Today was supposed to be a day off. I had told Jeff, my workout partner, “Dude, I’m exhausted. I’ve written 5 blogs in 5 days. I’m mentally wasted. I’m taking the weekend off. I told everyone that I’d blog for 6 straight weeks. I didn’t say I’d blog 7 days a week. People work 5 days a week. So I’m writing a blog 5 days a week.
Jeff responded, “So what you’re saying is that the competitors are taking the weekend off as well? That they don’t train or do cardio on Saturday or Sunday? Because if that’s the case, you don’t need to write on those days. They don’t need to hear from ‘Dr. Buff’ on the weekends…”
I just looked at him. “Dude, I hate you…”
Here’s today’s blog…
I just finished watching the Final Four games. I can’t stand Duke. But they’re good, so we’ll see how they’ll do against Wisconsin. I wanted Kentucky to win because they were undefeated and I thought it would be cool for them to get to the championship game, win, and be the first team since the ’76 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated in a season. But that didn’t happen. Now I’m pulling for Wisconsin. Why? Because I hate Duke. Duke is one of those teams that you love to love or love to hate. I hate em. But that’s not what tonight’s blog is about.
It’s about Frank Kaminsky, the Wisconsin center, Sam Dekker, their small forward, and the rest of the team who spent one entire year getting back to this game. Wisconsin lost last year to Kentucky in the last seconds on a shot by one of the Harrison twins.
To say this game had excitement was an understatement. Most had Kentucky by a slight advantage, yet no one totally ruled out Wisconsin. It became the ‘if/then’ scenario. IF Kentucky didn’t do this, THEN it could cost them. IF Wisconsin did this, THEN they had a chance to pull it out. But even with all of that, it still came down to what the Wisconsin players said after last year’s loss. Kaminsky said he was coming back to the Badgers because he wanted another shot at the Wildcats. He showed that all season long by his play, ultimately becoming the player of the year. Dekker grew as a player and came into his own. He knew what he needed to improve upon, worked on it all off-season, and kept getting better and better as the season, and this game went on. Don’t get me wrong. Kentucky played like the champions they were last year. They didn’t lose the game, but rather Wisconsin WON the game. They won through a year of hard work, both physically AND mentally. They stayed mentally tough even when they lost a couple of games during the season. They stayed mentally tough even when Kentucky went up by 4-5 points. They didn’t cave in. Charles Barkley had it right when he said, “If you make a mental mistake against Wisconsin, they’ll make you pay for it.”
Wisconsin spent one solid year working on their fundamentals and skills to get back to this point. Every day they did what they were supposed to do, both as a team and individually when on their own. They found out what was necessary for them to do, and did the necessary well. So it must be with you. 5 weeks until showtime. You have 5 weeks to execute, to practice, to train, to do cardio, to follow your foods. You have 5 weeks to be perfect. Start with today. Be perfect today.
Doc
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