Skip to main content

Motivation

To me, few things motivate like a football coach's pregame speech. It's the call of men into battle and the reminder that as a team we can achieve anything.

This past summer, I was very fortunate to join my son's football team coaching staff. After several practices and games the boys would chant the following pulled from a Georgia Tech football speech:

We're Gonna Fight,
til we can't fight no more.
Then we'll lie down
and bleed a while.
We're gonna get back up,
And fight some more!

Last summer I found that speech motivational, but mainly focused on 12 and 13 year old boys headed out to the Marsh Creek football field. One benefit of the movie "Extraordinary Measures" is the added awareness of Pompe Disease through the stories of patients from around the country. While some of the stories may be a tough read and do not represent Maddie's experience, each of them show an individual or family's faith and commitment to fight, get back up and fight some more.

I have thought a lot about sources of inspiration the past weeks. I've decided that those who quietly battle for their families, their friends, and, in this case, themselves inspire me. If you have time, please review the "Pompe In The News" section of this blog for some of these stories. Hopefully you too will be inspired.

All for one and one for all!
Matt Crowley

Comments

  1. “I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious”
    Vince Lombardi

    ReplyDelete
  2. A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are. Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame football coach

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The New Adventure

Madeline Jane Crowley is an 11 year old girl living in suburban Philadelphia who was diagnosed with Juvenile Pompe Disease on November 18, 2009. Maddie is a vibrant child filled with humor, energy, and wonder. She believes in her family, friends, doctors, and the magic that can happen when people dare to believe. Her care is being lead by Dr. Bonnemann MD, Asst. Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and includes a team consisting of a Genetic Counselor, Physical Therapist, Clinical Trial Specialist, Nutritionist and many others. Maddie will begin treatment with Genzyme's Myozyme drug in January 2010. What this means, we don't know. But we do know that our family and loved ones will support her every step of the way. Whatever happens we will fight for our daughter and will succeed in helping her and many others battling this disease. All for one, and one for all! Sincerely, Matthew and Donna Crowley

Sisters, Sisters

Sisters, Sisters There were never such devoted sisters Never had to have a chaperone "No, sir" I'm there to keep my eye on her Caring, Sharing Every little thing that we are wearing All kinds of weather We stick together The same in the rain or sun Two diff'rent faces But in tight places We think and we act as one Those who've Seen us Know that not a thing could come between us On Wednesday, February 10th I received a call from the genetic counselor at CHOP with the sibling test results. She started by saying, "Well, Carter's CK enzyme levels are within the normal range at 80. However, Emma's are..." I stopped her there before she could say it and told her, "That's not the way you're supposed to say it. You're supposed to say... good news, everything is normal." But that was not the message. Emma's CK enzyme levels were at 796, very similar to Maddie's. Emma has Pompe also. Friday morning we were...

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack, I don't care if I never get back, Let me root, root, root for the home team, If they don't win it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, At the old ball game. I can’t recall if it was the smell of freshly cut grass or the unique sound made when a baseball meets a wood bat, but as we climbed the stairs onto the field it was clear that this was a day to remember. Like most boys my age in California, I never heard of lacrosse, rugby, or that crazy sport those Europeans call football. I played baseball. Whether it was an organized community game, a pickup game before school at St. Angela’s, Over the Line with my two brothers at the park, or the non-stop two-seam fastballs that hit the garage door over and over and over, I loved the game. As a young kid my heroes were Davey Lopes, Steve Garvey, and Ron Cey. I remember sitting in the stands above Ch...