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The Enduring Presence of Third Stringers
Written by: Dr. Vincent KitukuArticle Overview: They are not on front pages. You may never read about them or hear their names in their playing days. But you will know their attachment to the sport they love long after those who had names on the front pages are long forgotten. Their spectacular performance in something they believe in and are passionate about is evident in their contribution to it long after the days of their obscurity are gone.
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The Enduring Presence of Third Stringers
They are not on front pages. You may never read about them or hear their names in their playing days. But you will know their attachment to the sport they love long after those who had names on the front pages are long forgotten. Their spectacular performance in something they believe in and are passionate about is evident in their contribution to it long after the days of their obscurity are gone.
Take Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, who died at 74. The AP Sports, last December quoted Woody Johnson, New York Jets CEO saying, "In creating the AFL, he likely did more to change the NFL over the last half-century than any other single person. Without Lamar Hunt, there would be no Super Bowl, a term he originally coined, and there would not be a New York Jets Franchise."
The article written by Doug Tucker revealed that Lamar Hunt played football at SMU, a third-string end. In college his name and his abilities were largely unpublicized. After his college third-string days were over, Lamar's abilities and love for games needed no publicizing.
Two people in my life, both third-stringers, prompted me to research a bit on the thinking and circumstances that brings forth attributes so special during what many may consider as their prime time.
Bryan Harsin, the offense coordinator of the Boise State Football Team, was a third-string quarterback when I started giving motivational speeches to the team in the late 90s. I can't recall talking with him. I can't recall hearing his name or reading about him in the Idaho Statesman, the major local daily newspaper. But what Bryan has done, within the shortest imaginable time, with his offensive mastery has landed his name where his playing days didn't. I had to interview him.
"What motivated you to stick with a sport that you didn't get playing time during your college days?" I asked Bryan. "I love football and devoted my energy and focus in practice every week as if I was the starter...and you never know when you might end-up being a starter" he answered.
What got my attention most was Bryan's description of how the coaches treated him. "I was treated as the quarterback, not as third stringer. In practice we were equal and on game day we all wore our uniform" he said. We visited for about 45 minutes. I learned about his transition from a third-string player to offense coordinator.
Bryan said, "I mentioned to Dan Hawkins, the head assistant coach that I had thought of being a coach. Dan closed the door and talked with me for about 90 minutes. I couldn't believe it." You had to be in the office to see Bryan's expression as he recalled that visit. He finished his undergraduate and Dan Hawkins became the head coach of the BSU Broncos Football Team.
Bryan told me that he stopped by the football office and found Dan making calls to recruit a graduate assistant. When Dan saw Bryan, he stopped making the calls. He had his man. The rest is history. We all saw the calls Bryan made at the Fiesta Bowl game as he and the 2006 Broncos established their presence in the world of elite football teams.
A third-stringer, who turns into a spectacular performer, has to believe in what his is involved in. Positive treatment and encouragement are crucial. He has to take advantage of the opportunity to further his craft.
Lessons you can apply in whatever you do and succeed even if your productivity is not always first-string level:
- Know what you expect from yourself and what's expected of you by others
- Know your mission and how it aligns with that of the organization you work for
- Create and take advantages of opportunities at work and in life to learn and grow
- Work with people who care about you as a person
- Surround yourself with people who support your endeavors
- Know if your opinions and contributions matter
- Make sure your progress is measurable and if possible talked about
- Work with people who are committed to top quality production and/or services
- Have the materials and tools that will enable you to do the best you can
- Strive to do what you do the best on a daily basis
- Do something good that can not go unnoticed every 7 days and repeat the above on both good and not so good days
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Article Tags: Determination, focus, growth, persistence
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About the Author: Dr. Vincent Kituku RSS for Dr. Vincent's articles - Visit Dr. Vincent's website  Click here to visit Dr. Vincent's website   Top Tips on How to Jump into Personal Professional Success Dealing With Negative Criticism Unused Potential Job and Success Redefined 13 Known Strategies that Stop Employees From Screaming |
Related Forum Posts
Re: Forums Blog?
- [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]Interesting idea Don. In my weekly newsletter I show the most recent forum posts and on the side of every page on the website (not the forums) I also show the most recent entries.[/quote:1yww01zw]
The Newsletter update is great for people _already_ signed up to the forums. The Blog would be a teaser for those who are unaware of it entirely.
[quote="Evan":1yww01zw]How often would you see the blog being updated?[/quote:1yww01zw]
I would say no more frequently than once a week. It would be more an an ad than an interactive forum. Although, that can change.
[quote="Evan":1yww01zw]Any other ideas out there on a blog or ways to show the most popular topics?[/quote:1yww01zw]
If you really want a big Internet Presence, this is what I have learned works very well:
1/ Website
2/ Blog
3/ MySpace
4/ Press Release
5/ Ads posted on free & paid classified websites
6/ Networking
7/ website submission to search engines
You will notice that only 1 out of the 7 requires human contact. The other 6 will begin to create a presence and if the right keywords are used, then people doing searches for those keywords will find many references to this site. Networking helps build your 'real world presence'.
I haven't done any aggressive marketing of my site yet the hits just keep on increasing on a monthly basis. I'm on track to be making 20,000 hits (probably more) this year. Not bad for not spending a dime on advertising and being fairly casual about what I do with the site.
That's what I have learned thus far online. The more I learn, the more hits grow.
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