Golf is a really hard game.  And it’s a really hard game when there is a lot on the line.  Keep in mind the key to the blog so far………golf is a GAME. And Jordan Spieth is human.

Golf is not life or death.  It’s a freakin GAME.  As much as the idiotic guys on ESPN radio would want you to think that Jordan is “mentally weak” (what a f-ing joke) or that “Jordan choked”, what we really learned last weekend was much deeper than that.

A little known fact is that although Jack Nicklaus is hailed as a golf hero with 18 major championship wins, he finished 2nd 19 times.  Yeah, that’s right.  37 times he was right there and more times than not, he didn’t win.

So here is a 22 year old kid who already has come through BIG TIME in 2 majors……..in the last 5, he has 5 top 3’s……….I think he is doing pretty well.

So what happened last weekend………he didn’t come through.  And it’s really that simple.  This doesn’t say anything about who he is.  This doesn’t mean he isn’t great.  This doesn’t mean he will never win again or that he isn’t extraordinary.   He’s a great kid, with enormous character, incredible work ethic and he didn’t come through on the back 9.  Just like Jack didn’t 19 times in his long career.

What really irritates the staff here at Chatter more than anything are the people that love to talk……….and have no clue what they are talking about.  Get in the arena dude.  Find out what real pressure feels like.  Jordan Spieth is a human being.  He is not a robot.  He is not Superman.  Just like you get really nervous on the first tee when 3 people are watching you hit a shot, he gets nervous when the WORLD is watching him try to clinch the deal.   You call it a choke, I call it total rubbish.

And if it makes you feel better to talk about how Superman didn’t come through, we get it.  It’s human nature to hate on those that seem to have so much and watch them collapse.  Yes, it was painful to watch.  But in a lot of ways it was beautiful.  Because life deals all of us major challenges……some on bigger stages than others……most of our disappointments aren’t in front of the whole world……his was……..and nothing will be sweeter than when he wins that next major and that next Green Jacket and he can turn to the camera and say…….”Wow, it’s all the more fulfilling now because I lived through the other side.”

Think about all the success you had last weekend.  Probably some good stuff in there right?……how would you like it if we replayed your worst 5 minutes over and over and over for the world to see?  5 minutes?  I bet it’s not pretty.

Here are the top 3 things I learned that no one is talking about from last weekend:

1.       Jordan Spieth made ONE MILLION DOLLARS for overall playing great golf last week.

2.      At the age of 22, he has put himself in the “winning a major” arena 6 times already.  He has 2 of them.  Way ahead of any golfer ever.

3.      By my count, if he puts himself “in the arena” 34 more times, he will break Jack’s illustrious major championship record.  It’s a numbers game.

How does this apply to mere mortals like us in our day to day? Very easily.  Our biggest setbacks create our biggest opportunities.  Always.  And as much as we hate that bad things happen to all of us, I respect the hell out of the way Jordan Spieth handled himself in the face of all of this.  Not only did he birdie 2 out of the next 3 holes after his world was crashing in, he also put the Green Jacket on another man that took what he probably thought was his.  And he did it with class.  And he created a teachable moment for my future kids.   I can hear myself now “Hey kids, watch how this guy handled himself within an hour of his greatest life disappointment……..and this shows you can handle any adversity that comes your way…….because the way Jordan faced the music was beautiful and he is someone to emulate”.

Bad things happen to all of us.  Even Jordan Spieth.  I just hope the next rough thing to roll my way, I can do half as well as him.

D.Hall

This week’s installment is long but worth it (yea I said so). So we start off with a Dad and a kid and a life lesson…and then I go on a total rant and people will think “Hall’s being insensitive again”, and then in the end it will all make sense.  Sound enticing?  Ok, well read it anyway.

So I’m 10 years old and I remember it as clear as a partly cloudy dream/nightmare. It’s my birthday and I come home and my mom has all this stuff for me, at school we had cake, etc…all the great 10 year old stuff. Then my Dad comes home and it’s like 8pm and we are watching TV (keep in mind my Dad and I have like the most A+ father/son relationship of all time and we are like best pals). So I turn to him like he’s a brother and say “Dad, I don’t think I’ve seen a gift from you today and ya know it is sort of like my birthday.”  That’s where the greatness begins.

“Ya know boy” (he called me boy)…“I’ve been thinking a lot about that” (as he never took his eyes off the TV so to casually communicate this)…”I’ve been thinking a lot about how lucky your whole life is.  Every single aspect is one lucky break after another.  Basically every day you wake up is like your birthday.  So since every day for you is a birthday, I can’t get you a gift every day right?  So last year was probably the last year you get a gift.”

And that was that.  And it was great.

Cause I got the lesson.  Loud and clear.  Live every single day like your birthday.  No more “today is my big day” bullshit.  Every day is a big day.  Every single freakin day.

Tuesday in the dead of winter?  Let’s have fun.  Sunday before a big week?  Yep.  Bingo.  That’s my birthday too.

And then I started seeing how everyone else was living.  Waiting for a big day to have a big day.  That sort of thinking makes no sense to me at all.  And my Dad, who probably forgot to get a gift that day…or probably genuinely did feel like he told me since I was the son of a Doctor…and his Dad dropped out of school in the 3rd grade cause he was so poor he had to work…taught me one of the greatest lessons anyone could ever teach someone young.  Don’t wait for things.  Go get ‘em.  Make tomorrow like your birthday.  Make next week like your birthday.  Celebrate and work hard and cry and laugh and struggle and celebrate…and do all that every single day.  Experience the MOST you can every day.  Don’t wait until some day in the future.

And when I really started thinking about this deeply…I figured out we had a bit of a problem in this world.  No one was talking about it.  Like it was a secret.   And I thought it was time to put a stop to it.   What is the nonsense with people celebrating their “birthday” 1 day a year vs. every day?  Randomly because you were born 365 days ago from today, today is now your “special day”.  So you will do things for yourself today you wouldn’t yesterday or tomorrow?  Is this odd to anyone else?

“It’s my big special day” you say…cause 365 days ago today I was born.  So “today” I’m gonna really live it up?  Insanity I say.

So I’m gonna go get it today.  Maybe a little cake with some ice cream, 18 holes of golf, telling all the people that I love in this world that I love them, run a few miles, cry during a sad movie, work on my book, then go to bed.  Is it September 14?  Nope, it’s April 10th.  And I’m gonna do even more on April 11th.  Cause they are all my birthday.

Thanks Dad.

D.Hall

March Madness is a really big deal. In fact, it has become “a thing” in America. It’s not even something you have to explain to anyone. It’s a basketball tournament for kids. And everyone loves it.

I can remember watching SPECIFIC GAMES during March Madness 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago……..I bet you can too. And there are some great reasons for that.

Why we love March Madness:

1. It’s a metaphor for life. Be prepared or you will get beat. Come with your A game or go home. There are no 2nd chances. One and done.

2. If you aren’t ready, your heart will get broken. All of your dreams that pertain to putting a ball in a basket rely on you preparing better than the other team.

3. Make adjustments and think on your feet. If you aren’t flexible in your approach, you will get beat.

4. If you think really big and ignore people that are “realistic”, you can be a Villanova or NC State and carve a place in the heart of an entire generation.

5. When you lose, learn from it and do it with grace. Don’t be a sore loser, this will take you far in life.

For me, March Madness is thrilling because you have a chance to watch someone do something that “the experts” say you aren’t supposed to be able to do. Underdogs. Long shots. That really gets my blood flowing.

Whether I talk about the Butler half-court shot that went in and out, Phi Slama Jama, Dereck Whittenburg, Coach Valvano, Keith Smart, Mario Chalmers, George Mason, Christian Laettner (did you think about him kicking the guy or making the shot?)…..you undoubtedly have an image etched in your mind attached to March Madness. It’s an image of possibility and of hope. Aren’t those the things that “jazz us up” the most as we live life?

As we wind down March Madness, let’s celebrate and discover the things that get us “jazzed up” about life. And tap into them DAILY to make our lives richer and more fulfilling.

Wait, the madness doesn’t have to end when March ends? Hmmm….let’s think about that one.

Who would have thought a basketball tournament for kids could teach us so much about how to live life day to day.

Wishing you your own April Madness. Go create it.

D.Hall