity. Perhaps a few of you have had the distinct honor of playing against a fellow judge friend of mine named Simon. Simon is Florida and a L3 judge. If you've every played agaist this man then you know he's leathal. Funny thing about Simon though is he's such a complete gentleman that he can wipe you out in a heartbeat and afterwards you walk away having still enjoyed the match. You'd LIKE to hate the guy for just cleaning your clock but you just can't! He sets the standard for being polite, a gentleman, helpful, and still maintains the ability to make you look silly.....and enjoy it. People talk about intimidation? Funny thing is THAT still IS intimidation. When you walk away from a match where you just had your clock cleaned and the guy had complete poise and honor, where he needed no mental games, reminded you of everything so you wouldn't make a stupid mistake, and stood immediately afterward and shook your hand firmly and genuinely thanked you for a well played match (even though you know you just got owned)....you walk away thinking "WOW....now THAT guy HAS it. He didn't need one trick, not one mental game, all he needed was to play clean and without error" Yeah, you're intimidated then. On top of all of this Simon GIVES of himself to so many as a teacher (in the public schools) as a judge, as a friend, as a father, and as a husband.
How you become a champion, who defines you as such, and who's lives that you touch along the way are what determine weather the title of champion is one to celebrate or one just in name only.
) and to be an executive within a major financial institution by the time I'm 30. I already have a great family, a great group of friends and a finacee I'm crazy about. That's the only thing left for me to achieve. I'm open the fact that I'm possibly just going through a "phase", but all the same, those are the two main targets driving me at the moment and nothing else really matters to me.