Moment of Reality

When I was in junior high, I was overweight. No other way to put it. I was tall for my age and everything, and you could certainly call me a 'growing boy', but I was also growing horizontally. In the middle of 7th grade, I was around 5'11" and 225 pounds. The same time the following year, I bumped up to 6'2" and ballooned into the 250 range, give or take a couple donuts (as my partner in crime Rob Drumm would say). At the same time, I was a nice kid.. couldn't hurt a fly. There were plenty of people who took advantage of that kindness by poking fun at my weight. I heard every fat joke in the book. I got the Sasquatch jokes (size 17-18 shoes will give you that). I had the nickname of Shrek... from the lunch lady. There was a kid about half my size who knew my name, but only addressed me as 'fat-ass'.

You name it, I probably heard it.

My weight at the time was my own doing - too much supersize, not enough exercise. Many people in the same situation shut down from their classmates. They'll go to teachers, complain to parents, shoot up schools. I wasn't like that. I wrote everything down that was said, and I made it a ritual to read those every single day prior to playing basketball or working out. That was all the motivation I needed to turn from 6'2", 250 pounder in 8th grade to 6'5", 215 pound starting small forward on varsity hoops as a sophomore. Yeah, not center. I was in good enough shape to play the wing just fine. (I'm not glorifying my high school days in this post... just showing that I've had my own situation). This also shaped me and motivated me all the way up through college hoops as well. The experience I had is a big factor in my opinion, which isn't the most well-received in the average person's current state of mind. When someone complains about people making fun of their weight, I tell them this: make a choice. Lose weight or get better jokes! You're not going to stop people from saying things you don't like to hear by complaining. You'll stop it by taking action. Whatever way you choose, do something. Prove them wrong or be able to hit them where it hurts with a comeback.

I say that to talk about this for a little while. The boom of social media has made a few things happen. For one, every athlete and school wants coverage of their sports teams and the Twitter updates from everywhere make the ease of access much greater. Twitter also offers a 'get it now' format where long term thought process gives way to up-to-the-minute facts - or 'how can I get across what I want to say in 140 characters?'. The filter of quick, current thoughts isn't as great, nor should it be. Sometimes, things get said that show a team is getting their asses whooped in the middle of a game. Sure, teams love coverage... until they're losing. When did the psyche change? If it's 4-0 in the first 20 minutes, let's be real. The story of the game is how well the team with 4 is doing, not how hard the team with 0 is trying. Maybe Bart Simpson can give you a cake. I won't. Many people - athletes, coaches, supporters - will use social media to talk down about a reporter that 'lacks class' or is 'unprofessional'. Saying that a team is getting demolished isn't lacking class. As a matter of fact, I look at it as professional - it's real. It's what is happening. Reporting the facts. Do you want media to stop talking about you getting smacked? Simple...

Everyone needs some cake in their life once in a while.

 Quit getting smacked. It's not their fault you're down by 7. Get on the field, the court, whatever sport it may be, and put work in during the offseason. Remember how much it hurts to lose, what it feels like to read news clippings and tweets you don't like. Let it motivate you. Don't get butthurt and take to Twitter about how people are classless and rude and mean. While you were out getting hammered at that road party or going on a high ride, the kids on that team that's smacking you might have been sleeping because they were going to go lift the next morning. You get out what you put in. Never in my life have I seen a good sports program that doesn't make sacrifices. The ones that sacrifice the most tend to be the best. This isn't a coincidence. The ones who gave up those Friday & Saturday nights quite often deserve to get the accolades and positive words when they're kicking the crud out of someone. A simple quote applies: 'Don't talk about it, be about it'. Simple enough. Actions speak so much louder than words, so if you're upset about getting blown in the 1st round of sectionals or not making sectionals at all, instead of trashing the reporter whose assignment was to cover and tweet at the game you got busted up in, start working for next year right now. Don't wait. Get a leg up on your opposition that's still playing. Start getting better today - maybe next season, you'll be the group that gets the satisfaction when kicking the crud out of another team that didn't work hard enough.

- Jeff Mlinar