Undefeated is a great piece of film.
Charity at any level is important; as well as positive acts. But are you doing it to make yourself feel good and to look good on front of others? Or are you making any meaningful, personal investment and sacrifice? Here, coach Bill Courtney talks about the difference between a “turkey person” and one who is deeper committed:
[youtube]https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Hl9HXv7Jq8[/youtube]
He said, “You’re the type of guy that’s a turkey person.” And I turned my head sideways and looked at him and I’m sure I looked at him like he was from Mars. And I said, “What’s a turkey person, dude?” And he said, “Coach, every Thanksgiving and Christmas people from your side of the tracks show up in minivans and Suburbans and drop off turkeys and presents and stuff and we take them because we need them. And they seem to be nice people but they leave and we never see them again. It makes you wonder after a while if those people are doing this because they care about us or if they’re doing this so they can go tell everybody what nice things they did on Christmas or Thanksgiving. So they’re just wondering what you’re talking about at night, Coach.”
If you’re lookingfor an alternative family viewing or addition to watching Turkey Day football on the tube, consider showing this one to family and friends.
From my review:
Not to be confused with the Sarah Palin movie. This one isn’t about partisan politics. It’s not even about football. Football is merely the vessel carrying the spiritual nourishment. Sports is merely the microcosm for the battlefield which we call life, testing us; revealing what we are made of. It’s about having the character necessary to deal with failures and setbacks even when you’ve done everything right; it’s about looking at the bigger picture and not placing limitations upon yourself, feeling sorry for yourself, and becoming a victim of the negative circumstances that surrounds your life. Just because fate would have you born into poverty instead of privilege does not mean that you will be disadvantaged your whole life. Life is about making choices and there are good choices and bad choices to be made. There are things that are beyond our reach and control; and when we’ve made the right decisions and things still don’t go our way, how we respond to those setbacks is within our reach and control. We do have choices.
“Young men of character, discipline and commitment win in life”
Being a father, a mentor, importance of being part of a family and team, living to help others outside of your own skin and subsequently and consequently by so doing, helping yourself…
That’s what I got out of the film. It’s an amazing piece of documentary, captured and edited in a way that you could not teach a more relevant story for dealing with life’s adversity; especially for those growing up in inner city culture, surrounded by poverty, crime, and broken homes.
What’s equally amazing is that all of this is real. Hollywood could not have scripted better lines or created more larger-than-life characters than the very real coaches and players in this film.
Happy Thanksgivukkah!
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
