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Freddie Steinmark (Five minutes to read)

9/30/2024

If you could create the perfect son, he’d be much like Freddie. He went to high school in Wheaten Ridge, Colorado in the 60's and was not only considered the nicest kid in school he was also a superstar football player who maintained a perfect grade point average. He had a strong Christian faith and would attend Mass at his local Catholic Church before school each day. Freddie never pushed his faith on anyone but instead just lived it.

Football was a natural sport for Freddie and throughout his years playing from Pee-Wee football on up, he’d score numerous touchdowns each game because no one could stop him as he was blazing fast. He gained some of his tremendous endurance and speed because his dad worked with him after practice. One of the drills he’d do with Freddie was to have him run sprints up a hill. His parents weren’t wealthy so his dad did everything he could to help Freddie earn a football scholarship.

A new student by the name of Bobby Mitchell arrived at Freddie’s high school his senior year and he was a huge, star running back from California. The only thing Freddie didn’t have was size. As other kids kept growing, Freddie maxed out at around 5’9” and 155 pounds, much smaller than other star athletes at other schools.

Because Bobby arrived, Freddie started sharing time at running back but kept his starting position on defense playing safety. Freddie was responsible for stopping the other teams’ receivers from catching the ball and he was extremely good at it.

They went on to win the state championship but as the football scholarships from all around the country were pouring in for Bobby (at this point they were great friends), no one was interested in Freddie because of his small size. Even being named Colorado’s premier student athlete his senior year, didn’t help him get any offers.

His high school coach was upset by this because he had never coached anyone with as much great character and heart as Freddie’s, so he talked a friend of his who was one of the coaches at the University of Texas, into watching that season’s videos of Freddie in action.

While reviewing the films the assistant coach from Texas realized that other colleges missed something big. He saw that Freddie would rarely leave anyone open to catch the ball and if they did throw the ball his direction, he was so close to the receiver that he’d often intercept the pass. He also noticed that if a ball carrier got anywhere near Freddie, he wouldn’t just tackle the player, he’d drive him into the dirt, and it didn’t matter how big the other player was. It was some of the best tackling he’d ever seen.

Both boys were flown to the campus of the University of Texas to meet with their famous head coach Darrel Royal. During the interview Freddie asked the coach why such an elite football program was interested in him since no other colleges were; something most kids wouldn’t have brought up, but Freddie was extremely honest. The coach told him that he wasn’t much bigger than him when he played quarterback for the University of Oklahoma, and he led them to a national championship. Coach Royal said if he could accomplish what he did at the collegiate level then having seen Freddie’s amazing accomplishments on the field, that he certainly deserved a shot to prove himself.

Both Freddie and Bobby were offered full scholarships to play football for the University of Texas. What made it even better for Freddie, is that his girlfriend ever since the 8th grade (Linda Wheeler), was accepted to the university as well.

At the time, college athletes couldn’t play their freshman year so Freddie’s first shot at playing was when he became a sophomore but even then, almost all the teams' played juniors and seniors including the University of Texas until Freddie came along.

Freddie’s work ethic was phenomenal. He was one of the first players to show up for practice and he was one of the last ones to leave. The coaches kidded around that they couldn’t wear him out because of his unique endurance. The coach loved him because he was so inspirational for everyone on the team including him. Coach Royal said he didn’t need to motivate Freddie that instead Freddie motivated him.

It was a great move letting him start his sophomore year as they’d assign him to cover the other team’s best receiver, and he kept shutting them down. Some people didn’t notice at first how stellar Freddie’s performances were because the focus was Coach Royal’s new offense called: The Wishbone and no one in sports had seen anything like it. Other teams couldn’t stop the new offense, so it took a little while for fans, opponents, and those in the sporting news, to realize that not only was the offense scoring a lot of points, but the defense was also terrorizing other teams largely because of Freddie. He ended up with the most interceptions in the conference that season and his vicious tackling always made the highlight reels.

The last few games of the regular season, Freddie’s left leg began bothering him and he couldn’t figure out what it was. He was in a lot of pain, but he tried to hide it because the team was doing so well, and it looked like they might have a shot at going to the national championship. He was right, about four months later they played the University of Arkansas for the championship.

Freddie began noticeably limping in the fourth quarter of the championship game so for the first time in his career, he was pulled from a game because he was hurt. Texas was down 14-7 but scored a touchdown with four minutes left in the game. Coach Royal shocked everyone and instead ensuring a tie by kicking an easy extra point, he had the team go for two and they made it.

So, they had the lead at 15-14 and Arkansas got the ball with 3:58 left on the game clock. They only needed a field goal, so Texas had to prevent them from reaching their 30-yard line in order to prevent Arkansas from attempting a field goal.

Arkansas marched down the field by throwing passes to their star receiver. Momentum had shifted drastically, and Arkansas crossed the 50-yard line. Coach Royal asked Freddie if he was well enough to stop Arkansas’ momentum and he promised the coach he could which is exactly what he did. Their star receiver couldn’t catch another pass because Freddie wouldn’t allow him to get open. Their quarterback had to pass to a different receiver and one of Freddie’s teammates intercepted the pass. The University of Texas became the 1969 NCAA National Football Champions in what was called: “The Game of the Century.”

They were asked to play Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day which they agreed. Freddie’s pain kept getting worse so three days after the championship game he admitted to the coach that he was in bad shape. Coach Royal immediately sent him to their best doctor, and they were shocked by the news that Freddie had a tumor on his left femur that was the size of a baseball. The doctor couldn’t figure out how Freddie was able to deal with the pain and that his leg hadn’t already snapped.

He was immediately sent to the best oncology specialist in the state. Coach Royal was in New York City to receive an award and when he got a call from Freddie’s doctor, he immediately left to be with Freddie. The coach knew the doctor was going to tell Freddie that he had to remove his left leg because the bone cancer had spread into his femur. The doctor also had to let him know that even with removing his leg, most people didn’t live beyond a year; keep in mind the cure rate for cancer in the 60’s was deplorable.

The doctor said he’d be in the hospital for 30 days after surgery and would be in a wheelchair for an extended period of time after he left. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, and against doctor’s orders, his friend Bobby showed up every night after Freddie’s surgery to work with him on getting around on crutches.

Freddie shocked everyone one more time by showing up in the locker room on the day of the Cotton Bowl and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Coach Royal told the team they were going to win the game ball for Freddie, and they did. They also had him lead the team out of the tunnel before the game and the crowd went wild when they saw him and began chanting his name.

President Nixon invited Freddie to the White House and there’s a picture of the two of them on the internet. Freddie broke up with Linda because he didn’t want her to deal with his medical problems but after several months they got back together and set a wedding date. Freddie slipped into a coma a couple of days before the wedding and then died about a week later with his family and Linda at his side.

People who knew Freddie said he was the best person they had ever met. His charisma, integrity, passion, work ethic, and spirit, were at levels everyone should aspire to. Although not widely known because it is inside the tunnel of the football field, but even after 48 years, the University of Texas football players touch a memorial made in honor of Freddie (which includes a large picture of him), before heading out on the field. His legacy lives on and a great one it is.

Funny

9/29/2024

Castles

9/29/2024

The mid-evil period has always fascinated me which includes the amazing castles that were built during those times. They began being built in the 9th Century and reached a peak during the middle-ages. One of the main reason castles fell by the wayside is due primarily to the beginning of the use of gun powder and canons as it became easier to destroy the once fortified stone walls. The bottom line is the castles couldn’t house enough weapons (such as cannons), and personnel to fight off decent size armies. Battles moved to open fields.

It might surprise you to know that many of the castles built were built by Syrian masons. It took an extreme level of expertise, and the bests of the bests had reputations that made them the key “go to” people regardless of which country a castle was to be built in. Considering what these masons accomplished without the modern tools of today, I find it absolutely amazing how they did what they did.

Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, and domestic. As well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory. As William the Conqueror advanced through England, he fortified key positions to secure the land he had taken. Between 1066 and 1087, he established 36 castles such as Warwick Castle, which he used to guard against rebellions in the English Midlands. - Wiki

Castles were private residences, and the size of the household was what determined how many people would work there. It wasn’t out of the norm for a small castle to be defended by a garrison of three knights and ten men-at-arms (much smaller than I thought). Larger castles could hold a few hundred knights and soldiers. I don’t know about you, but I thought there would be more military than this, but it all boiled down to money. The lord of the castle had to pay for protection and many of these lords might have lived in a castle, but it didn’t mean they were well off financially (relatively speaking), especially with liquid cash. Their wealth was generally tied to the structures and land they owned so without tax money they wouldn’t have anything at all to pay the people who worked for them. Some things never change.

Most of the people who worked in the castle who had good jobs (not the ones who were in charge of getting rid of waste), were tied to the people who lived there like family, friends, etc., because they were paid positions. The largest number of staff were focused on dining which back then was a way more meaningful event than it is today. There was someone who worked closely with the cook to source the supplies that would be needed for the meals. There were hunters who would go out and kill/trap the animals. There was one main cook with the appropriate number of helpers. There were those designated to serve the meals (usually the more attractive people). In a few cases there were even food tasters who would check the king’s food and drink to make sure it wasn’t poisoned (what a great job). But the most powerful person of them all was the “Constable” who was responsible for running the entire castle. He was the one who had the king’s or lord’s ear, so some people feared him while others used him for their own agendas (once again, some things never change).

Anyhow, like I said, I’ve always been intrigued by castles, and I hope you too found this article interesting. Take care and make it a great day!

Truth

9/28/2024

Is College a Good Thing? (Five minutes to read)

9/27/2024

I’m not saying that brick and mortar colleges and universities will be extinct but I am saying they should be put on some kind of an “endangered” list. In order for something to survive it must provide value and quite frankly their value is fading fast. I do realize there’s a correlation between how much money people make if they go to college or not but the gap is narrowing because of the rising costs of education.

This means the investment in a college education isn’t providing the return it once did. I’m not saying it isn’t important anymore to go to college but there are some things everyone should think about. Keep in mind that what I’m writing always leaves room for exceptions to the norm. Besides increasing costs for an education another reason colleges are losing their value is due to so many students opting for the easier courses these institutions offer.

Many degrees have little application for either the private or public sector. In some cases if a student does get a job in his or her field it isn’t one that can realistically provide them a living so they end up moving on to another occupation. These students’ parents might have spent $100,000 getting their child a degree in something that only allows their child to potentially get a job interview. Of course all of the other job candidates would have degrees as well so it becomes an issue of whether or not your child could quickly jump into the job and start making a positive difference. If he or she took a light course load they might be in trouble. Let me also add that it’s the parent’s responsibility to steer their child the right direction. It’s critical they share some of what I’ve mentioned above…basically give them insight into the real world.

The fact is when a college student gets their degree in Liberal Arts he or she will very unlikely work in their desired field. Someone who gets their degree in music has a tough road ahead because most of the jobs available to them are very few and low paying. A student who gets a degree in political science (even if she moves on to law school) will initially have some very low paying jobs before their career will hopefully take off. Plus, at the same time they’re trying to pay down their college debt. Unless this young person doesn’t have to worry about money for about five years, she might want to reconsider her degree. Side note: A large majority of students drop out within the first two years for a variety of reasons most being financial.

One more example, if a student gets his degree in history (it’s one of my favorite subjects), making a living off of the degree will be very difficult. The problem is that a student coming out of college might get a job in the school system but once again they are generally low paying jobs so they often leave to try another profession. To have a decent shot at becoming a professor (which on average still isn't all that lucrative), and making more money, the student would need to obtain his doctorate in history (which means more debt). Then they have to contend with the fact that job openings in teaching at colleges and universities are few and far between.

Colleges are struggling because their students spend four years in school yet have a very difficult time passing an exam that employers come up with so they can figure out whether the job candidate has the skills they’re looking for. All that time spent studying and they can’t take it with them to the marketplace. One of the primary reasons for this is that students didn’t learn hands-on applications to the real world so the knowledge doesn't stick. Most companies use MicroSoft Office products so being an expert in these areas (especially Excel), would give them an edge over the competition. It’s also a timing thing because if they learned applicable math their senior year it would be easier for them to remember but a lot of courses that address the skills employers need on the job are sometimes offered to students their freshman and sophomore years.

On-line learning has become popular so many college professors use it and then coordinate tests sometimes on-site sometimes via the internet. One of the problems with this is that many students don’t learn well on-line and I’m one of them. I’d be much better off in class listening and watching my instructor because they give better clues as to what part of the material being learned is the most important.

Next I’m going to cover a great option to overcome the devaluing of a university degree and that is for a student to attend a technical college (I’m including community colleges as well). Technical colleges are more closely tied to the business community and what their needs are. These colleges better project where the jobs are headed so they can offer the courses necessary to fill the marketplace’s needs. They’re way better at caring for the student after they graduate and use their ties in the business community to help their students find employment. Universities often just churn and burn their students because they have too many students to make a dent in helping them after they graduate.

Many universities reach a point where they don’t think they have anything to learn; they get pious about their institution. They look at themselves as consultants to the business community when it should be just the opposite. This creates a big problem because unlike what technical colleges are doing, universities are terrible about being in touch with businesses’ wants and needs. They're usually very good at collecting donations and marketing their college but these things don’t end up enhancing the quality of their students’ education and keeping costs down for them.

I don’t understand donations by alumni because I believe if you have some discretionary money it would be better spent on real people and organizations in need. Universities are not unlike our government, there’s so much waste in their budgets. There’s so much fluff built in that doesn’t benefit their customers (students), so the return an alumnus gets from their donation doesn’t sound very good to me.

Technical colleges are more lean and mean. They often have great instructors who don’t have the lucrative salaries that university professors have. Their instructors usually aren’t academia but instead have worked in the real world. At one time I managed a college intern program at work and every student told me they wish their professors had real word experiences to share. Community college instructors are great at hands-on training in areas that require it (i.e. computer programming, electrical engineering, graphic design, etc.); basically less talk from them and more action. This type of teaching is much more effective towards learning.; plus when you respect your instructor you’re much more inclined to listen to her.

Some people might wonder if their child might be less competitive in the marketplace if he or she went to a technical college versus a major university. Throughout my career with privately and publicly held companies, where someone got a degree and what level of degree mattered less than the skills listed on the resume. Most job descriptions automatically list a four-year degree required but they realize degrees are a dime a dozen so they want more. If someone were an Eagle Scout or a Vet they definitely got a chance to interview with me. We were concerned if someone had a Liberal Arts degree because we felt it said something about their thoughts towards business and the skills we needed them to learn in college. So what it all boils down to is that as an employer we wanted new employees with good character and who could start contributing quickly because a lot of training isn't taking place like it used to because companies have become so lean and mean.

Students who attend community/technical colleges often work to pay for their education. Once again this is a character issue as we knew the young person could hold down a job and that he or she knew what it meant to work. We realized that working for us would be much better than where they were working so they came on board with great attitudes. Several of the young interns that I brought into our company worked at the same part-time job for years (began in high school). I’d feel more confident about hiring someone like this than a student straight out of Harvard.

Once again I’m not saying a college education isn’t important and I know of many colleges and universities that are fantastic and don't fit the profiles I'm mentioning above. What I am saying is that maybe a four-year degree isn’t for everyone and that some students who attend community colleges or technical institutes might have a better shot at getting a job sometimes than the millions of college educated young adults who are competing with other people with the very same resume.

I’m also saying that colleges/universities should take a hard look at their bureaucracy because student costs can’t continue to go up like they have. I think they should bring in more instructors/professors with real world experience so the students would respect them more and enjoy learning more. I think universities should do away with professor tenure because it makes zero sense. All it does is give a professor a good salary to teach less. Students don’t deserve to attend a class based on the premise that an Ivy League professor is going to teach the class when they end up with their professor’s assistant teaching and advising them. These tenured professors are usually off writing articles for trade magazines or writing books in order to pat their own and the school’s ego. Of course the school uses the professors writing for public relation purposes.

I’ve attended a community college, technical college, and a four-year university. In my case I learned more from the smaller institutes and I enjoyed the classes more. The bottom line is that I think we should take a good look at advanced degrees and figure out what we need to do to churn out students who can compete in a global economy. We don’t need a bunch of kids with ideological views but instead kids who can immediately contribute to the marketplace. We don’t need our kids to think they are losers for not attending universities and instead support the fact that for some young people attending community colleges and technical institutes could help them achieve just as big of dreams as those students attending four-year colleges and could possibly get there even faster.

My focus was on college educations but the fact is the best thing we can do for our children is tell them the truth about the real world and that some things they might want to get a degree in won’t help them fend for themselves. You’re paying for the degree you should want a good return on your investment and that is to have your child positioned to get a leg up in the marketplace but what’s most important is their character because as Abraham Lincoln said: “Ability may get you to the top but it takes good character to keep you there.”

Quote

9/26/2024

Selfishness

9/24/2024

What does it mean to personally sacrifice something? If you’re a parent, you definitely know what it means to make sacrifices so your child can have what she needs to become successful in life. While doing this you’re probably giving up some things you would’ve liked to have had. Maybe you’d like to have a nicer car? Maybe you and your spouse would like to go out to dinner more often or maybe travel more? Instead, you give up selfish desires for your children.

Webster’s Dictionary has a definition that’s easily understood, and it is: To give up something for the sake of another. Out of the many complicated definitions in Webster’s this is not one of them. Sacrifice is easily defined but not easily put into practice.

A major part about being an adult is that we’re supposed to grow up and serve society in one way or another. In other words, it isn’t only about us anymore and instead about what we can do to support others. The reason it’s so important is that it’s what typically creates our livelihood. The better we can serve society the better off in the long run we can become.

This is so different from childish thinking in that a child just sees what’s in front of him and he takes it. What he doesn’t realize is that in the end he is so much better off if he shares because this is what builds friendships. When other kids see him sharing, they are more inclined to share what they have. Not that any child should do it for that reason, but it is at the end of the day very effective.

When we sacrifice our selfish desires to help make someone else’s life better, we honor God. Not unlike how it makes you proud when you see your child playing fairly and sharing his or her things, God also takes pleasure in seeing us being unselfish. Knowing this should cause us to pursue living unselfishly but most of us fight our human nature to take care of self-first.

This is why in the Bible Jesus talks about picking up our cross daily to follow him. What he said is that all of us have our personal baggage due to how we were born into sin. Our sinful nature is all about self (i.e. anger, cheating, lying, lusting, stealing, etc.), in order to get things that we think will make us happy. People who have traveled this path realize how empty this kind of journey is. A lot of times what we think will make us happy in the end causes us a lot of disappointment.

Let’s face it most of us our geared towards selfishness…I think men are in general more selfish than women because women are inclined to attempt to please people around them. As Jesus said let go of our selfish desires and take up our cross and follow him. His cross as well as ours is all about sacrifice.

Julius Caesar (100 B.C. - 44 B.C.)

9/24/2024

In 75 BC, a young Julius Caesar was captured by Cilician pirates while traveling across the Aegean Sea. The pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver, but Caesar, showing his characteristic arrogance, insisted they raise it to 50 talents, laughing at the low sum. During his captivity, Caesar casually warned his captors that once he was free, he would return and crucify them all. After his ransom was paid and he was released, Caesar kept his promise. He returned with a fleet, captured the pirates, and had them all crucified.

The Power of Prayer

9/23/2024

Just like with any parent God loves to hear from us and he loves that we know we need him. But keep in mind that just like with any parent it can hurt a little when your child only comes to you when he or she needs something. God’s always there so think about this analogy for a moment…what if your child walked right passed you all the time and only said something when he or she wanted something? Would you feel loved? Would you feel appreciated? Would you feel respected? This is what we’re doing to God so make sure and talk to him about other things besides what you want or think you might need.

Prayer is awesome in that it can give us peace of mind even in turmoil because we know we aren’t facing the problem alone. I know I’ve been caught up in situations that absolutely ate me up inside because I didn’t turn things over to God. How stupid all that time wasted being miserable!

You end up making better choices because prayer slows you down enough to where you might not jump into a bad mistake. This is one of the greatest problems humans have in that we tend to jump into things without thinking enough about it first. Even if someone isn’t a Christian it’s still a good idea to stop and meditate on the matter.

Prayer improves your attitude and as we all know, a good attitude can dramatically improve your personal and professional journeys. Not only does a bad attitude negatively affect us it is also a terrible testimony to non-Christians. If we run around with bad attitudes why in the world would non-Christians want any of what we’ve got.

Another reason prayer is great is because it’s an outstanding witness to others (both Christian and non-Christian) because they see your faith. When people ask you how come you have such peace regarding a particular matter, you’re able to tell them that you took it to your Lord in prayer. This could just be a coincidence, but I’ve never seen any of my strong Christian friends freak out over anything. Then again maybe it’s not a coincidence!

Prayer greatly improves our character because people who don’t admit frailties to themselves or others aren’t likely to be receptive to change. When we go to God in prayer ego is left aside and we acknowledge we aren’t good enough and we need him in our lives. We acknowledge that we won’t get better until we admit we have a problem, and this is why we go to God in prayer to get help.

There are many more reasons we should pray but hopefully the above points will give you some reminders as to why we benefit so much in going to our Father in prayer.

What If?

9/22/2024

I was listening to my radio one day when a song came on by a group named Truth. Besides the music being beautiful the lyrics were as well. When the group reached the chorus, the lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks. These are the words that hit me so hard: “What if you reached up and touched the ground and found you’ve been living life upside down?” Profound.

When the song ended, I turned off the radio and reflected on what the song meant. The singing group was trying to convey several messages, but their most important one was that we need to take a look at how we’re living our lives because maybe our priorities are completely upside down from where they should be.

Some people selfishly pursue via their time and energy, all kinds of things in their life not taking time to help other people with their needs. These types of people often have all kinds of stuff (i.e. boats, expensive clothes, fancy cars, huge homes, etc.) but they typically don’t have many close and real relationships with family members and friends. One of the reasons for this is they were too busy chasing material things and not developing solid relationships. Unfortunately, they find out a little too late that close relationships have more value than material goods. This is a great example of why so many people reach up and touch the ground only to find they’ve been living life upside down.

I have to admit that I’m guilty of this at times. I know what my priorities should be, but I let the world distract me to the point where I take off in the opposite direction thinking there’s something better to pursue. I eventually get smacked by the school of hard knocks and end up heading back to where I’m supposed to be. So, what if you reached up and touched the ground?

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Author: John Mann

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