I have 2 new favorite Olympian athletes. They are Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal, the #2 USA beach volleyball team. Listen to their stories.
Gibb was born in Bountiful, Utah of all places. He was the youngest of 11 kids, and never played volleyball in high school or college. When he got back from his mission, he was 6'6" and started playing volleyball for fun. When he graduated from Utah in 2002, he wanted to go to California to try beach volleyball. His wife said ok, and they went there with $1,600. She worked 2 jobs to support his dream, and he promised he'd be in the top 20 of the AVP in 2 years, or he'd quit. Well he was 19th, so he kept playing and now he's in the Olympics.
On to Rosenthal. He is the second oldest of 7 kids from 4 different fathers. His mom was a meth addict. They all lived in a tiny house and because they lived off welfare, Rosenthal had to work an early morning job to support his family. He was never very interested in school, so he hung out a lot at the beach and taught himself to play volleyball. He teamed up with Gibb only 2 years ago - and now they are in the Olympics.
I am now too emotionally attached to them winning. Fortunately I just saw them beat Japan in a nail-biting match.
WATCH THEM IN ACTION : http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/
player.html?assetid=0810_hd_bvb_en020&channelcode=sportbv
This story makes me wonder if there is something I would be good at if I had enough passion or guts to go for it instead of just playing it safe. Seems like the exciting way to live life. Hmmm....what could I do?
No comments:
Post a Comment