Lombardi's famous saying "Winning isn't the most important thing. It's the only thing" is unfortunately the motto of too many athletes today. Although winning is important and sports are, and should be taken seriously, by far, winning isn't the only thing. Putting everything you have and giving one hundred percent to the effort is also very important to competition. A team that puts everything they have into a game and comes out the losers, has a lot more to be proud of than a team who comes in first but only gave some effort. Over the years many teams have lost important games due to a few inches, one pitch or a strike of "bad luck" although these teams lost, they take it into the next game and gave one hundred and ten percent.

Ever since the ancient years, we have admired athletes and the hard work that they do to achieve their goal of winning. We idolize them and wish we were more like them. What happens though when the realization sinks in that they are human too and that some of them do get greedy and selfish? A lot of athletes are model citizens that you should really look up to, but there are also some bad apples in the bunch that ruin it for everyone. Athletes can inspire young people to work hard so that their efforts can pay off, but no one is pure and flawless. Greed does take a hold of some players, but they shouldn't be the ones we devote all of our attention to. We should look at the positive things that people do. The media does not go around reporting all of the good things that these people do, just the bad things and their mistakes. They are only human just like the rest of us. Are these people safe for our children to idolize to look up to? I think that the answer is YES!

Money is an important issue for almost all college students. Very few are lucky enough not to have the financial burdens of tuition, housing, and food interfere with their academic initiatives. Some students have parents that are wealthy enough to cover all of the costs of college. Other students are given financial aid from the university that they attend. If necessary, students can get jobs to help differ the costs. There are no restrictions put on most students as to where they can work, or how much they can earn. Most students have this freedom, but varsity athletes with scholarships attending Division I schools do not. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, the governing body of collegiate athletics, restricts these athletes from having jobs. Even though these athletes would have a hard time make room for a job between practices, meetings and games, they are not even given the opportunity to do so because of the NCAA regulations. These regulations are based on the fear that athletes could be employed by affiliates of the university, who could attract the best athletes by unjustifiably paying them extraordinary salaries. While this may be a valid concern, the regulations are most often carried out to ridiculous lengths which ultimately do not serve the purpose they are intended to have.

The greatest mystery of the 1996 Olympic summer games in Atlanta, was solved at 28 minutes past midnight the day of the opening ceremony. The crowd erupted when the Olympic torch was passed to Muhammad Ali. The Olympic gold medal boxer Muhammad Ali lifted the torch and trembled before a crowd screaming 'Ali'. He then sent the fire soaring high above the stadium to ignite the ceremonial Olympic cauldron. This moment was truly one of the finest ever to many sports fan, considering the tragedy Ali has been through, he still executed the mission as a true champion. Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, KY., on January 17, 1942. He grew up in a poor family. His adolescence was influenced by a prejudice society, and the poor black neighborhood where he grew up. Ali had problems in school at an early stage and felt he wanted to do something different. His dreams were going to be fulfilled at an age of 12, when Joe Martin, a police officer and a boxing instructor, encouraged Ali to start with boxing. Ali showed great skills at an early stage of his boxing career.