The Great Competitor

Grantland Rice was one of the greatest sportswriters of all time. He coined the term "The Four Horsemen" describing the great Knute Rockne Notre Dame group and was also a great storyteller and poet. I love this poem:

Beyond the winning and the goal,

Beyond the glory and the fame,

He feels the flame within his soul,

Born of the spirit of the game,

And where the barriers may wait,

Built up by the opposing Gods,

He finds a thrill in bucking fate,

And riding down the endless odds.

Where others wither in the fire

Or fall below some raw mishap,

Where others lag behind or tire

And break beneath the handicap,

He finds a new and deeper thrill

To take him on the uphill spin,

Because the test is greater still,

And something he can revel in.