Diving, survival, and success - Chris Mears

January 2009. Chris Mears participates in the Youth Olympic Festival in Australia. The British diver is one of the best. But as the 16th year old dives of the platform, he has no idea what is about to unfold.
 
As he hits the water, something's not right. Something is terribly wrong. He ruptures his spleen and is hurried to the hospital.

But the nightmare continues - he loses 5 pints of blood and is rushed into surgery. But a 7 hour seizure and 3 day coma follow.

His slow recovery only starts after a month long stay in a Sydney hospital. But a lot has happened in three years.

Kevin McShane: Walk-on to Captain, a story of determination and passion.

“The first thing is, if you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re early, you’re on time.

"Come to practice early not because coach has you get up early or because someone else is getting up early. Get there early because you want to work hard and you want to get better.

"And if you are going to get to the gym early, bring somebody with you. It's really important to make this team and this whole Beaver atmosphere feel like a family and a brotherhood.''

Kevin McShane is an ordinary athlete with an extraordinary attitude. He plays basketball for the Oregon State Beavers. It's not the playing time, the points, or the rebounds that stand out. He walked on, and in fact his college career didn't get off to a good start.

But he was determined. “I was told it was going to be hard. I was told by my own father that it was going to be too hard and I didn’t want to do it.’’

But he did it. He's the lone senior on the team and receiving a basketball scholarship. 

What do we really want? Are we convinced of ourselves. What effort do we put in?

Read more here.

Anthony Robles: What it really takes to win!

Some of dream of being National Sport Champs, but most of us never made it despite the fact that we have two arms and two legs. Anthony Robles has one leg, and he made.

In high school, he won two State Titles and was took fourth and seventh place in the past two seasons at Arizona State. But this year he finally took the NCAA title in the 125 pound class.

Will he continue? Yes, he will the battle's not over. But now instead of on the mat, he will be at the microphone as a motivational speaker for young people. "I want to help those kids rise out of nothing and achieve their goals, especially in wrestling. So I'll definitely be around."

A stroke of Luck

This can't be happening I groaned as I threw up my hands and leaned back in the chair. Michigan hadn't won against Ohio State since 2003. Here we were, clearly better (I admit a certain bias), and it looked like 2011 was going to be the same all over again.

The game was close, and Michigan couldn't seem to pull away. Denard Robinson finally scored what seemed to be the clinching touchdown, only to have it taken away after a video review. Then two penalties! It was third and a mile from the goal line! What was going on?!