Joe Moore
Mules Radio Analyst
Twenty years and 50 pounds ago, when I
was an aspiring college football player, I was not very
talented. I could run all day, but I was not fast. I was not
very big, nor was I very strong. What made me a college
prospect was the fact that I was not afraid to work. In the
summers, when many of my teammates were hanging out at the lake
or enjoying the air conditioning, I was in the bowels of Jennie
Jaynes Stadium or Smith-Cotton High School in Sedalia, Mo.
lifting as much weight as possible. I was running stadium steps
and running pass routes for anybody interested in playing
quarterback.
When I walked on at Central Missouri State University, I
realized I was going to have to step it up a notch. Frequently
I came to practice early and worked on footwork drills. I
stayed late on occasion and caught passes from Jim Neinhaus, one
of our quarterbacks at the time. I, along with a handful of
others, stayed around in the summer, worked on the CMSU grounds
crew by day and trained in the late afternoons.
I know
now, though, that I had NO idea what grit and determination
were. I had no concept of exactly how hard it is to be an elite
athlete. This point was driven home last week. My
seven-year-old daughter, Gaby, said she not only wanted to play
soccer through the Warrensburg Parks and Recreation program, but
she also wanted to play Monday Night Futbol with the University
of Central Missouri Jennies. “I have to practice if I am going
to make it to the Olympics,” she said. See, we had just
finished the two-week marathon of watching as much gymnastics,
swimming, track and field, weight lifting, diving, and beach
volleyball. Every night as I tuned in it struck a chord that I
was watching the greatest athletes in the world. But, I would
think, there are A LOT of great athletes in the world. What
makes these so special? What is it that puts them over the
top? I mean, I worked my tail off, and I was little more than
an observer in college.
Before
Gaby’s innocent statement, I had visited with the UCM Mules new
offensive coordinator, Charlie Stubbs. He spent almost two
decades in NCAA Division I at schools like Louisville, Alabama
and BYU. And he said much the same thing. He said that the
biggest difference between D-I and D-II is talent, but he
quickly added that the boys playing on national television on
Saturdays also have a work ethic few can comprehend. If they
aren’t practicing, they are lifting weights and doing
plyometrics. If they aren’t in physical training, they are
diagnosing film.
Don’t
get me wrong, our boys in the Cardinal and Black, and frankly
throughout college athletics at every school, turn in an arduous
work day. I’ve watched practices and training sessions, and I
know for a fact they would have to hook up a heart-lung machine
if I ever attempted it today. But the more elite one goes in
athletics, the more one has to commit their life to that
endeavor. My wife and I talked about that, too, while the
Olympics were on, how so many of the athletes lived, ate, and
breathed their sport, at the expense of all else. I guess that
is something we will have to determine with my little girl.
So the
next time you are watching the Mules on Saturday, or the Dallas
Cowboys on Sunday, or Usain Bolt fly through the 100-meters, do
not just appreciate the skill and grace with which they
perform. Rather, take a moment to honor the effort it took to
hone those skills and the sacrifices made to bring us sports
fans such joy.
