It may sound incredibly cheesy, but as high school athletic coaches have been preaching for years, sports teach life lessons. After watching two specific and very different sporting events and outcomes Saturday night (03/28), I began to ponder the life lessons that flowed from each.
As someone seven years his elder, I don't personally know Teddy Holder, but we share a number of mutual friends. We also share a rural West Tennessee hometown of roughly 6,000 residents - Henderson. When anyone from or associated with Henderson is under the spotlight, you can guarantee I'll be cheering them on. I feel a connection whether it's Kings of Leon selling out stadiums playing their tunes, Kid President teaching us adults how to act, Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions competing in the NAIA Fab Four, Chris Vernon analyzing the Grizzlies post game on SportsSouth, Jasper Hollis twangin' in the Toyota Star Maker Finals, Justin Woods coaching up his Rossview basketball team in the TSSAA State Tournament, Blue Tears Rockin' With the Radio, Eric Jones serving as the key note speaker at an academic conference or Abbie Bayless singing on X Factor (Whew, what a list, and I even left out quite a few. Henderson, whether by way of residents or FHU, churns out some talented folks).
This connection was felt Saturday night as I tuned into NBCSN (broadcasting live from Phoenix, AZ) to watch former Chester County Eagles football stalwart and now MMA fighter Teddy Holder touch gloves and battle as part of the WSOF 19 undercard. Only a mere hours before the fight card was to begin, one of the co-main event fighters, Matt Hamill, had to withdraw with what was described as a "severe stomach virus." One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, and opportunity shined upon Holder. After accepting the challenge, he was thrust into the co-main event versus former UFC contender Thiago Silva.
The Brazilian Silva would still be in the UFC if not for widely documented legal issues. His being jettisoned to the World Series of Fighting was not due to any slippage in skills. Thus, Holder was an instant, heavy underdog who had not fought professionally in a long 19 months.
Sometimes in life, a person may get a job opportunity that is several levels up the corporate ladder, or perhaps a fella lands a date with a lady perceived to be out of his league. In such instances, it's all about how you react to the situation and capitalize upon it. That's the life lesson that Holder personified Saturday night.
Our living room was HYPED as first Holder walked out and was followed by Silva. As the fight began, the fighters looked evenly matched. Silva moved fluidly, but Holder's power was evident with every heavy-handed punch that he fired at Silva. A bit into the first round, Silva tagged Holder with a right hand that knocked the Chester County native back a few feet and seemingly had him in trouble. Unbeknownst to Silva, Holder was not in trouble, but rather, he was in wounded bear mode. Holder gathered himself and connected with a quick right hook behind the left ear of Silva that crumpled the Brazilian. He then pounced upon Silva and quickly ended the affair with punches and hammer fists to improve to 9-1 and put himself on the MMA map.
Not only did Holder earn some street cred, he improved his payday by taking the fight with Silva. Also, the fight was a semifinal of the WSOF's light heavyweight tournament so Holder now finds himself in the final awaiting the winner of the Ronny Markes versus David Branch fight. Holder stands a very good chance of becoming the WSOF's inaugural 205 pound champion. Had he not boldly accepted the opportunity to mix it up with Silva on three hours notice, he would not be in this position. As the Latin proverb says, "Fortune favors the bold." (Here's a link to a post fight article and interview with Holder.)
After watching the Holder upset, there was no time to decompress as we flipped the TV over to the final 12 minutes of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Final as the unblemished University of Kentucky Wildcats (37-0 going into the game) were nip and tuck with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Cats have blown many teams out of the water this season, but they have also been in some down-to-the-wire affairs with Ole Miss and at LSU. With all due respect to those contests, Kentucky found themselves in their tightest spot yet versus the best team they've played all season Saturday night.
The Cats trailed for much of the second half versus Notre Dame. The pressure was squarely upon Kentucky as they are striving to go 40-0 and ride off into the sunset as possibly the best college basketball team of all-time.
High achievers often face high expectations and pressures. Maybe it's a high level sales professional who is given a daunting quota based on his or her performance from the previous quarter. Or perhaps, a kitchen manager at a high volume restaurant is down in staff on a busy Saturday night and has 30 tickets scattered before him. Another example is a product development or engineering team that is trying to get an innovative product to market and beat out a competitor. In these examples, can the stakeholders muffle the distractions, self-doubts and team strife that can derail their goals? Can they dig deep and calmly deliver under pressure?
Coach Cal and the UK players calmly delivered down the stretch Saturday night. Karl-Anthony Towns scored a career high 25, and 17 of the points came in the second half. With six ticks remaining on the clock, and the game tied, Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison calmly sank two free throws to ultimately win the game for the Cats.
Another life lesson the Cats have taught throughout this season is how ultra-talented performers can thrive together without any appearance of jealously or infighting. Kentucky boasts a staggering nine McDonald's All-Americans on its 2014-2015 roster, and nobody on the team averages more than 11.0 points per game. The Kentucky roster is chock full of players who could easily average 20 points per contest on a team in which they were one of a handful or the lone star player. Instead, these talented players have set aside personal statistical achievements in search of shared, team glory.
Kentucky advanced to the Final Four to lock horns with the well-coached and seasoned Wisconsin Badgers, and Holder (as indicated previously) will be fighting later this year for the WSOF 205 light heavyweight championship. If they win, life lessons can be gleaned, and if they lose, perhaps they'll show us how to deal with setbacks and move forward accordingly. There are life lessons to be learned either way.
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