7 minute challenge: 1 minute of pure unadulterated guts each day. Can you do it?

Take a listen to my latest Podcast here.

Episode #2

No really, I mean it, Sports will break your heart.

As long as I can remember, even my earliest memories, revolved around a ball. Whether I was hitting a tennis ball against an unfinished wall in my parent's basement (4 years old), or pitching to my Dad in the front yard (4 years old), or throwing a Nerf football through a hoop between a plastic goal post (also 4 years old), it seems that sports has been a huge theme in my life for as long as I can remember. Since the first time I lanced a spiral through the goalposts in that living room, I have been hooked. 

I have been told that the key to happiness is improvement. Whether you're talking about improving a running time, a personal best in weight lifting, or trying to make a serve more consistent, when you improve, you are happy. That's why kids are generally pretty happy. The world is one huge testing ground for improvement. Whether it's art, writing, sports, poetry, computer games, or training an animal, the world gives us endless opportunities. As a young boy, and even now, I am fascinated with a ball. I love to make it spin. I enjoy making it carve through the air. I can't wait to explore the angle I have to hit a tennis ball to make it "kick." I have been forever aware that making a ball do "tricks" is not easy for everyone, and the repetitive nature of throwing a ball or hitting a ball better and better is completely thrilling to me. Curve balls, knuckle balls, sliders, slip pitches, fast balls, 2 seamers, the long ball, heavy throws, the deep ball, "go deep", spinning it, spirals, arch, and accuracy were quickly added to my vocabulary. I couldn't get enough, and I still can't. To this day, after hundreds of thousands of throws, hits, serves, and catches, I still can't wait to throw the ball around with a friend at a summer BBQ, or to hit a tennis ball around with my Dad on a hot summer night. I wish I could say that I am unique in this love/lust of sport. However, I am not. There are millions of us that can relate in some fashion or another. I have learned so many lessons over the years of spinning a football. I yearn for competition. I love investing in something so deeply that it makes me nervous, and trying to perform at a high level anyway. If you are reading this blog, chances are, that you have loved some sport or activity in this fashion. In some ways, sports is my mistress. In other ways, it's is my loving companion. It's my drug of choice. It's cathartic. It's relaxing. 

So why do I bring any of this up? Last Wednesday was National Letter of Intent Day for many high school seniors who play football around the country. Wednesday was crucial day for many of the athletes that I work with personally. Some dreams come true on this day, some don't. Some dreams are shattered. A lot of hard work, tears, blood, and sweat went into Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands walked away from Wednesday with doubts, fears, and a feeling of defeat. A chosen few walked away with dreams to fulfill. They may think they have arrived, but there are so many triumphs and disappointments ahead, it would be impossible to explain them all. Some will take advantage of the new opportunity. Some will stumble with the pressure that undoubtedly is on its way. 

This is why I love sports. This is also why I hate sports. Sometime in your life, somehow, some way, sports will break your heart. Not only will it break your heart, it will dash it into a million pieces, taking no thought as to how, why, when, or if it can be put back together. It doesn't matter if you get cut from the 9th grade basketball team, or if you never put on a football helmet again after your senior year in high school, or if you get benched your senior year of collegiate athletics, or you are a Hall of Fame athlete that needs to retire. Sports will test your grit, your mettle, and sports will test your heart. As much as you love sports, it will make you analyze the very reasons that you loved them, and it will make you analyze whether or not your love was true. Sports is a great impostor, and if you don't treat the two imposter's of winning and losing the same, the world of sports will gobble you up. 

Very few people control or get to dictate the terms as to how their sports career ends. Brett Favre, Joe Montana, and Michael Jordan all struggled with retirement, and I don't think, in the end, they were in charge of when they stopped playing. John Elway did it, John Stockton did it, but I feel like they are the exception to the rule. You can see the love of the sport that Elway had here:

Portion of John Elway's retirement speech

So my blog today is for both of the athletes that are mentioned above. I tweeted this message to them yesterday. 

With every victory and with every defeat there is a personal choice. You can believe what "they" say, or you can reject "them." My advice to everyone that is facing "them?" Don't believe "them." Reject everything "they" say. It is a valuable tool. Do not believe the hype, do not believe the critic. Only you know the truth, follow your guts. The sports world is littered with gutsy people. They are gutsy because they never gave much credence to the praise, nor the criticism. Some people show guts by having the gift of being completely honest with themselves. Are you completely honest with yourself? Take courage. You know what you need to do. Now do it. 

For the athlete who has had many articles written about them, and been on various recruiting trips, and have many around them telling them how fantastic they are, I ask you one question. Are you really as good as they say? Have you really worked hard for this opportunity? Or are you just gifted? Are you just bigger and faster than everyone else naturally? Have you really outworked the competition? Or are you a paper tiger? Is it predicted by many that you will succeed? Is it possible that you are missing that "it" factor that creates a champion? Only you know the answer, and only you know how to fix it. I would encourage you to reject the hype, and to reject the praise, and to reject headlines. It's a trap for fools. Dig deep. Humble yourself. Be what you were meant to be by taking advantage of every moment. I implore you to have people revere you for the hard worker that you are, and not how great/fantastic/handsome/athletic you are. 

For the athlete that was rejected last Wednesday by a dream, I encourage to to reject the negative self talk that can come as a result of rejection. Negative mental models are disastrous to dreams. Sure, we all have negative mental models. We think to ourselves, "I'm not good enough." "I don't have the connections." "Maybe they are right." "My coach didn't do enough to get me recruited." There are a million clever little lies that seep into your mind when you fail at something. My question to you: how is that working for you? Are these mental models helping you succeed, or helping you to fail? Are they true? Examine them, take them off the shelf, look at them, and then throw them out, or keep them. It's your choice. My guess is that most of the time, things are never as good as it gets, nor as bad as they seem. Get off the mat. Dust yourself off, and get back to work. You have dreams to chase. You have goals to pursue. You have power over  your own personal sports career. There are valuable lessons being learned, and if I had a dollar for every college starter and professional athlete who never had a "signing day" at their high school, or wasn't named All-State, I'd be rich. It happens all the time. Why not you? Why not now? The choice is yours. It starts with a deep rooted belief in yourself. It can't be faked, but it can be learned. Regardless of what others say, only you know your passion, only you can decide when the dream is over. 

In closing, I would just like each athlete to know that failure is part of success. There will be hundreds if not thousands of failures in your career. Successful people fall forward. Everyone gets knocked down, they just back up faster than the others. They refocus while others are wallowing in the loss. Really, these lessons that we learn at an early age in sports become future lessons for life. Don't believe me? Reread paragraph 4 of this blog, and substitute the word "life" in for every time I mention sport. The lessons learned will last a lifetime. Here is a poem and a quote that I think are significant to every athlete that had their dreams fulfilled or dashed on Friday. 

Why Tom Brady isn't the best QB in the NFL....

As an avid viewer and coach of the Quarterback position, I love to watch the battles that take place mentally and physically on the field of play. Last night was no different, I was enthralled by the passion, pressure, and execution of the game. Two great QB's and offenses were battling by using match ups to exploit the defenses, and making great throws to lift their teammates to the pinnacle of the NFL, Super Bowl Champions. Tom Brady came up as the victor last night, and he's not the best Quarterback in the NFL. In fact, it's not even close.


The truth is Tom Brady, isn't the best QB in the NFL. He's the BEST QB TO EVER PLAY THE GAME. Let's take a look at it for a moment. Generally, when talking the best QB's of all time, the same names come up every time. Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Marino, and Payton Manning are almost always mentioned amongst the all time greats. However, I think that most level headed fans agree that Joe Montana is the greatest of all time. So I thought I would do a few comparisons of note, and then use an overall feel to decide.


Before making this comparison, please note that I think Joe Montana is phenomenal. With that being said, let's take a closer look.

When comparing these two QB's. They are almost exactly the same.

• Tom Brady is 21-8 (.724) in the playoffs. Joe Montana is 16-7 (.696)
• Tom Brady has a career playoff passer rating of 89. Joe Montana is a passer rating of 95.6
• Tom Brady has a career playoff completion percentage of 62.9. Joe Montana is 62.7
• Tom Brady has 53 career playoff TD's. Joe Montana has 45 TD's.
• Tom Brady has a 13/3 TD/Int ratio. Joe Montana has an 11/0 TD/Int ratio.

As you go through the statistics, there are definitely a couple of "Wow" moments for me. There should be for you as well. These two QB's are off the charts as far as statistics go. Their NFL playoff stats are better than most QB's career stats. 

Joe Montana was simply incredible. If you are too young to remember Joe Montana, check this out. 

Joe Montana Super Bowl Drive

Tom Brady has some phenomenal super bowl moments as well. 

Tom Brady Drive vs St. Louis Rams

Tom Brady wins Super Bowl 49

So as I look at it, all I can do is go by feel. I feel like Tom Brady is the best. Here's why. 

1. Tom Brady has two game winning drives in a Super Bowl. Joe Montana has one.
2. Tom Brady came back from the biggest Super Bowl deficit ever (10) in the 4th quarter, only to go 13/15 with 2 TD passes including the game winner with 2 minutes to go. Tom Brady was 8/8 on the final drive, and the game looked easy. It also looked easy when he went 5/6 to upset the "Greatest Show on Turf" in 2002. Joe Montana has a great drive as well, going 8/9 for 93 yards and a game winning TD to John Taylor. I'll never forget that drive. 
3. Tom Brady won 4 super bowls over a 14 year span of Free Agency. That means different players, coaches, and eras. Joe Montana won 4 super bowls in 8 years with virtually the same players every year. That builds continuity and timing. Something that isn't as easy for the modern QB. 
4. Tom Brady, in all his years in the league, has had 1 Hall of Fame Caliber WR in Randy Moss. Throw in Wes Welker if you like. Joe Montana had the greatest of all time in Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Dwight Clark, and Roger Craig. 
5. Tom Brady has made it to 6 Super Bowls. Won 4. If it weren't for David Tyree, he would have 5 Super Bowl rings, and the title of the QB of the Greatest Team Ever.

I am sure you can come at me with other statistics that are convincing for Joe Montana, however, its time for me to shift my vote to Tom Brady, Greatest Quarterback of all time, at least for the moment. Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers may have something to say about it before it's all said and done. 

It's all about the Frame.

Every once in a while, I feel like life teaches me some important lessons. Some of the lessons are worth sharing, some aren't. This latest lesson is one that I have pondered a lot over the past years, and one that I think is more and more true every day.

Typically, we choose how to describe our lives to others in various forms. The way we present these things can have an auxiliary affect on our lives as well. We see it everywhere from every day conversation, to Facebook, to Instagram, to Twitter. People are constantly giving us clues to their lives and how they feel about their own lives. Positive or negative, we constantly get feedback on people's lives.

I am constantly bombarded with these messages. Here are a couple of examples.

Me: "Hey man, long time no see...How are you?

Friend: "Oh you know, just trying to make it through." (My Friend chose to present his life as a victim)

Here is another scenario.

Me: "Hey, how's it going? It's been a while."

Friend: "It's going great. Seriously. It's a good life."

Me: "I wouldn't expect anything else out of you, how's your cute wife?"


Friend: "Riley, she's awesome. We've been married for over 25 years now, and it just keeps getting better. I am a lucky man." (My friend chose to present life in a positive light).

I am not sure how to illustrate this better than with my own life.

Scenario 1: I am a 40 year old man who is married with two kids under the age of 3 and I have bounced around to 3 different jobs in the last  calendar year. I have struggled mightily in life that has included disastrous events like being benched my senior year at  Utah State University as the Quarterback. I have had over 7 jobs in 16 years. I have been overlooked for leadership jobs in the past because I was single,  and I didn't even get married until I was 37 years old! I am way behind in life because I didn't even purchase a house until the age of 30! Life has been difficult, and when I look around, there are a lot of my friends that have a leg up because their parents can help them with connections, networking, and monetary advantages.  At present, my wife is working, and I am taking care of the kids to help ends meet. I am not sure where my next job is going to come from, and quite frankly, it seems that every time I start to get some momentum, life kicks me in the face. I just can't seem to get a break. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Scenario 2: Am I ever a lucky man? At present I am a husband to a beautiful wife and two children. My wife is an unbelievable supportive woman who is smart, intelligent, kind, and funny. I have been blessed with outstanding parents. They have been huge "Riley" fans. They are always there with a supportive word, encouragement, and belief in me. There are a lot of people with loving parents, but none like mine. I fulfilled a lifetime dream of playing Quarterback in college at Utah State University where I  graduated cum laude and debt free. This has been a source of constant blessings in my life. Some of my jobs, contacts, and networking have been, at least in part, because I was able to play football in college. At present, because my wife is so outstanding, and because the Lord is good, I have been pushed to pursue co-ownership of a company called Mountain West Elite in a full time manner. There are so many opportunities with this company. I am blessed that my wife has a full time job and I am able to work from home. This gives me ample opportunity to grow my business and be the husband and Father I have always wanted to be. The future is bright. Gratitude is abundant in my life right now.

So you tell me, which scenario is true? Scenario 1 or 2? The truth is that both scenarios are accurate. At the time of this publication, I choose to frame my life as scenario 2. What good does scenario 1 do me? Absolutely nothing. I choose to be happy. I choose to be grateful. I choose to be content. I choose to frame my life in a way that uplifts others and myself. How do you frame your life? It is ALWAYS your choice how you decide to describe your life. You can describe your life as a horror film or a love story. I choose love. Every time.

It's a new day.

So it has been over 6 years since I have been to my blog site. I figure that today is as good as any to start again. I am going to try to write on this blog more often, as I feel that I am becoming more and more likely to opine as I get older. This is really as good of a forum as any for me.


Since my last post I can't even to begin how much my life has changed. I am married to the wonderful former Georgann  Manolis. We have two children, Alexis and Jack, ages 2 and newborn. They are beautiful. I have had an inordinate shift in thinking since I have these two bundles of bedlam. I hope they can handle the pressures of this world in a way that would be pleasing to our Heavenly Father. I hope they are courageous. I hope they choose the right. I hope they love the Gospel and Jesus Christ. Most importantly, I hope they find happiness in the Lord, as this world will pull them in many directions.


I recently (in the last year) have bounced around from all jobs that have provided steady income. I am giving a full effort to a company that I co founded called Mountain West Elite, and I can't believe how many possibilities and opportunities have opened up in the last month. I am also taking the GRE on October 30th in hopes of going back to school for Sports Psychology at the University of Utah. I am nervous about the test, and I am nervous about going back to school at the age of 40. There are two reasons that I want to go back. 1) I love the subject of Sports Psychology and the possibility of working with athletes. 2) I want my children to know that I wasn't afraid to take a risk, and that I find education extremely important.  I am grateful, humbled, and content to be part of Team Jensen. I hope that these next adventures becomes a good decision for our team.


see you soon.


Riles

Triathlon Season is here!

So it is officially here and I am officially in season right now! Triathlon season. It seems that it comes at me fast every year, and this year is no different. I have now completed the Utah Summer Games triathlon (sprint) and the
XangoEcho (Olympic) so far this year. It has so fart been a great year for me and triathlons.

For those of you who don't know, the distance for a sprint triathlon is roughly (1/2 mile swim, 12.5 mile bike, 3.1 mile run). For the Olympic you simply double those figures (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). Both are quite challenging for different reasons...

In the last triathlon that I was in... I was having a little bit of trouble during the bike...I could feel myself getting tired. It was funny because the song that came into my head to help me was the Utah State fight song...I started singing it out loud! I can't believe how much it helped! Anyway, I would highly suggest triathlons to anyone who is thinking about it! I can't believe how good I feel.

Riles

What's in a Saying?

My Grandpa, My Mom, KC (#88), and Me (#44)

Sayings...

So I was talking to my roommate the other day, and he said that he wish he had a notebook so that he could write down all the sayings that I have. Do I really have that many? I started to think about how many sayings I have. I guess there are a few. More importantly I started to think about why I love quick and concise sayings. It stems from My Grandpa Clark Owen Thompson. He seems to be the most beloved person in my family, and for good reason. He was quick with a smile, a compliment, and I am not sure there is anyone that could make you feel better about yourself than he could. I know that when I was with him I felt like I could do anything! I have vivid memories of this man, and to think he passed away when I was only 7! Here are some snidbits and sayings that have been passed down over the years from Good Ole Grandpa Clark (may he rest in peace.)

I have put some sayings that I have acquired over the years next to his. If any of my friends are reading this blog. Please write down some of your favorites that you have heard me say. I may just be repeating my grandpa, but as you can see he is beloved. If you are family, please write down any other sayings that you remember Grandpa Clark saying…

Grandpa Clark
--She needs an over the shoulder boulder holder.
-- She’s going to have black eyes and bruised knees”
--I love myself I love me so, I took me to a picture show, I put my arms around my waist, I got so fresh I slapped my face.”
--spectacles, testicles, watch and wallet"
--Spinal Mengitis, I got it amen
--You (or I) have a good memory, it's just short!!
--Don't go by without passing
--When giving a toast say "here's looking up you old address"
--Rooty toot toot, rooty toot toot…we’re the girls from the Institute. We don’t smoke, we don’t chew, and we don’t go with the boys that do…well…2 outta 3 ain’t bad.
-- She had Russian hands and Roman fingers.
--I need to go see a man about a horse.
--I need to go and powder my nose.
--Here's your hat, what’s your hurry
--Don't let the door hit you on the way out
--Feels so good out, i think i'll keep it out all day
--I'd rather owe it to you, than cheat you out of it
--Sit down before you fall down and break something
--The carburetor doesn't carb, the batteries don't bat and the pistons; well they don't work either
--The fall won't hurt (kill) ya, it's that sudden stop at the end that will hurt(kill) ya
--I've (or you've) got a hitch in my (you're) get-a-long
--I have to go to the bathroom so bad I can taste it!!!
--I (or you) have good taste, too bad it is all in your (my) mouth!!!!
--Heads I win, tails you lose!!!
--You have a lot of class----- without the CL

--Here's your hat, what's your hurry.

Riley Sayings...

--Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split ya.

--I hate to see you leave but I love to watch you go!

--You're so full of crap your eyes are brown.

--Get up and get gone.

--I've been sweating like a bad girl in church.

--Shut the Front Door! (With a look of, are you kidding me?)

--Damage!

--Bastage!

--Son of a biscuit!

--Holy Shiite Muslim!

I know I have a ton more! I just can't think of them right now!

Please send me some new one's or else send me some that you know I say all the time!!! Peace out!

Riles