After watching my son Todd run in a race, I made my usual comment,“Todd, I could walk faster than those women run.”Todd ________ as he knew I wasn’t a runner.“Listen, Mom, how about you run with me next year at this race?”Without thinking, I quickly agreed to this _________I felt this was going to be a piece of cake!

Never in my ________ dreams did I ever imagine what the next year would bring. When it was almost time for this race to ________,Todd wasn’t going to be running. He had died in a car accident. A few of his friends knew this“challenge” I had agreed to with Todd. They started to ________ me to run the race. I hadn’t ________ or prepared anything. Quite ________, I had almost forgotten I said I would do it.

I decided I should keep my ________.Before the race, I listened to some ________ talking about how to run your race. I played the race over and over in my ________ when I listened to the tapes. The day of the race finally came. I felt pretty ________. When it was time for the race, I was all dressed and ready. It was freezing cold that day, but I didn’t care. I ________ all my warm clothes and ran with only a sleeveless shit and shorts on. Nothing was going to________ me.

No one knew what ________ me to run. I finished my practice run, fell on the grass, and cried my eyes out. I found that running ________ the stress I was feeling of losing my dear Todd.

No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own_________.

I learned this lesson from a(n)_________many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.   

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the_________team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to_________the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn’t_________ I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to   _________that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were _________me. I had to change my_________about their ability and potential.   

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little_________. Most important, I began to treat them like winners. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their__________, we met every day and__________passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our defeat on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to__________. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest thrills of my life!   

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can__________the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and__________them. I helped them to see themselves__________, and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.

A beautiful September evening, my 11-year-old grandson, Josh, and his team were warming up for their first football game of the season.

I was ________ when I saw the other team was, ________, ten inches taller than our players. It didn’t take long for their ________ advantage to show. They took a 7-0 lead very ________. At the half, the score stood at 34 to 6. Josh saw minimal play time. In the second half, they used Josh more often. The score ________ to 40 to 6.

Once again, the other team began their ________ down the field. Their quarterback threw the ball. The receiver caught it and ________ the goal. There was only one man in his ________—Josh. Josh dove and ________ that boy’s legs with all his strength. The receiver dragged Josh a couple of yards and ________ fell down.

On the next play, their quarterback shot through an opening and rushed to the goal, but there was Josh again. Josh took him off his feet and ________ another goal. They scored on the last play, but it wasn’t Josh’s ________. The game ended with a score of 48 to 6.

On the way home, I wanted to ________ Josh, but he turned to me with a ________ smile. “Grandpa, that was a ________ game.”

“But you lost, 48 to 6!”

“I know, but I did well.”

The boy understood the game better than I did. They didn’t win, but he did his best. I was proud of him. More importantly, he was proud of himself.