By now most of you following this blog know that BTL is a believer in OSU wrestling and vice versa. Today, in practice 131 with kman’s krazies, Grappy told his story. He seared us with his journey from a man on a mission to become the best grappler in the world back in the day and endured all kinda crazy pain of his own choosing toward his aim, to a cry baby in his Ford, to crying for his baby and the most crushing defeat that was Teague’s death, to the man he’s become today. Grappy was, well, Grappy. He’s taken a long time getting comfortable being who he is, no different than you, no different than me. All humans take a long time becoming the original they are. All humans.
This was a tough and tender kinda practice to me. I wasn’t sure where this was going to go. Grappy was more transparent than I’ve ever seen him. He was vulnerable and inspiring, at least to me. I’ve heard him share his story now on five occassions. Each time I hear something more and learn something new. He talked about how selfishly he came to faith and how much he’s learned about God, how deeply he’s changed, how much he wants to serve Him, and how broken he remains in spite of his deep hurt and live changing healing. Dano, Jimmy, and many of the krazies, asked good questions and he told a little Viking story before I wrapped it up.
The melody line to his greatness as a grappler and a leader of grapplers has been his ability to put himself into acute pain on purpose. In fact it’s been his ability to put himself in pain to serve his purpose. He gave himself no out at Iowa. He cried for 90 days but there was no out. As I study greatness in business, sport, art, academia, and in life, this melody line keeps repeating – Greatness requires great strength, great sacrifice, great pain, great vision, and great friends. Few keep getting after it when they’re on day 18 crying in their car. Few.
Today, we learned the power of a strong CORE and were challenged to not wait for life’s intense moments before authoring our own. We got to see what it looks like to be strong, vulnerable, and humble. We heard that fears never go away, pain is inevitable and misery is a choice. We learned that every moment is a gift and it’s up to us to make the most of it. We learned that good can come out of life’s hardest moments. We learned, again, that good is the enemy of great. We learned the old wrestling robes are kinda funny looking and it’s fun to have our picture taken with the National Championship trophy. We learned a lot. Good practice 131, team of kman krazies. Good practice. Go and apply a little. Go and learn a bit more about what’s inside of you – Great.
Oh, and one other thing we learned – we learned Batman has three years of eligibility left…
BUILT TO LEAD 