A Sense of Urgency

It happened a hundred and eight years ago, and only a few miles from where I am sitting here writing this...

It was on a fall day in 1901 when the great football coach Fielding H. Yost arrived in Ann Arbor. The train had no sooner come to a stop when Yost grabbed his bags and began running up State Street toward campus. "Whats the hurry?" asked a bewildered onlooker.

"I've got to get to work" said Yost at full gallop.

"Work" he did -- From 1901 to 1904, Michigan won four straight National Championships without losing a game.

And, as you might expect, Yost undoubtedly earned his nickname "Hurry Up!" because of the admonishments which he continually barked at his "sluggish" players.

A few of them:

"Hurry up and be the first man to line up."

"Hurry all the time; football is not a slow or lazy
mans game."

"Hurry up if you are behind in any play. Then is the time you need most to hurry."

"Hurry up and stop every play of the opponents before it gets started. Tear through and get the runner behind the opponents line, never wait for him."

"Hurry up even if you are tired; do not slow down. If you cannot stand the pace , get yourself in better condition. Football is a strenuous game."

"Hurry up! ... If you can't hurry, make way for someone who can!"

Now, the reason I bring this us is that I cannot help but notice that one of the things that is sorely lacking in todays world is a sense of urgency. There are a lot of people talking about a lot of things... talk, talk, talk, talk, talk...

...but few people rolling up their sleeves and doing something about it.

The bottom line is this... You say you want something things to change? Then how quickly are you going to start doing something about it?

Whether you want to change the world or just change yourself, it should be quite clear that its not going to happen by waiting, hesitating, or otherwise dragging your feet.

What are you going to do TODAY to get the wheels in motion?

Now, a lot of people are going to read this and smile, and nod their head and think "maybe tomorrow" ... but I know there will at least be a few hearty souls who read those words and think "dammit hes right" ... and what happens next...well, that is really whats at stake, and the rest is up to you.

A century ago Yost didn't want to waste so much as a single minute... you shouldn't either.

Hurry Up!

Train hard,
John Wood

P.S. If you need a "Kick in the Pants" so far as your training is concerned, let me strongly recommend a copy of Dinosaur Training

P.P.S. Hurry Up!!

Five Years Later

Five years ago today, a Tuesday, I hit the snooze button a few times and woke up around 8:40 AM

Without catching breakfast, I quickly rode my bike up State Street toward Angell Hall to catch my 9:00 class.

I was going into one of the double doors on the first floor when, a guy coming the other way asked if I “had heard the news.” With sleep still in my eyes I said “no” as he mentioned something about a plane hitting a building. I didn’t quite know where he was coming from but I figured it was no big deal.

Without realizing the gravity of the situation, I went to class.

About twenty minute later a secretary came to our class room and explained the situation. She informed us that all classes had been canceled.

The girl next to me, who was from New York, had an uncle andseveral friends who worked in the WTC and started understandably freaking out.

Class dismissed and I got on my bike and went back to my house towatch the latest updates on CNN.

Just a few days before, we (the Michigan Football team) had just returned from a trip to the West Coast to play Washington so “planes” were in my immediate mindset. As most of you know, the rest of that day and many days after were very surreal in an “I cant believe that I’m really watching this” kind of sense.

Here we are five years later…as we have seen recently, tragedy often brings out the best and the worst in people.

We have rebuilt, we have gone on…we have had no choice.

Never forget what happened that day and those who paid the ultimate price at that time and in the time since then.

John Wood

P.S. Ready for anything, ready for everything.