​Your parents paid your playing fee…here is your trophy.

You played two games this season…here is your trophy.

You finished first place…here is your trophy.

I’ll never understand participation trophies, and where participation trophies worry me the most is in younger kids.

In the feature picture of this post, I received my first trophy. It was after my first T-ball season, and I was clearly so happy. Then it might have been about the trophy.

(But look at those dirt spots on my pants. Diving in T-ball...who does that...a kid whose mom and dad weren't hitting the ball right at her in the backyard just so she could catch it I guess.)

But anyway as I got older, I can assure you winning was not about the trophy.

Winning was about all the hard work, practices, sprints and late night shooting/hitting paying off. BEING FIRST…that’s what winning was about to me.

Now that I’m out of team sports, “winning” is about being the best. Writing the best story. Getting the best interview. “Winning” is not about getting a pat on the back for finishing the job task. “Winning” is about proving myself. “Winning” is about hating to lose, and letting that drive me.

On Saturday, June 25, the hashtag #PrayForPat was trending on Twitter. I clicked on the hashtag to find thousands of people tweeting about Pat Summitt being in the hospital and friends and family were preparing to say goodbyes.

Not seeing anything written or posted by any official news source, I kind of denied her condition was that bad. On Sunday, I woke to see several Knoxville news outlets and the Tennessean with confirmation the end was near.

Since Sunday, each time I checked the news or social media I was bracing to see the news. Well, this morning that happened.

I’ve never been the type of person who obsessed over “celebrities,” athletes, etc. But I have a very short list of people I would “fan girl” over if I met them in person. These people aren’t on my list just because they are successful athletes or professionals in their fields but because I view them as role models.

Pat Summitt is one of those people on my list.
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She is the only person on my list I have been privileged to meet so far. And boy, did I fan girl. HARD. I remember standing in line for over an hour just sweating with her newest book (Sum It Up) in my hand. The book I downloaded first on my kindle (because I only buy books I will want to keep forever), read in a little over a day then bought a hard copy, so I could have her sign at it at a book signing in Nashville. While we were standing in line, the people in charge were telling us to not “chit-chat” with her to keep the line moving and because this was after she had been diagnosed. I  remember thinking, “Are you kidding me?! This will probably be my only chance to get face time with Pat Summitt. I will chit-chat it up if I want.” I remember looking at my sweaty palms, questioning what I could say to be cool about it. It was my turn in line, and she looked at me and waved me over like she did with each person. I shook her hand, and she looked me in the eyes with those ever-so-famous blue eyes and said, “I like a girl with a hard hand shake.” I think I melted right there. I handed her the book. As she was signing it, she asked what I thought about it. I told her I read it in a little over a day, and I especially loved all the Martin references because I was from Dresden. She stopped mid sign, looked up at me, smiled real big and said, “I know where that is.” I started rambling about things I don’t even remember now, but she just nodded along while she finished signing. She asked what I was studying in school, and I said journalism with dreams to work in sports. She asked what I thought about zone defense, and I told her I hated it. Then Pat Summitt looked at me and said, “You’re my kind of girl.” In that short probably two minute exchange, Pat Summitt made me feel like we were best friends. She made me so pumped to keep chasing my dreams. And just to think that was while she was battling the awful disease that took her life this morning. But every story I’ve read or listened on the radio today, she made everyone feel that way.

So, maybe you got suckered into a fantasy football league. Or maybe you wanted to do it, but don’t really care enough to be the person like that crazy fantasy leader who cried whenever Peyton Manning couldn’t throw one more touchdown pass. You have no idea what to do. You don’t have the time or patience or desire to do research every week to decide the best players for your lineup.
Here are some tips to help you be somewhat competitive in your league.
First of all, for the first couple of weeks, waiver pickups could be huge for your team. Look into that starting out. (That’s probably the most technical piece of advice you’ll see in this article.)