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DRIVE with Fred “The Detroit Diesel” George dislocating during play so he told the doc to chop it off and stitch it. That way he could tape over it and continue playing. If it were off-season, he might have used better judgment and had surgery to fix the ailment before the season started. Since his team was in contention and he was the leader of the defense, Ronnie saw fit to forego his fingertip and play for the bet-terment of the team not for Ronnie! This No not as in driving your car! I mean what drives you to wake up each day? What drives you to go to work every morning? What drives you to succeed? Some athletes have had a parent, child, or For some people it is all about the money and the materialistic gain! For others it is family and knowing that there are little mouths to feed that rely on you for their well-being! Well I get that, and it is very honorable of you to slave every day to achieve that end! But I am addressing this article to the athlete who aspires to greatness in the sporting world. As competitive as this world has become, I wouldn’t doubt it if table tennis and beer bong players are using performance enhancing drugs to gain a competitive edge! (That was a joke by the way.) But what drives these people to greatness? Why did Ronnie Lott from the San Francisco 49ers have the doctors chop off the tip of his finger during a game just so he wouldn’t have to sit out for a few weeks? That’s right folks! His finger kept close friend pass away and you see them the following week playing their hearts out in that person’s honor. While there are others who internalize the pain and they go A.W.O.L. for a few weeks, months, or years, never to achieve that athletic fire again. How about the fighter who battles through significant injury and tissue damage in order to finish the fight? My best example is Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown when Urijah broke both of his hands badly on Mike Brown’s head. It was a 5 round fight and I believe the first break happened late in the 2nd or early in the 3rd round. You could see Urijah wince in pain and shake out the hand as he broke the bones. I felt so bad for him that I sat on the edge of my seat and said a prayer for him to win, due to the Warrior Spirit that I was witnessing. As if that weren’t bad enough, he dupli-cates the trick on his other hand in the very God Bless Always! ~ Freddy “The Detroit Diesel” George Find your Warrior Spirit and achieve greatness NOW! There is no time for Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda!!!!!! It took drive, determination, and what I call testicular fortitude to accomplish their goals through such strife! This is why we are the best athletes in the world! When a true American gets pushed down…. They get right back up and keep fighting. Where is your inner drive? Where does it come from? Do you fold like a cheap chair, or do you stand strong like a mighty oak tree? is an extreme case but I am sure you know someone who played through pain, injury, or other adversities. next round leaving him with two less weapons to throw. In fact, he tried to submit Mike at one point, but he couldn’t ever clinch his hands together hard enough to finish the move. Instead of quitting, Urijah started to paw at Mike just enough to use his elbows from striking distance. I became an instant fan and attained a new found respect for little guys. That is true “Warrior Spirit” and it is the kind of gutsy move that this country was built on. It is the drive that made the early settlers of the American West push a wagon train over those huge mountains in order to find a piece of land to call their own. Not rattlesnakes, plague, Indians, drought, starvation, nor terrain stopped these people! as it is today. They still made it to California and made our country as great Fred George can be reached at detroitdiesel34@aol.com • detroitdieselMMA@gmail.com • 714.675.4666 18 The World-famous
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