Thought it was cool that Cowherd read my e mail this afternoon on this topic:
Here is it, I posted a few pages ago
So I have been a Buckeye fan since birth, played college athletics and professional athletics for 14 years. There are clearly two sides to the idea of awards and the value of the actual trophy,ring or award.
First, you work very hard for them and they represent something a very significant accomplishment in your life. They represent team work, success and memories of a great season you had.
Second, however, at the end of the day they are not as valuable as family and relationships. If your family is struggling in some way, and you feel the urgency around helping the needs of those you love, you look for ways to help them. The stuff you have pales in comparison to the needs of your loved ones.
Now if anyone reading this won a great award at work, and were honored with a valuable prize for it. And then lets say your wife or kids becomes sick and needs help, there is not a single person reading this that would not sell everything they had or needed to sell to help the ones you loved. You would not leave a 1,000 watch or award on your shelf while your family struggles to make it through a trial.
Now, realize that these kids are 19 years old, their hands are completely tied to making money, working etc. They had a way to help their families and a way to step into the needs of the people they love. It doesn't seem like they knew they were violating a rule by selling this stuff to help their families. If they did, I would imagine they would not have done it,
These awards mean far more to these players than to you and I. Trust me, I love beating Michigan and winning championships as much as the next guy. But these are the guys that put in the blood and sweat and time to win these things. So none of us should start to assume these things are not valuable to them.
I would just remind you that you and I would sell whatever we had to help our family when they are need. to say otherwise is untruthful