Hug vs. Reno Varsity Wrestling

January 11, 2012

In the sports hierarchy, wrestling doesn't get a lot of love.  If you ask most people, it ranks behind Football, Hoops, Baseball and in some parts of the States, Soccer.  But if you have ever been to a wrestling match, you can tell that wrestler's could care less if there's a full house, just parents or absolutely nobody watching.  I went to go watch Hug High wrestle against Reno High tonight at Reno High School.  I came away impressed by how hard the kids wrestled, the intensity of every match and the sportsmanship between both teams.  I didn't have a roster of either team, but Adrian Rodriguez (Hug High Wrestler) was cool enough to talk to me afterwards.  And after talking to him, these are just my thoughts on the nights matches.

These first two pictures are from the very first match I saw.  The Hug wrestler (in Green) was aggressive as was the Reno wrestler.  The Hug wrestler kind of faded in the third period while the Reno wrestler still had a high motor going.  Some kids would quit, get frustrated and do something reckless if they thought they were going to lose.  The Hug wrestler just kept on fighting.  I could tell he was gassed, but he continued to wrestle his ass off.  He lost the match, but he went down fighting.  Can't be mad at that....kid definitely has H.E.A.R.T.

The very next match was Adrian Rodriguezs' (Hug wrestler).  This kid has a very high motor and controlled his match from start to finish.  He was aggressive, kept moving and was in control in every situation.  Since this was my first wrestling meet I've ever been to, I found myself watching more than taking pictures, but he was a very technical wrestler who knew what he was doing.  He won his match.

The match that really sticks out in my mind is this one (the four pictures that you see preceding this paragraph).  It was hard fought on both sides.  The Hug wrestler was doing work and the Reno wrestler was too.  The thing that really stood out in my eyes was the Reno wrestler had head gear that kept slipping down over his face, restricting his vision.  At no time during the match did he try to stop or complain the refs about it though, he just kept trooping on like nothing happened!  I mean the kid was straight up G!!!!  You can even see in the last picture that he's about to get pinned with eyes covered.  Not ONCE did he say a word (and I would know, I was only 10-15 ft away when this was going down).

Both of the teams tonight (Hug High and Reno High) wrestled their asses off and did so with a ton of H.E.A.R.T.  Regardless of the outcome, both teams wrestled clean and with respect to their opponents.  I was highly impressed how they conducted themselves and hyped each other up before each match.  These kids weren't wrestling for the people in the stands, they were wrestling out of love for the sport and for each other.

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Reed vs. Hug Varsity Boys Hoops

January 10, 2012

I'm still trying to get a feel for High School hoops out here in Nevada.  Last week I went to see Douglas vs. Reed and came away impressed.  So my dude Nate (from Douglas H.S.) told me I should check out their game against Hug.  So to get a fair assessment on Hug, Reed and Douglas, I was fortunate enough to see Reed play Hug tonight.  For me, it's not all about wins and loses, it's about how hard and how much H.E.A.R.T you play with.  I don't care if you lose by 50, just don't give up, don't quit and never, ever think of a loss as a loss...it's a learning experience.

So I'm at the game shooting pictures H.E.A.R.T Athletics and I couldn't help myself actually watching more of the game than picture taking.  Here are a few of the players that stood out from this game from Hug and the dudes from Reed who cemented what I thought about them from the Douglas game last week.

The game had mad energy from the get go.  The Hug players before they even started to warm-up did the huddle thing and got the crowd GOING! *BLOGGER NOTE* I tried to up load the pictures from the game but for some reason blogger.com is being stubborn, you can see the Reed vs. Hug game photos on my business facebook page www.facebook.com/heartathleticsllc.com.  Moving on...

Hug Players



Andrew Johnson (PG) is a stud...period.  This kid can get any shot, anytime he wants.  He's at home controlling the tempo, driving the lane and playing D.  Without a doubt, I was thoroughly impressed.  He's not the biggest kid, but his H.E.A.R.T is huge.

Norris Dupree (SG) is the glue man.  He's quick, can create his own shot and hustles.  I actually sat in front of his Uncle and we chopped it up a little.  Also played with a lot of H.E.A.R.T.

Sam Williams (C) is a force in the middle.  Without a doubt he owned the paint tonight.  But I got to be honest.  Douglas has this kid Hunter Myers that's going to make Friday's game a true battle.

Reed Players

Jamel Ramos (PG) is a Freshman playing Varsity hoops...enough said.  He started off the game guarding Drew Johnson and held his own.  The kid hustles, plays D and can knock down the open jumper.  When he's a Senior he's going to own the Reno area (you heard it here first).

A.J. Silva (F) can knock down open shots, hustles and plays his ass off.  I've seen him twice and he definitely translates his football skills to the hardwood.  Big ol' H.E.A.R.T on this kid.

Ty Shepard (G) plays hard all game long, but I got to be honest...he's quick enough to get past his defender but looks to get others involved first.  At the end of the Hug game he was taking control by driving the lane and getting buckets....I just wished he had done it sooner.  Either or, the kid "gets it" and is team first.  Hard nosed player.

Overall it was a great game, some iffy officiating (but that's to be expected) and both teams played hard to the end.  I'm really starting to dig Reno hoops.  A lot of the kids here play with a ton of H.E.A.R.T and I can't wait to see this Hug vs. Douglass game!



Douglas vs. Reed Varsity Boys Hoops

January 6th, 2012, I went to a High School Boys Varsity Basketball game in Sparks, NV.  Being from New Jersey/Maryland, I have no background in Nevada High School hoops.  I don't know who's good, who sucks and who is just having a good/great/crappy year.  I am COMPLETELY out of the loop.

This is where my man Nate Vonahsen, makes his very first appearance.  As I try to spread the word about H.E.A.R.T Athletics (the company that I own and run), my goal is to contact student athletes that I feel embody the characteristics of the values that are dear to me and my company.  Being that H.E.A.R.T Athletics is still a "start up" company, we are happy to provide FREE products to the public representing our gear.  This is one of the reasons why I attend the Douglas vs. Reed game, to give Nate his shirts and to see what Nevada hoops is all about..

So I show up to the Varsity Boys game on Friday not knowing what to expect.  All I know is that after the first quarter of play, the visiting team (Nate's team Douglas) is down 21-8.  And to put it nicely, this was not an easy 13 point deficit to overcome.  Reed H.S. had not only hit a variety of 3 pointers, but they were harassing the hell out of the ball and putting on a 3/4 press as well.  In all honesty, it DID NOT look good for the Douglas Tigers.

This is why I'm not a Basketball coach
                                                        End of the 2nd Q
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Beginning of the 4th....

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And by the end of the game.....
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The point of the story is this, no matter what your "history" says about you, you are able to change it in one day.  It's all about your attitude.  I still do not have a definitive idea on who Douglas and Reed are when it comes to hoops, but I know that Douglas will NOT give up no matter what.  This may be an outlier, but it could also be who they ARE.  All I know is that I can only go by what I see.  The Douglas Tigers took the Reed Raiders best shot, and still came back for more.  Although Douglas didn't give up, neither did Reed.  Both teams played their H.E.A.R.T's out and I couldn't be more proud of the effort put out by both teams.

Santonio Holmes = No H.E.A.R.T

There is nothing worse than quitting...nothing.  The one thing that makes quitting even worse is when it is displayed by a professional.  Enter, Santonio Holmes.  Not only is he playing on the biggest stage (the NFL) he is payed very...very well to do so.  You can find the ins and outs of his contract here------>CLICK ME. 

I'm not a fan of the Jet's, but I don't hate'm either.  What I do hate is shitty attitudes.  Especially a shitty attitude that believes it is either better than the team or quits on the team.  Where's the H.E.A.R.T in that?  Santonio Holmes quit on his team...period.  I know the media and NY PR people will try to spin this but it is what it is.  A team Captain doesn't get "benched" during the most important game of the year.  Even if that game "appears" unwinable (I know, this isn't a word, but it sounds good...so I'm going to use it).

The fifth paragraph in this article sums up everything in a nutshell (you can find the article here---->THE QUITTER LINK).  It's sad that an individual with absolutely NO H.E.A.R.T can manage to make it to the highest level of sports.  It's actually funny, except that being on this stage (the NFL), there are hundreds of thousands of kids watching this guy.  Kids who are impressionable and may think this kind of behavior is acceptable.  It isn't and shouldn't be.

I don't want to point fingers or cast judgement on anyone, but...this ISN'T what H.E.A.R.T looks like.

Stay the Course

I was reading ESPN today (at work...don't judge me, lol) and I came across an article that hit really close to home (you can click on this link to read it -----> ( CLICK ME ).  The article is about redshirt ("redshirt" means that during his first year of college, he practiced but never played in a game and still has four years of eligibility to play once his "freshman" year is over) freshman James Johnson.  James is leaving school because he feels like he isn't getting enough playing time on the basketball court.  This happens to a lot of freshman every year but in the past decade or so it has become common place for freshman to see immediate action.  This hasn't always been the case though.

How this story relates to myself is that I transferred from my original college (Morgan State University) after my freshman year to another school (Frostburg State University).  As I stated earlier, freshman (at that time, the mid 90's) really didn't see a lot of playing time, any if at all.  I was fortunate enough to start though, as a walk-on freshman at a D-1AA now the Sub-Division level.  My situation was a little different though.  I left Morgan because after starting the entire year I was told that Division 1A players were transferring in and I would have to compete for my spot all over again...needless to say I wasn't too happy to hear this.  I thought that the school "owed" me something and would "show" them what they were missing after I transferred.

The point I'm trying to make here is that in life difficult times will arise and you have to stay the course.  I should have stayed at Morgan and played just as hard my sophomore year as I did my freshman year.  I feel as if James should do the same because the grass is NOT always greener.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Frostburg and made some life long friends there, but I definitely didn't display any kind of H.E.A.R.T by leaving.  In fact I showed the opposite.  I displayed fear and the sense of quitting.  I have no idea what thoughts are running through James' head, but I hope that he reconsiders and realizes that quitting now will more than likely set a precedence for the rest of his life of running away from adversity.  I learned that lesson the hard way and eventually stopped that trend.

Always remember, bad shit happens in life.  You can either try to run away from it, or face it and try to make the best out of your situation.  Bad situations are only as bad as you allow them to be.

P.S. I'm not a UVA fan, I just hate to see anyone quit...

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.

Brain vs. H.E.A.R.T

In the human body there are two vital organs that you need in which to survive (well, really there are a couple more than that, but for argument sake, we're just going with these two).  You have the brain which controls basically EVERY function and action in the body and you have the H.E.A.R.T which pumps blood (if we were a car this would be the oil) throughout said body.  Both are very important to survival, but only one is essential for truly living.

The Brain

The human brain controls everything that is found in the body.  This is a fact that we all know.  But we also know that the brain can die while the human body is kept alive with machines.  Although we know this, many people still put an emphasis on how important it is (it really is, I'm NOT downplaying this fact) without acknowledging that people "survive" everyday without it.  The human brain can also play tricks on you.  It can make you see, hear and feel things that don't exist...like fear.  Fear is an emotion that cripples people daily from achieving goals that they want to pursue.  Maybe you want to start a business, or ask specific person out on a date.  You probably want to try out for a sports team, write a book or run in a marathon.  Fear will seep in and tell you that, "you can't do that, that's stupid, you'll fail".  This all stems from your brain.  You have to constantly fight against this negativity to keep moving forward (or START moving forward). 

The H.E.A.R.T

The human heart pumps life throughout the body every time it contracts.  Think of yourself as a machine or a car.  If you don't change the oil, you are going to have SERIOUS problems.  The machine/car breaks down and it either dies or it costs a ton of money to get it fixed.  With a little maintenance, your H.E.A.R.T (machine/car) will run smoothly.  If the brain dies, the body can still be kept alive with machines.  If the H.E.A.R.T dies, it has to be replaced or the entire body dies...period.  This is where motivation fits in.  Motivation is the ignition that gets you motor going to get the machine/car started.  Without motivation, you truly are dead.  You do not accomplish anything and you are stuck in the same position you were yesterday, last month and the year before.  Your H.E.A.R.T will not play "tricks" on you, but it does need a tuneup every now and then so you can keep striving for your goals.

Conclusion

Don't EVER let your brain override your H.E.A.R.T...ever!  Your H.E.A.R.T runs the show and that's real.  When your brain wants to talk that crazy ish, that's when you need to dig deep and let it (the brain) know that your H.E.A.R.T is bigger and badder (someone always is) and you won't be stopped until they put you in the dirt.  You may not achieve everything you want to do in your lifetime, but you NEVER will if you give up and allow your H.E.A.R.T to give and die.  Please believe that.  I hope this finds you in time and that you continue to play the game of life with H.E.A.R.T!