Dreams never die. They don’t fall over. The don’t sit down and never get up. Dreams don’t stop breathing.
Too often it’s us. We give up, try to forget, or redirect. The worst is trying to pretend you never had the dream that won’t stop haunting your sleep.
Drive by any school or field this time of year and see the sports dream in full force. Maybe you wonder if your own sports dream is normal? It is if it’s sports.
Kids of all ages and abilities playing football, soccer, running cross country, all share the sports dream. They dream of getting better in their sport, getting good enough to break into the starting lineup, setting a personal record.
They dream of running faster, jumping higher. They dream of being stronger.
For some, the sports dream becomes reality. The late bloomer gets a growth spurt and all of the failure they endured turns into the sort of drive no one can understand. People change for the better and sports show that change.
Little Stevie Prefontaine didn’t get to play much football and basketball in his early days living in Coos Bay, a town south of North Bend, Oregon. On the team but deemed too small had to hurt. Instead of drooping around and complaining about the coaches and lack of playing time, he found running.
No one expected him to become an international track icon, but his sports dream wouldn’t go away.
“I’m going to work so that it’s a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.”
Joey Harrington was a can’t miss football player. The high school star arrived in Eugene and became a college star who once said, “I’m not an athlete, I’m a quarterback.”
The NFL experience wasn’t as bright as high school or college, but the sports dream burned for years.
Poor coaching and poor management provided by Steve Mariucci and Matt Millen respectively dimmed his professional career, but unlike other can’t miss professionals who took the money and went home, Harrington played out his options in Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, and New Orleans before coming home to Portland.
Where does the sports dream go?
After being given the New York Times Square “Joey Heisman” billboard by the former Oregon Ducks Athletic Director Bill Moos, he proceeded to cut it up and sell the pieces for charity. All the proceeds from the sales went toward scholarships for the University of Oregon.
Harrington’s sports dream boosts even more sports dreams. It’s a long road. After all is said and done, how do we rediscover the journey?
Start with The Oregon Sports Hall Of Fame And Museum.
Who doesn’t dream of being in a HOF? Who doesn’t have a Wall Of Fame in their house paying tribute to family achievements? Hit the link to Oregon’s Sports Hall of Fame here and you’ll find links to every inductee.
With rapid progress towards a grand opening of the new space, there’s also the 2015 Induction Ceremony.
The organization is built on the premise that the lessons of sport have a tremendous impact on society. Sports provide a unique opportunity for self-discovery. This is especially true for children, who learn about their physical capabilities, confronting both physical and mental challenges everyday in practice.
You know where the sports dream starts.
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