College Sports Information Directors of America

Annual Convention College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) Cleveland, Ohio Monday, June 30, 2003 Keynote Speaker: Joseph Holland Thank you for that generous introduction. I want to thank you for inviting me to address you, and I’d like to thank each and every one of you for coming to COSIDA’s Annual Convention here in Cleveland. I appreciate so much this invitation because I’m not a celebrity, sports star, TV personality, or famous coach – I’m a lawyer, in private practice, chasing ambulances – I mean, in pursuit of new business opportunities. So when I got the invitation, I said, Forget the honorarium, just give me a right of first refusal on all COSIDA libel suits. But that didn’t work so I decided to set up my own table in the Exhibit Area. You’ve seen it, haven’t you . . . ? I positioned it right under the leaky ceiling near the banana peel on the floor. I learned these techniques from my mentor, who just recently, on his way to court to try a case, was involved in a traffic accident. Studying his damaged BMW, he was interrupted by a by-stander: “You lawyers are so materialistic, the driver of that little Honda was badly injured.” My mentor responded, “Oh no, I am concerned.” The by-stander said, “You don’t even care about your own injuries. Your left arm is missing.” Looking down, aghast, the lawyer exclaimed, “Oh no, Rolex!!” Seriously, I am grateful to be here with so many of my COSIDA friends: John Humenik, Alan Cannon, and Dave Wohlhueter. Dave was my SID when I was a student-athlete at Cornell and his work was critical during my final football season in taking me from an unknown to All-Ivy, All-East, All-American, Academic All-American, and onto the East All-Star team that traveled to Tokyo to play in the Japan Bowl. I couldn’t have done it without you, Dave. And what Dave did for me is not the exception but the SID rule. He – and all of you – are the unsung heroes of the college athletics. You work the hardest, receive the least public recognition and financial reward, yet you make a difference in the lives of young Americans every semester, every season, every day. So my thank you to Dave is a representative thank you. I am boldly exercising my prerogative as a two-time Academic All-American and as a long-standing member of Academic All-American Hall of Fame to speak on behalf of all Academic All-Americans and say: “Thank you, SID’s. For a job well done. We couldn’t have made it without you. And you definitely deserve a lot more respect and appreciation than you are receiving.” Now turn to someone in the audience and tell him or her: “You know that’s right! . . .” And that’s exactly what I want to talk about today – respect. I’d like to talk about respect in several different arenas – respect not only for COSIDA and its members, but respect for intercollegiate athletics, respect for the Academic All-America Program, and respect for the values you have championed, values which produce character in our young people and progress for our culture and our nation. As I’ve said, you deserve respect, and so do the idea and the vision of intercollegiate athletics. I traveled here to Cleveland from New York City last Friday, the day after the NBA draft, and LeBrun James was on my plane. So, armed with a business card in each hand, I made my move. I never made it beyond the first line of his posse. I had not been taken down so hard since my gridiron days. As great a basketball player as he is – and we all wish him the best – there is a syndrome that he has come to symbolize, which can be summed up as follows: Forget about college sports and go right to the pros. In this new ethic, college sports have no intrinsic value; material success is the ONLY value. In this new ethic, the very purpose of college -- on the field, in the gym, and in the classroom -- is purely mercenary. The goal is to become rich and famous, pure and simple. The old idea of college athletics as a way to embrace teamwork, foster diversity, expand one’s horizons, and learn life’s lessons -- that idea is clearly endangered. In other words, what’s wrong with this new ethic is how it answers the question, “What is success, and what makes a person successful?” The old ethic said, “Success comes when your character changes.” The new ethic says, “Success comes when your circumstances change.” Why do so many celebrities enjoy meteoric rises, only to crash and burn just as suddenly, ruining their careers and wrecking their lives and those of their loved ones? The reason is clear. Success to them is external, not internal. They have plenty of money and lots of fame, but inside, they are the same person as they were before their rise to the top. Their circumstances changed, but not their character. The problem is – for those who change their circumstances without changing their character, the change may not last. College sports are emphatically about character change. They teach self-discipline and sacrifice – short-term pain for long-term gain. They teach cooperation and competition. They teach loyalty and honor. They teach duty and perseverance. These are tremendous lessons for which there can be no shortcuts. Simply put, to short cut is to short change. That is why for a young person who has star athletic potential, college sports are essential. As college sports information directors, you know that as well as anyone. And today, you stand against the social tide, and for the respect that college sports deserve as agents of change in the lives of our young adults. We also need respect for the balance between athletic and academic excellence. Far too often, this balance has not been respected in our society and in our colleges and universities. In many of our universities, for example, college football is big business, and we’ve all heard of charges over the years of college personnel who cut corners to recruit and retain star players – young people whose academics might not be sound but whose winning skills bring victories and keep wealthy alumni happy and ready to give. Such conduct shows respect neither for athletics nor for academics. It teaches students all the wrong lessons, for all the wrong reasons. It teaches them that character means nothing and circumstances everything. It teaches them that the ends justify the means. It teaches them that success is about fame and fortune. It teaches them that while success is the destination, sports is the road and scholastics a roadblock to be evaded whenever and wherever possible. I commend COSIDA for rejecting this ethic, and for championing the balance between sports and scholastics through its Academic All-America and Hall of Fame Programs – programs that rightly recognizes achievement in both areas. And, as you know, the future of these programs is uncertain while the search for a new corporate sponsor continues. We must do everything possible to keep these programs alive. As part of a special Hall of Fame initiative called Life’s Playbook, I have been privileged to travel the length and breadth of this country speaking to students at 150 high schools over the past several years about the meaning of success through the values we share. It has been an extraordinary, eye-opening experience, one that has impacted my life profoundly. Everywhere I have traveled, what I’ve found is a hunger and a thirst not for fame and fortune, not for short cuts to success, but for the time-tested values and virtues that serve as guideposts and paths – bedrock principles that strengthen us through life’s ups and downs, perils and pitfalls, opportunities and disappointments. I’ve shared a message called “A Game Plan For Success – the Seven P’s”: Preparation, Perseverance, Perspective, Probity, Pick, Pain, and Picture. As part of my presentation, I teach the students a rap, it’s called “the Success Rap”. I want to teach it to you. It goes like this: LIFE’S PLAYBOOK GIVE SUCCESS A CHANCE LIFE’S PLAYBOOK MAKE YOUR LIFE ADVANCE LIFE’S PLAYBOOK IT’S THE WAY TO GO LIFE’S PLAYBOOK MAKE YOUR VIRTUE GROW LIFE’S PLAYBOOK USE THE SEVEN P’S LIFE’S PLAYBOOK GAIN THE VICTORY LIFE’S PLAYBOOK YOU CAN MAKE IT THROUGH LIFE’S PLAYBOOK THE RULES WORK FOR YOU LIFE’S PLAYBOOK IT’S ABOUT SUCCESS LIFE’S PLAYBOOK BE YOUR VERY BEST Finally, I want to discuss respect for a values-centered approach to life. Throughout my adult life, I have benefited greatly from what I learned both on the football field and in the classroom and library. Through a combination of what I had learned and some serious soul-searching, I determined as a young man that what I really wanted was neither a football career nor a lucrative job on Wall Street, but a chance to empower the disadvantaged, teaching them what I’d been taught, mentoring them as I’d been mentored by parents, coaches, and teachers. And so, 20 years ago, after graduating Harvard Law, I found myself in Harlem, starting from scratch, building a character-based program and structures for homeless, substance-abusing men who had come to the end of their rope. Without a doubt, this was the most challenging and demanding work of my life. During the most difficult moments, the urge to abandon ship seemed overwhelming and almost irresistible. Yet I persevered, and helped hundreds of others to persevere and see their lives change permanently. I learned to stick it out not only through my studies in school, but through my experience with athletics and with the coaches who had encouraged me every step of the way. Throughout my time in Harlem, one of the biggest challenges was to teach people how to respect the same values and principles that society and the media have been rejecting. Every day, I was painfully aware that every time the men would turn on the TV or watch a movie, they would see and hear a totally different set of values. I taught them self-discipline, but the mass media taught self-indulgence. I taught them to take responsibility, yet on the street, the norm was to blame other people for one’s troubles. I taught them, “short-term pain for long-term gain,” while celebrities on TV modeled instant gratification. There is no question that respect for the values of COSIDA are not in vogue and have not been celebrated for many years in our pop culture. I saw that in Harlem. You see that in your colleges and universities. Kids want to embrace the values we share, more now than ever, but the temptations are formidable. Drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, peer pressure, mass media – all of these compete with us for the attention of young people. We tell them that good things are worth waiting for, yet pop culture tells them that it’s a sin to postpone gratification and that pleasure is the greatest good in life. We tell them to stay in school, stay on the team, save money, get more education, yet pop culture tells them to drop out or reduce their course load, and use the money they saved to lease an expensive new car to show off to their friends. Teaching respect for our values is a challenge, but I believe with COSIDA that it’s one we abandon at our peril. Speaking for myself, throughout my adult life, as a Harlem-based lawyer, businessman and nonprofit pioneer, as Governor Pataki’s housing commissioner for New York State, as a consultant for faith-based anti-poverty groups, and as a Verizon spokesman for the Academic All-America program, I have endeavored to exalt these values in all that I do. These values deserve respect, and so do COSIDA and every SID in this room because you have been the champions in upholding these principles of lasting success. And in the coming years, may you be granted the respect you deserve for the work you do and the values we share. Thank you again for your dedication and professionalism. Thank you for setting and adhering to the highest standards in your profession. Thank you for caring about the cause and the vision of college athletics and what they can be. Thank you for caring for this generation of kids who will be the adults of tomorrow. And I am proud – as are countless others – to stand shoulder to shoulder with all of you in respect for the life-changing values that work for every generation. Thank you and God bless you.