MUST-SEE: CARSON WENTZ STORY

If you have 11 minutes, you need to watch this video on Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz and a 10-year old child fighting cancer. It is an emotional story that puts sports and life in perspective. This video is definitely a must-see.

A LETTER TO DAD, THE COACH

Check out this fantastic letter written by North Linn sophomore Jake Hilmer to his dad, the head boys basketball coach at their school. The link is here

WATCH THIS: GENO AURIEMMA TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

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In case there is actually someone who hasn't seen this short video of UConn head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma's insights into basketball (and sports, for that matter), you need to see it. Watch the video...and LISTEN to what he says,..linked here

PLAYERS: WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM NDSU

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Our staff is comprised of Hawkeye fans, and as disappointed as we are about the Hawkeye loss to the Bison, the Iowa-NDSU football game this past Saturday can offer many valuable lessons for players and coaches alike.  If an athlete wants to truly become the best he/she can be, then he/she needs to constantly be learning.  Here are a few lessons for any athlete to learn from the game on Saturday in Iowa City:

*BELIEVE...NEVER WAVER:  The Bison truly believed they would win this game, despite being huge underdogs.  It was obvious they came to Iowa City to win...not merely just to compete and play well, hoping to keep it close.  Their preparation all week was done to win, and that's what they did.  Even when they fell behind against Iowa, they never wavered...it was impressive to watch their belief in each other and their abilities on the field.

*BE DISCIPLINED:  NDSU was flagged for only one penalty all day...ONE.  They looked crisp on offense and executed to perfection.  They played well on defense and played together as a unit.  Iowa made sloppy mistakes at times and looked out-of-sync all day.  Victory favors the team that makes fewer mistakes.

*STAY AGGRESSIVE AND PLAY TO WIN:  NDSU made aggressive plays all day on both sides of the ball, and again, they played to win this game.  It felt like Iowa played "not to lose" all day and seemed to want to just run out the clock and hope for the game to be over late in the game when they had the lead, instead of going for the kill and the victory.  Go for the win, always.

*KEEP PLAYING, NO MATTER WHAT:  The Bison scored first, but otherwise, they trailed most of the game, including almost all of the second half.  They NEVER stopped playing...even when Iowa took the lead and appeared to be in control.  Remember:  you may not always come back from a deficit to win, but you give yourself no shot at all if you quit playing...ALWAYS keep playing, no matter what, because you at least give yourself a shot to win in the end.

*"WE DEAL THE CARDS":  I love this quote...NDSU "dealt the cards" on Saturday, which meant they controlled the tempo, the line of scrimmage, and the physicality...they wore down Iowa late in the game because they "dealt the cards" all game.  They ran a play-action pass for a big gain on the first play of the game, sending a message to Iowa that they would run what they wanted and control this thing.  They didn't wait around to see what Iowa was going to do, but rather, they went after Iowa...they "dealt the cards."

*IT'S A LONG SEASON...ONE GAME ISN'T "MAKE OR BREAK":  From Iowa's perspective, they are 0-0 in the Big Ten and have 9 regular season games left.  This 1 game does not break their season.  There is plenty of time to clean up mistakes and to get back on track.  It's a long season, and Iowa needs to look ahead to conference play.  This can be applied to any team in any sport in any season...after a loss, move on to the next game and look a the big picture of the season.  Teams that are mentally weak let a loss linger.

Again, we'll always be Hawkeye fans, but we would be foolish and arrogant to look past the lessons that can be learned from what NDSU showed us on Saturday.  Congrats to the Bison because they deserved the win...and athletes, we hope you can learn from these lessons and apply them to your own lives, both on and off the court.

DES MOINES NORTH FOOTBALL

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What a great story on the Des Moines North football program from the Des Moines Register...check it out here

BRANDON SNYDER: MAKING NW IOWA PROUD

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West Lyon product and current Iowa Hawkeyes starting free safety Brandon Snyder is making Northwest Iowa proud, both on and off the field.  Recently the Iowa City Press-Citizen published a GREAT article about Snyder, linked here.  Here are a few cool quotes from and about Snyder in the article that can be applied to any athlete at any level:

“You can’t just work hard, you’ve got to be the hardest worker every day,” (former Hawkeye Sean Considine to Snyder)

"Dad, there’s nobody else in the state who’s going to be lifting tonight."

“As you progress and make more plays and continue to evolve and get better, you start to earn respect from the coaches and from the players. It’s not something that happens overnight. You don’t come to a position and just everyone listens to you.”

“It’s to continue evolving as a player so I can add value to this team.”

WILL VOIGT

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There are many fantastic individual stories at this year's Olympic games, but one of the most interesting and fascinating has to be the story of well-traveled Will Voigt, head coach of the Nigeria men's national basketball team.  Check out the article linked here