Jim Loria / Sports Career Mentor

I was watching some reruns of the old “X Games” on cable television and admiring the daredevil skills of the guys and gals involved in Snowboarding. When I did some research, I came across a story on one of the past athletes I wanted to share that was about the ultimate in desire and perseverance to pursue a childhood dream. This tells the story about Justin Reiter , then age 33, who was chosen for the Alpine Snowboard team that would compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. This piece is not going to be about the Olympic result but rather the incredible Mission he took to get there! Justin left home in California at age 18 to make the move to Colorado so that he could train and race against the best competition in the U.S. and around the world. Twice he would fall short in his first two attempts to make the Olympic team at the trials; once because of injury in 2006 and the other by just one qualifying spot in 2010. Before you read further, know that for most of the U.S....

  With this week’s piece, it's about an athlete who was hardly noticed in high school, some thought he was physically unimpressive. Passed over by all of the well known college basketball programs, this player would find himself at a small school with a total student population less than 2,000 where he grew and developed his game. For the many that ignored him, today he is a global superstar and one of the faces of the NBA: Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors . It was his time spent at little Davidson College in North Carolina and the relationship he forged with his basketball coach, Bob McKillop , that was the birthplace of his brilliance out on the court. “He gave me all the confidence in the world, in terms of what I could be -- in terms of being a man, the balance of on-the-court and off-the-court expectations," Curry said. "He told me when I was a freshman that I had license to shoot any shot I wanted but I'd have to work for it meaning I'd have to put...

"The difference between the Possible and Impossible is merely  the measure of his or her Determination"   This quote was stated by airplane pilot James Thain  who was behind the controls in the Manchester United Soccer team crash that took place in Munich, Germany back in 1958. Thain would spend the next 11 years of his life researching the cause of the accident and digging up evidence to try and clear his name from the charges of pilot error. Through much determination, Thain would be completely absolved of all charges by the authorities in Great Britain.

For this piece, I am going to dip into the movie industry to illustrate the point about the “PROCESS”, a term every athlete hears and has engraved in the back of his or her mind on a yearly basis when competing in team sports? This will show you that no matter the sport or the profession or regardless of your experience, that you have to be totally prepared before the lights ever get turned on in order to achieve the results necessary to advance in your trade? So let's look at the Process Hollywood actor Rami Malek subjected himself to when he got the leading role in “Bohemian Rhapsody” where he played legendary frontman Freddie Mercury of the famed rock band QUEEN back in 2018. This actor took an entire year to learn every single aspect about Mercury’s life and left no stone unturned. He quickly took up residence in London where much of the movie would be filmed and had himself fitted for prosthetic dentures to replicate the unique bucked teeth and shape of Mercury’s mouth. He ...

For my Blog followers, here are some inspirational quotes in this particular week to help keep you focused on your Goals and Mission ahead.  Jim Loria -------- “To give less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift” – stated by Steve Prefontaine, USA Track Star (held the American record in seven distance track events before dying in a car crash in 1975 at age 24) "Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is aimless. Vision with action will achieve”- stated by an Author Unknown "Strength is a matter of a made up mind" – stated by John Beecher, a Poet, Writer, and Journalist “You have been put on earth with the Ability to do something well. You cheat yourself and the world if you don’t use that Ability as Best You Can” – stated by George Allen, Legendary NFL Head Coach "Today I Will Give All I Have .. For This Moment Will Never Come Again" – A sign that was displayed in the Vancouver Canucks NHL team dressing room "Your attention is a currency....

All successful athletes carry with them these two attributes: They can think through critical situations and do so in a calm state of mind. This holds true no matter the sport. Much of the difference is in a person’s mental strength. Speaking on that subject, this week while studying the life of the Formula One race car drivers – mostly because of a current friendship that I enjoy with a young up & coming driver in Great Britain, I found how many mental and physical demands are placed on the drivers. Perhaps even greater than those experienced by athletes here in our team sports where every lap needs maximum concentration and a focus that cannot even slip below 100%?  What fascinated me most for this piece was in finding out the story behind this one driver ( Nico Rosberg of Germany ) who would become the only person in the last seven years to defeat the brilliant Lewis Hamilton for the World Championship among F1 Drivers. This took place in 2016. The story he tells is wha...

Every person or athlete faces a challenge when they first sign up for employment or shows up at a training camp. Some find ways to battle through adversity, makes adjustments and flourishes along the way. Some just are not ready to follow through with the task at hand or compete for a starting position. For this piece, I want to focus on a pharmacist back during the year 1886 who was living in Georgia. While at work, his curiosity and determination over a period of time, led him to create a caramel-colored syrup that he would mix with carbonated water. He took it to a local neighborhood pharmacy where people sampled the taste. Having met with favorable responses, the pharmacy decided to test the public’s interest and sold the beverage in a glass for 5-cents each. This magic formula would soon become known as Coca-Cola . During that first year, sales would only average a modest nine servings a day that brought in around $50 dollars in revenues. It was someone’s perseverance and attitud...