Learning a Little from Jimmy Valvano

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Every year, ESPN teams with the V Foundation for Cancer Research to put on the Jimmy V Basketball Classic. The event brings four premier men’s college basketball teams to Madison Square Garden for a tournament designed to raise funds for cancer research. For those unaware, Jimmy Valvano was formerly the basketball coach who led North Carolina State University to the national title in 1983 and also worked as an ESPN commentator after his coaching career. Valvano was diagnosed with cancer in 1992 and succumbed to the disease in 1993, but set up the V Foundation for Cancer Research before he passed. Yesterday, on the first day of this year’s Jimmy V Basketball Classic, the Foundation announced that it had reached the point where all its operating costs were covered through interest on its endowment, and that every penny of donations from here on out would go directly to cancer research. Truly a great accomplishment for the Foundation. But, that’s not what this post is about.

Every year, between the two games on the first day of the tournament, ESPN plays the now famous speech Valvano made at the 1993 ESPY Awards. Valvano had already been diagnosed with cancer and was being given the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. Every year, by the end of the speech, I find myself choking back tears. It’s that powerful.

This year, it hit me: this isn’t a speech about cancer. I mean, on the most literal level, it is a speech about cancer. However, the ideas expressed by Valvano can really be applied to a nearly infinite number of situations in life. So, as we enter the high-stress portion of the year, it’s fitting that ESPN brings Valvano and his speech back into our minds. Whether it’s final exams, family, the holidays, or anything else that has you stressed out, take into consideration the words of Valvano over the next few weeks:

“But I can’t help it. Now, I’m fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time how you go through your life and how’s your day, and nothing is changed for me.”

It doesn’t take him long to get to one of his main points. Basically, no matter what happens, no matter what odds you face, keep plugging away the same you would if it’s an ordinary day. This is the basis of many of the ideas he expresses later on. Really everything in his incredible speech comes back to just putting one foot in front of the other.

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”

That pretty much covers it. It just boils down to three things. The first part, the laughing part is easy. I mean, who doesn’t like to laugh? They say laughter is the best medicine. I know I personally end up feeling down if I go even a couple hours without getting a laugh from somewhere. So, we’ve got that covered.

The second is spending some time in thought. I think that a lot of people don’t like to enter deep thought because they’re afraid of what they might find. I could turn this into a long commentary about how high school students create a culture which promotes apathy over thought, but I’m not even sure that this is really a massive socially or culturally induced problem. I think it’s something that has to be dealt with on an individual level, and maybe there’s just a lot of individuals out there who aren’t into getting lost in thought. I think that’s a shame.

The third is being moved to tears, which is a little tougher. To bring someone to cry, whether for joy or sadness, generally takes something pretty powerful (or at least a surplus of alcohol and/or a lack of sleep). Really, when in an un-inebriated state, you really need to trigger something deep to induce tears. I think it would be great if everyone could experience something so powerful everyday that it would move them to tears, but I’m just not sure that can happen for every individual. I think I’ll settle for just being touched in some way every day; tears are an added bonus.

I’m going to add my own more physical thing to this list of everyday things. Hug somebody, anybody, every day. Maybe it’s just me, but you never know whose day you might make with a hug or even just a hand on the shoulder. Sometimes a physical connection the difference between a miserable day and a bearable day.

“… and I always have to think about what’s important in life to me are these three things. Where you started; where you are; and where you’re gonna be.”

Where you started: always remember your hometown. Whether you’re remembering it in positive light, or simply remembering it so you know where to go to rub your success in the face of the people who told you that you would never make it, always keep that starting point in mind.

Where you are: simple one. If you can’t think about where you are now, you’ve got bigger issues than holiday stress, I think. But, I’m guessing Jimmy V means this in a more relative sense. Compare where you are now to where you’ve come from and where you’re going to be. Keep things in perspective.

Where you’re gonna be: never hurts to keep an eye to the future.

[Quoting Vince Lombardi's first-ever pre-game speech] “Gentlemen, we will be successful this year, if you can focus on three things, and three things only: Your family, your religion, and the Green Bay Packers.”

Now, Valvano uses this quote as part of a longer anecdote that he tells in his speech, but I think there’s something here that can certainly be applied to life in general…

You always have to focus on your family. These are the people who were first there for you, and if things go badly somewhere down the line, they are the ones who are most likely to help you pick yourself up and keep going. It’s important to always keep in touch with them and be there for them as well.

Not being an overly religious person myself, I’m going to have to broaden the term religion here. You must always focus on your beliefs, your principles. You have to have a solid set of core values that you are willing to stand by no matter what. You shouldn’t budge on your key principles over trivial matters, but rather, stick to your guns.

“The Green Bay Packers” in this quote can refer to whatever task is at hand in your everyday life. Focus on whatever team you’re a part of at that time, whether it’s an athletic team, a team of co-workers in the work place, a team of roommates, a team of classmates. Whatever you’re doing at any particular time, be willing to work as a team to achieve your goals.

“And its [the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research] motto is ‘Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.’ And that’s what I’m going to try to do every minute that I have left.”

This is one of those quotes from this speech that you see on television all the time, and it really embodies what Valvano was all about. I’m sure the attitude comes from his life in sports and as a coach, in addition to just his personal character as well. No matter the odds, no matter what you face, there’s no sense in giving up. If you’re going to go down, you might as well go down fighting. Besides, you never know, a stroke of luck at the right time and bang!, suddenly you’re back in the game.

“Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.”

This is the one. The conclusion of the speech. The one that kills me, even if I made it through the rest of the speech with dry eyes. It’s just one of the all-time powerful lines. Cancer could refer to a number of things here, for the same idea would be applicable to paralysis, to AIDS, to any number of physically debilitating disease. So long as you have the ability to think, the ability to love, and the ability to stand by your principles, there’s still a ray of light.

Those are just a few of my favorite excerpt from what is just a completely emotionally overpowering speech. So, as you find yourself stressed out and burned out over the next month, take some time to consider what it has to say. Take some time to click on over and check out the full text of the speech (or listen to the mp3 audio of it as well). No matter what’s going on in your life, I think there’s always something to be learned from the words of Jimmy V.

May Jim Valvano continue to rest in peace.

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Lots of random links from the last few days:

Old System Was Worse than BCS – Nice commentary from ESPN’s Page 2. While we all complain about the BCS, it is certainly better than what we used to have.

Woman Bitten by a Bat in her Christmas Tree – Let the wacky holiday stories begin.

N.Y.C. Cracking Down on Unusual Meats – Weird stuff here. Just read some of the things being served in New York City restaurants.

Research Shows Cell Phones Don’t Cause Cancer – Nice to see that suspicion taken care of. Of course, in today’s world, they may tell us tomorrow that they think it does cause cancer. Heck, I can’t keep track of whether eggs, chocolate, wine, or carbohydrates are good or bad for us anymore; it seems to depend on the week.

Connecticut Nations Fifth-Healthiest State – Minnesota came in at the top spot. Three New England states in the top five, five in the top 10, and all six in the top 13. New England is clearly the place to be!

Boy Arrested for Opening Christmas Present – Some lady called the cops on her own 12-year-old son, because, you know, it’s easier than actually parenting. Wacko.

Flatulence Forces Plane to Land – I swear, you can’t make this stuff up. Just read the article, I can’t even explain it adequately.

New Pictures May Show Water on Mars – Interesting.

Bat Has Longest Tongue of All Mammals – One species of bat has a tongue that can stretch to three and a half times its own body length. Crazy!

Brian Williams Blogs About Public Cell Phone Use – Hilarious commentary by the host of NBC’s Nightly News. I laughed pretty much through the whole thing. I mean, seriously, is it that hard to find a more private place for your cell phone conversations? If you’ve got a few minutes, poke around the rest of “The Daily Nightly” blog. Some interesting stuff there, not to mention a neat premise to have your news team blogging periodically throughout the day.

U.S. Turns to Disney to Boost Travel Appeal to Foreigners – “Not enough people are visiting our country and spending their money here. Let’s call in Mickey Mouse!”

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