"The Gold Boot Guy"  

Alcohol and Drugs: A Warning for Athletes

When Dray was in high school, things were going pretty good for him.  Up to a certain point, he had pretty good grades, he was something of a star on the football team and he drove his girlfriend around in a classic Camaro.  Although he had a really good shot at building a career around his sports talent, he never thought too hard on it.  He was too busy to think about his career.  He was living a great life.

Dray had experimented with certain drugs, like Marijuana, and to him it was really no big deal.  In a small town, you have to make your own fun if you plan on having any and one night Dray and a bunch of kids from the football team were doing exactly that.  They had all been drinking before they decided to go out and see what they could get into.  Dray led the group in his Camaro and a couple of vehicles followed him.  Dray's girlfriend Brandi was having a really good time until she noticed that Dray was swerving around a lot.  She knew he was too buzzed to drive and asked him to let her drive them home.  Brushing her off, he slowed the car until the pickup truck behind him pulled up to his side.

They were on a long, curvy back road and Dray began revving the motor and accelerating.  The driver in the pickup knew that Dray wanted to race.  Laughing and having the time of his life, Dray began to accelerate again.  Over his girlfriend's pleads for him to slow down and stop, Dray continued to accelerate.  He had to concentrate because he'd never been on this road before.  Through twisting turns and dips in the road, the Camaro got faster and faster.  Finally, Dray looked over and could see that his girlfriend was truly scared so he started to slow down.  That's when Dray lost control of the Camaro.

Having drifted slightly to the side of the road, Dray hit a dip and lost control.  The car flew off of the side of the road and onto the shoulder, sliding through brush, spinning and smoking terribly before the car finally skidded to a stop.  By some miracle, Dray and his girlfriend were alive.  The pickups behind them had avoided wrecking somehow and their occupants, scared out of their minds, searched for Dray's car.  Whether it was the effect of the wreck or trying to make sure his girlfriend was alright, Dray had completely sobered up.  He could feel himself moving to check on her, all but his legs.  At first, he thought it was simply a reaction to being scared – but there was something more to it.  In one moment he realized that he was hurt and was having trouble breathing.  He also couldn't move his legs.  Every touchdown, every pass and every dream he had secretly held to himself passed through his mind.  The crowd, the calls and the emotions of a close win spoke to him.  Unfortunately, Dray was never able to play football again.  On a positive note, he used the tragedy to teach teenagers about the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

Risks of Playing the Pimp Game

In high school, it sure seems totally cool to have been with this person or that person, to have gone this far with one and that far with another.  A lot of it is just big talk from guys trying to sound like pimps, but sometimes its reality.  If you're one of these guys who thinks it's really cool to play the pimp game, you should know about Matt.  Matt was one of these guys too.  He was handsome enough, which is why he was able to get close to so many people.  In his friend's eyes, Matt was king at their high school until soon enough, with a twist of fate, Matt became a dad.

Because the pregnant girl was kicked out of her home, Matt had to quit school and get a job in order to support her and their child.  Matt was no longer the king of the high school.  In fact, without his education, the best job Matt was able to get was helping out at a mechanic's shop that paid minimum wage.  The guy he used to be was gone and Matt's entire life, his dreams and his goals were gone as well.  If Matt's story doesn't show you the risks of playing the pimp game, perhaps Josh's story will.

Josh was very similar to Matt.  He was captain of the football team, and he was very popular and well loved by the girls.  With a cute face and charming demeanor, Josh could get away with many different things.  His friends looked forward to his bragging sessions on Mondays after the weekend.  One day very close to graduation, Josh didn't show up on Monday because he was at the doctor's office.  Josh had contracted Human Papillomavirus and had gone to the doctor when he noticed small bumps which turned out to be genital warts. 

It's bad enough to contract a sexually transmitted disease that there is no cure for, but because it can take from 3 months to years to show up, Josh had to contact all of the girls that he had 'spent time' with in the past two years to inform them that he had the disease.  Josh quickly went from Mr. Popular to someone who was avoided.  There are many risks to playing the pimp game and you just can't afford to take the 'it-wont-happen-to-me' attitude because it can.  Don't put your whole life at risk.  In Josh's case, his disease was not fatal and could be treated, although HPV is incurable.  It could have been something much worse. 

Professional Athletics is Not the Ticket to Success…Education Is!

Tony knew that he wanted to play football from the time he was a small kid, so when he focused on that in high school, no one was surprised.  His mother tried to get him to focus more on academic careers so that he would always have something to fall back on, but his famous, crooked-grin reply was always the same, "The only thing I need to fall on is the football, Mom."   Tony was an amazing player.  He was fast, sharp and could assess the field in seconds.  After the snap, when the football was flying through the air, Tony was under it and gone so fast that the judges started calling him Phantom.

One particular night, the stands were absolutely packed.  It was a night game and sounds of people chattering, talking and yelling at their favorite players blended together to create a larger, buzzing melody.  Tony was pumped.  The lights pointed at the field were brighter than full noon and Tony's team was playing their rival high school, the Hawks.  This was truly a big game and there were rumors of scouts in the stands.  The excitement couldn't have been higher and the tension couldn't have been thicker between the two teams when the game started.

Tony will never forget the second play after half-time.  His team was ahead and he really felt like they had the game in the bag.  The quarterback threw the ball and Tony was there.  Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he positioned himself under the spiraling football.  He was poised, arms up, ready to catch and run just like the hundreds of other plays before this one.  Then his foot shifted in a strange way.  As the ball hit his hands and he turned to run, an opposing player crashed into him with the full force of a 180 pound sprint.  He felt his ankle and knee crack as hot, fiery pain shot from his foot to his hip.  Things went dark for Tony.

Unfortunately, the injury was not just a common football injury that would heal normally.  His ankle was literally shattered and required pins to hold it in place while it healed.  Because of the way he fell when the player hit him, his knee was dislocated and his fibula was also cracked.  It took a long time for Tony to heal and after he did, he was not able to play football anymore.  What he invested his entire life learning so that he could be a professional was not going to happen for him and he had no other plans.  Luckily, he was young enough to do something else with his life, but he truly wished that he would have found an academic passion so things wouldn't have been so hard for him.  Professional athletics is not the ticket to success…education is.  Because there are so many variables for being successful with sports, one tiny thing can make the dream impossible.  With your education, you can find a career that you will be stable and secure in so Tony's situation can never happen to you.

Tips for Making the Transition to College

            Luckily for Austin, his older brother went to college a few years before him.  As it got closer to time for Austin to go to college, his brother spent some extra time with him, in order to help him transition from high school to college.  At first, Austin really didn't think it was a big deal but as they started going over things that had to be done or routines that had to be kept, Austin was glad that he wasn't the one to go first!  Some of the different tips that Austin's brother gave him really helped out a lot. 

            First they got Austin on a tighter study schedule.  Because Austin was a gifted student, he didn't study as much as he could have.  With college, things are much different.  Students who excel easily in high school with limited studying will quickly find themselves falling behind in college if they keep the same study habits.  Austin found that scheduling study time for so many hours a day still allowed him to have a certain amount of time to do other things that he enjoyed, like playing with his Xbox 360!

            Another tip Austin's brother gave him was to learn how to pinch pennies.  Because most of your time in college is monopolized with studies, classes and projects, there is little time to actually work.  The money that may come from financial assistance or your parents is quickly used up by books, food and necessities.  Learning how to pinch pennies for Austin was kind of difficult.  However, sitting down and coming up with a tentative budget helped him learn how to work with the available funds that he had.  He was thankful for this advice when it really was time for him to go.

            Possibly the most important tip Austin's brother gave him was pertaining to social things.  While many people view college as a way to get away from home and do a little partying, this kind of attitude can quickly lead to you falling behind.  Austin's brother explained that it was fine to socialize but that it was very important to find the right crowd to socialize in and that time should be spent doing the important things first.  Then if there was time left, socializing could be next!  Austin wasn't too fond of this, but he agreed on the importance and had personally seen a few people fail college because they didn't have their priorities straight.  These tips were a huge help to Austin and perhaps they will be of some help to you as well.