Mar 2013
Jim Valavano's ESPY speech
13/03/13 22:41
First and Foremost - before you read this blog, go the separate web page that I have set up and listen to Jim Valvano’s 1993 ESPY Speech. Then you can read my thoughts and add your own as well.
I can distinctly remember watching Jim Valvano’s deliver his ESPY speech in March of 1993. I was never a fan of North Carolina State but who could ever forget one of the greatest NCAA Championship games, April 4, 1983. NC State scored the winning basket at the buzzer and upset the University of Houston - an unbelievable moment in Sports History. Besides the winning shot (which is replayed over and over again) there is also the scene of Coach Jim Valvano running all around the court looking for someone to hug.
10 years later (in the same month of achieving the pinnacle of his career) Jim Valvano died from cancer. Approximately 6 weeks before he passed away, Jim Valvano was the recipient of the most courageous award at the 1993 ESPY Awards. Barely able to walk with hardly any strength left in his body - Jim Valvano delivered one of the most impactful speeches of my lifetime. I remembered sitting in a hotel room and watching this speech and crying - this speech and everything that Coach Valvano said was so close to my heart and soul.
One of the most memorable parts of this speech is when Jim describes a full day by saying if you can Laugh, Think and Cry in one day that this would be a full day and if you could do this every day of your life you would have experienced a wonderful life. I am not sure if everyone agrees with this - especially the crying part, sometimes we get hung up on words. What Jim Valvano was speaking to was being in touch with all the emotions of the human spirit and that we should never underestimate how laughter is so healthy, how thunking is so critical to our and how crying is so therapeutic.
I can distinctly remember watching Jim Valvano’s deliver his ESPY speech in March of 1993. I was never a fan of North Carolina State but who could ever forget one of the greatest NCAA Championship games, April 4, 1983. NC State scored the winning basket at the buzzer and upset the University of Houston - an unbelievable moment in Sports History. Besides the winning shot (which is replayed over and over again) there is also the scene of Coach Jim Valvano running all around the court looking for someone to hug.
10 years later (in the same month of achieving the pinnacle of his career) Jim Valvano died from cancer. Approximately 6 weeks before he passed away, Jim Valvano was the recipient of the most courageous award at the 1993 ESPY Awards. Barely able to walk with hardly any strength left in his body - Jim Valvano delivered one of the most impactful speeches of my lifetime. I remembered sitting in a hotel room and watching this speech and crying - this speech and everything that Coach Valvano said was so close to my heart and soul.
One of the most memorable parts of this speech is when Jim describes a full day by saying if you can Laugh, Think and Cry in one day that this would be a full day and if you could do this every day of your life you would have experienced a wonderful life. I am not sure if everyone agrees with this - especially the crying part, sometimes we get hung up on words. What Jim Valvano was speaking to was being in touch with all the emotions of the human spirit and that we should never underestimate how laughter is so healthy, how thunking is so critical to our and how crying is so therapeutic.
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