out of shape and took the first loss. Im okay with that, too. Matter of fact, Ill send him some cheeseburgers. That would probably be a better idea. Hows that for

Its all about character. Drew Eubanks Jersey . How many times do we hear this in the midst of a protracted sporting encounter? Its not about how strong your arms and legs are, its about how strong your character is. We talk about character every time we have a sporting conversation.So it wasnt Sachin Tendulkars hand-eye coordination that made him great, it was the serenity of his character. Likewise Roger Federer. And it wasnt Kevin Pietersens strokemaking skill that made him such a great match-swinger, it was his turbulent nature. Likewise John McEnroe.Character has always been a significant word in sport. But words are slippery things, and what character meant in sport a century back is quite different to character as we understand it in modern sport.We invented sport because its fun. Often quite serious fun, but fun all the same - a chance to savour your own courage in a relatively safe environment. But sport came into the mainstream of life because people believed that sport taught moral lessons. Sport made better people of those who took part. In short, sport built character.That was the idealism at the heart of the modern Olympic Games. Their founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, said: For each individual, sport is a possible search for inner improvement. Not better results, better people.De Coubertin, an Anglophile, adapted the idea from the English public schools, which cultivated team sports as a vital part of education. It taught the boys how to sink self in the common cause - a sentiment forever caught by the poem Vita? Lampada: Theres a breathless hush in the Close to-night - Ten to make and match to win and so forth. Here, quite explicitly, the values required to win colonial wars are compared with those acquired in sport: Play up! play up! and play the game!But as sport became a profession and a business, the emphasis changed. We dont watch sport to improve ourselves, or to watch other people improving themselves. We watch sport because its enthralling. Its enthralling like a novel, an art form that depends on the revelation and development of character.This is now mainstream thinking in sport. Its summed up in lines normally attributed to the American sportswriter Heywood Hale Broun: Sports dont build character; they reveal it. So when Jonny Wilkinson dropped the winning goal for England in the rugby World Cup final of 2003, he was praised not for his endless hours of practice but for his intense and dedicated character.They are both legitimate interpretations. If Wilkinson wasnt intense and dedicated he wouldnt have practised so hard, and he wouldnt have had the skills and the muscle memory to perform the trick under the greatest intensity that his sport can offer.This insistence on character is largely a product of television. On television - but not at the ground - we can see the faces. They fill the screen. Faces reveal character; reading faces is an aspect of being human. Television flattens perspective, diminishes distance, and makes every kind of action look simple, but always it gives us faces. And emotion. And character. So sport is increasingly talked about and written about as if character was all that mattered. We often talk about sport as if its entire function was to put character to the test, as if bodies and skills were almost irrelevant. Marlon Samuels was mischievously - even rather vindictively - inclined to put West Indies victory in the World T20 final earlier this year down to the character weakness of Ben Stokes, who bowled the last over at Carlos Brathwaite. He called Stokes a nervous laddie, and claimed that his sledging of Stokes was decisive. Really? And not the power-hitting of Brathwaite, who hit four successive sixes?It seems that sport itself has swallowed the idea that character is everything. That, after all, is the No. 1 selling point of the sporting industry, more important even than partisanship. The pursuit of excellence - the highest thing in sport - is way down the list of priorities.Sport is now sold as drama - the dramatic revelation of character.But things have already taken yet another twist. The more we learn about the mental issues in sport, the more it seems that character is becoming a skill itself, one that can be improved by practice and expert help. In all professional sports, including cricket, psychologists are part of the landscape. Its no longer about sport building character, or even sport revealing character. These days, athletes work on character as part of their skill set. They do so not in search of inner improvement, but of outer improvement. To win.Joe Root was a talented cricketer eaten up with intensity. But after being dropped by England he resolved to be more forgiving of himself. To enjoy sport more. This conscious adjustment of character made him one of the worlds top batsmen. Perhaps the point is that he had the character to change his character. Certainly character in sport is a different matter from what it was when time and cricket began. Fake Spurs Jerseys . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Wholesale Spurs Jerseys . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. https://www.cheapspurs.com/756j-dennis-r...rsey-spurs.html . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. If you looked closely at The?Big Shows?return to Raw on Dec. 6, you may have noticed something.Im not really The Big Show anymore, he told ESPN.com. Im kind of ... I dont know, The Slim Show?The Big Show, whose real name is Paul Wight, remains a towering presence (even for WWE standards) at just over 7 feet tall. But the former college basketball player at Wichita State recently took an extended period of time to step away from the spotlight and re-evaluate himself physically.The results have been quite staggering.Despite being billed as a number of different mythical heights and weights during the years, The Big Show admits the heaviest he has ever entered a WWE ring was 537 pounds. But today, thanks to a new workout regime heavy on swimming and biking, and a recommitment to nutrition, hes under 400 pounds for the first time since 1995.The past four years, Im not sure if anyone has noticed but Ive been struggling with some really bad injuries, The Big Show said. WWE and Vince [McMahon], because of the great and incredible new crop of talent weve had, have given me the chance to step back a little bit and give these guys a chance to develop their brand and become the superstars they can be.But it also gives me a chance to maintain some things, and take care of some stuff.The Big Show, who resides in Miami, credits the support system he has at home, from his trainers to his family. And a big key was finding a nutritional plan that he can believe in.Through diet and exercise it has been a blessing, he said. Im on board with it, I understand it and Im motivated to do it. The results are happening. I feel great, I feel younger. Im definitely not as sluggish as I was before. The ability for me to compete at a better level is definitely in sight and I think thats reinvigorating for me.At 44, The Big Show knows the time he has left in the ring is limited. In the majority of interviews he has given during the past year, he has talked about finishing out his contract through 2017 before hanging up his boots for good. But thanks to his recent physical transformation, he considers it more of a fluid situation.Im not going to go out and try to be a world champion or have some kind of dominating title run, The Big Show said. Ive had those years, Ive done that. I understand this is a new era and theres a new changing of the guard.I know I still have some time left on this contract. It depends on how my role is going to change. WWE is home, its a family. Ill always be a part of this as long as I can contribute in some positive way. But I know theres a time when the sun sets on everything.As far as his remaining goals inside the ring, The Big Show says he has a list of two or three superstars he would love to work with and says fans should stay tuned to sseeing that in the near future. Tony Parker Jersey. But the one opponent The Big Show has been most linked with is retired NBA star and Hall of Famer Shaquille ONeal.The two giants of their respective industries are just about the same height and were born just one month apart. They also have history within the WWE, which began when ONeal guest-hosted Monday Night Raw in 2009 and got physical with The Big Show inside the ring. Seven years later, at WrestleMania 32 in April, ONeal was a surprise entrant in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and teamed up with The Big Show on a chokeslam of Kane before the two escalated their own feud.Three months later, on the red carpet outside the 2016 ESPYS in Los Angeles, The Big Show officially challenged ONeal to a match at next years WrestleMania in Orlando, Florida. ONeal accepted the invite, turning to the camera to say, Im in. Vince McMahon,?Stephanie McMahon?-- Im in.Nothing official has been announced as of yet for next April, however, and The Big Show was unable to confirm; all he would say is that ONeal knows the invitation is there. At the very least, The Big Show says hes ready and certainly appears to be preparing himself physically for another high-profile match, even if he was unable to say the same about ONeal.Im a little worried because Ive heard that Shaq has got like really fat, The Big Show said. If hes going to go into WrestleMania bigger than me, Im going to lose my moniker as The Worlds Largest Athlete. I hope he is well, I hope he is healthy.He might want to lay off the cheeseburgers a little bit and get in the gym because I know that my record at WrestleMania against celebrities isnt that good, but it would be a shame if he showed up fat and out of shape and took the first loss. Im okay with that, too. Matter of fact, Ill send him some cheeseburgers. That would probably be a better idea. Hows that for talking smack?Until then, The Big Show has made a decision to embrace the end of his career instead of dreading it, realizing that its more important to take a step back and enjoy his many in-ring accomplishments than reside in bitterness.Ive worked with incredible people from [Hulk] Hogan to [Randy] Savage to [Ric] Flair to Arn Anderson,?The Undertaker, Stone Cold [Steve Austin],?The Rock,?John Cena?-- everybody that has ever been anybody in?this?business, Ive?had the chance to compete with in the ring, he said. So thats an incredible career to be thankful of, and now Im going to try and finish up with 110 percent effort, a lot of pride and a good attitude and just be thankful and enjoy every day I get to compete with the incredible talent that we have. ' ' '