From the archives: Weekend Inspiration

From the archives: Don't Ever Give Up

I won't be posting a lot of serious content on thecoughingdog but after watching the Georgetown game on ESPN tonight, they replayed Jim Valvano's memorable speech from the 1993 ESPY Awards. Sick with bone cancer and noticeably exhausted, Jimmy V spoke of the need to live life with emotion and the importance of making each day a "full day." Jimmy V died 8 weeks after this classically inspiring speech.

Weekend Inspiration

Special thanks to Chris Greenwood for sending this in.

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

*Image courtesy of sugarloaf.com and Waylon Wolfe

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Great Story

If you have already seen this, I apologize, but I really don't think this story gets old. Last week, a high school football player in Seattle scored his first touchdown on a 51-yard rush. Ike Ditzenberger is a student with Down syndrome and has not received much playing time in his tenure, and the young man made it count on this carry. This is a true measure of sportsmanship and I commend both coaches and teams, this is a special moment in sports.

Watch the video:



Read the article here:

Ike Special: Football player with Down syndrome scores touch down

The Story of Terry Fox

Terry Fox, Canadian, lost a leg to cancer and in 1980 set out to run the length of Canada to raise money for cancer research. He completed the run on his prosthesis and became a symbol of hope and strength for Canadians in the process. Last weekend, the 30th Terry Fox run took place and where Fox had hoped to raise $1 million for cancer research, he is credited with bringing more than $500 million in. Amazing.

If you're trying to picture this achievement, call up the scene in Forrest Gump where he decides to run coast to coast and does so (several times). That scene was modeled after the TRUE story of Terry Fox. Fox and one of his buddies started the run with no press, just Fox running and his buddy driving a van in support - they lived out of the van. As he made progress on the run, the nation caught on, he drew a lot of media attention, people began running along side of him and towns hosted rallies for him.

It took Fox 143 days to run the 3,339 miles - meaning he AVERAGED more than 23 miles a day.

Fellow Canadian, Steve Nash, just completed a documentary on Fox who was a hero to a young Nash in British Columbia. It airs on ESPN this week.

BAD. ASS.

M(unson)onday Inspiration

Delayed Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Weekend Inspiration

Pretty stiff crowd.

Mark Herzlich Excited To Get Back On The Gridiron

“Yeah it is a shock because going into a season, you’re ranked high on draft boards, people are looking at you to win the Butkus, to do this stuff and then you come out and get called to the doctor’s office, to the oncology center and you’re told you’ve got cancer. So within 20 minutes your life completely changes. And not only that, I was told I would never play football again, that there was a 70 percent chance that I would even live for the next five years." BC Linebacker Mark Herzlich

For those of you who haven't heard of Mark Herzlich, he's a talented BC linebacker who was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, after the 2008 season in which he was a first team All-American (plays like a total savage). Herzlich courageously overcame stacked odds and is now cancer free and ready to take to the field, something that did not seem be an option a year ago.

Herzlich was down in ATL for ACC media day and caught up with 790 The Zone to talk about his fight with cancer and his outlook on the 2010 season. Full interview here.