Why Does Rice Play Texas?

Sometimes when we are caught up in coaching, or being an athlete, we lose focus on exactly how special and important it is for humans to find ways to challenge our limits.  What exactly is it that we do when we train everyday?  Why is the pursuit of excellence such an important aspect of the human experience?

 In a speech given by John F. Kennedy in 1962 he was discussing the future of the space program, the challenges it presented, and why the human spirit is important in all difficult tasks we undertake.  He said:


But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Here he mentions the football match between Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin.  This match up is notoriously one sided with Rice only winning 21 of 103 meetings as of this date.  To Rice, a small private school compared to the large public institution of UT, beating the Longhorns was an extraordinary task; a one in six chance of winning.  JFK gives insight into the motives of doing the things that others consider impossible.  We undertake these challenges "not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Furthermore he says "that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills."  And this is the most important aspect of what we do in athletics.  Yes, winning is a measure of success and no one should say winning should not be a goal in sports.  After all, winning is a pinnacle of the pyramid that athletes strive to climb.  But before that, one thing that must be understood is that we must embrace the challenge above everything else.  Winning, losing, ties, all of this are measures of our best energies and skills.  When the day is over, regardless of the outcome, ask long as the coaches and athletes accepted the challenge and worked in every facet possible to achieve their personal pinnacle, that is truly what sport is about.