Baby Sitting, Bird Watching, and Baby Steps

Yesterday was an exciting day in Indiana as Larry Bird returned to the Pacers. I have always been a Larry Bird fan- I think it is because he was my babysitter once while my dad was in college at Indiana State, and watching his fundamental play as a Boston Celtic player. Last night while at the Indians game I learned that the Hoosiers had two players get drafted in the top 5 picks of the NBA draft- Olidipo(2) and Zeller(4). The Indians lost, but we had a great time in the lawn with the kids. After the game I jogged from Victory Field over to the IU Cancer Center on IUPUI's campus to see my mother-in-law. She just had surgery two days ago to remove cancer from her right lung. During her surgery they ended up removing 4 ribs, and cutting out all of the cancer. She is improving each day, but they are baby steps. Day 1 she was able to sit up in the chair for 30 minutes, and Day 2 she was able to sit up in the chair for 4 hours. Yes- baby steps and she has a long way to go! As I headed back to the car and drove home it was about 11:30 pm and I felt wide awake. When I got home I could not sleep so I pulled out the old Larry Bird- Bird Watching book that was down in the basement storage. I spent an hour reading the chapter on the 1992 Olympic Team. That team will go down as one of the best assembled teams in history- Bird, Magic, Jordan, Malone, Stockton, Ewing, Pippen, Barkley, Drexler, Robinson, Mullin, and Laettner. According to Bird the best thing about the experience was that none of these players brought their star egos along with them. He could recall Barkley carrying the coolers for the medical staff, and Jordan having to wait his turn to be taped by the medical staff. Of course he did say that the few practices that they did have were very competitive. Maybe more so than the Olympic games themselves! The message today is that to achieve success -sometimes you need to take baby steps. Building a successful franchise like the Pacers- they have come a long way over a long period of time. From the Brawl to the Eastern Conference Championship. Olidipo- from a high school back-up to the #2 pick in the draft. Zeller- from high school Mr. Basketball to #4 pick in the draft. These successes are not a coincidence. There is hard work behind these successes. Keep your focus on your goal, and keep working towards it! Mammaw we know that you are going to make it home soon!