Tim Gavin

I tend to write most of my blogs about H.E.A.R.T when it pertains to sports, but in my opinion, life AND sports are the same thing.  You prepare to play, play to win and sometimes you lose.  But then again, sometimes you win.  Although statistically speaking you always have a 50/50 chance of winning or losing, preparation, skill, team, your opponents and various other factors come into play to create a derivative of this common known statistic (the 50/50 thing).  This brings me to the guy you see in the picture above you....Tim Gavin.  Without a doubt one of the people I have ever known to have one of the biggest if not most genuine and caring and tough H.E.A.R.T.

Attitude:

When people think of the word "attitude" they generally think of it in a negative sense.  I can see that, but in reality, your attitude is the only thing in this world that you can truly control.  You can't control your body temperature, emotions (don't lie to yourself) or peoples opinion of you.  But you can control your attitude.  If you think positive thoughts long enough, you will trick yourself into being positive (although it may be brief).  Timmy has been through some of the crappiest situations I have ever seen a person go through and he still keeps his head.  He may not be as happy as when the situation was more cheerful, but he's not an ass to be around.  Every time I was down in the dumps, I could always call on Tim to bring some sort of levelness to the situation.  The world could be going to hell in a hand basket and Tim would be cooler than the Fonz on a blind date.

Resilience:

The resilience level of Tim Gavin is incredible.  I think it's one of his greatest attributes.  Timmy is a very sharp individual although he's not been know to get straight A's (for the record, neither have I...moving on).  Tim accomplished something that most college students don't...HE GRADUATED.  Not only did he do so, but he did it with limitations that were beyond his control.  Did he allow this to be an excuse and just say, "ah who cares about school?"...no.  He dug in his heels and he worked his ass off to graduate.  I personally knew how hard he worked to graduate, that's why it was so important to me to watch him walk across the stage and get his diploma (I was living in Seattle at the time, Tim graduated from a western Maryland university).  He never gave up on his dream (since H.S. to teach P.E. and possibly coach) and all of his hard work paid off.

(Tim Gavin during a timeout coaching the Towson Generals)

Toughness:

Toughness does not necessarily mean how mean and bad ass you are, it can also mean how mentally tough you are as well.  Without getting too personal into Timmy's life, let's just say that he is a Maryland guy.  His entire family is from Maryland, his lovely wife Sarah's family is from there and all of their friends...are from Maryland.  When Timmy graduated he had to teach in Virginia and then moved onto teaching in West Virginia.  His passion was teaching and coaching, but he was only able to do this in these two states.  A much lesser individual would have most likely quit and moved back.  Tim stayed the course though.  Even though the situation looked bleak and he, his wife and unborn baby (who is now born and she's adorable...what up Casey!) probably would have had to stay in West Virginia, Tim kept on grinding to get back to MD.  All of his hard work paid off because he's now back in Maryland.  If he wasn't as tough as he needed to be when it was required, who knows where he would be today.

I know this post sounds extremely biased, and maybe it is, but I love this guy and his H.E.A.R.T is bigger than most people I have ever known.  He doesn't quit, cry or whine and completely genuine.  I haven't met a single person who doesn't like him, would do anything for him or believe that he wouldn't give you the shirt off of his back.

Nick Gavin

A couple of days ago, one of my Mom's and I were emailing each other back and forth.  She told me about how my little brother had made the Dean's List (I'm not surprised, he's a real smart dude, sometimes he's just a little lazy) and how he planned on playing football again at Stevenson in the Fall.  When I think of Nick Gavin, the first thing that comes to mind is that he is one of the toughness bastards I have ever met...EVER.  Not only is he focused (when he wants to be) but he has this determination that is just relentless.  I mean the kid has one hell of a motor.  To really understand Nick Gavin I have to take you all the way back to 1993...yeah '93.  This was the first time I met Nick.  He was maybe 4 or 5 years old and he wasn't really that big.  Honestly, like me, he's pretty small, but tough...don't forget tough.  After a while he tells me that he wants to play football when he gets older and wants to play for the Lancers (*Blogger Note* Playing for Linganore is a privilege, not a right).  Being that I played football, I run him through some drills in his living room.  This is where I first took notice that this kid was something special.  I put him through the basic 45 degree tackling drill.  I was the ball carrier and he was the tackler.  I don't know what went through my mind, but my instincts kicked in and I juked him...the poor kid went head first into his fireplace...a BRICK fireplace.  Needless to say I almost shat my pants because this was the first time I had ever been to Tim Gavin's house...uh oh.  Well, Nick cried for about 3 maybe 4 minutes.  And the kid had the nerve to say, "Ok, I'm good, let's keep going!".  I was completely shocked.  A four year old kid just took a header into a fireplace, has the lump the size of Saturn on his nugget and he STILL wants to tackle.  If that's not H.E.A.R.T then I don't know what is.  Let's fast forward to the now.  Being that Nick took a couple of vicious hits, he suffered a few concussions.  He went through a down time like most football players do when their career is over.  But Nick, being the resilient and tough guy that he is wouldn't take that for an answer.  He worked hard not only in the classroom, but in the weight room and also in his personal life with his relationships.  Nick took the bad that was thrown his way and never gave up.  Even if he doesn't play a single down at Stevenson this Fall, it doesn't matter.  It shouldn't matter.  The only thing that truly matters is that he took his lumps, dusted himself off and got back up into the fight.  I can't even express how proud I am of this little guy because I always knew he had it in him.  Even when he didn't believe (and I can tell when someone doubts themselves), I believed in him and now he's proving me right...even though I knew I was right.  Lol.  Nick, I love you man, I'm very proud of you and I'm so happy that you MADE your own second chance.  Just remember where you were and how you never want to go back.  You have the biggest H.E.A.R.T I've ever seen.

P.S.  You're without a doubt my favorite Lancer...ever