Your Olympic Lessons

Well, the Olympics are almost over, and whether you've been watching or not, I'm sure you've heard many of the great stories about the athletes and teams...and also some not so great.

While taking in all the action over the past 2 weeks, I decided to compile a list of lessons that we can all take away from the Beijing games. No way is this a complete list...but a good one to draw from nevertheless.

Lesson #1: "Never give up. Don't EVER give up!" These words were originally spoken by legendary college basketball coach Jim Valvano, shortly before he died of cancer. They rang true during these Olympics.

Countless examples of not giving up abound, but my favorite occurred in the swimming "Cube", where Michael Phelps won a record 8 gold medals. Twice during his quest his back was against the wall, and he faced an almost certain defeat.

In the 100m butterfly, Phelps dug deep in the final 20 meters, behind the Serbian challenger. Even his stroke rhythm was off a bit, but he somehow got his hands to the wall 0.01 seconds earlier than his challenger! That's the slimmest margin possible.

During the 4 x 100 freestyle relay, it was Phelps' teammate Jason Lezak who pulled off the best relay split EVER to save gold for the USA by only 0.08 seconds, beating the trash-talking French team. HAH!

It would've been so easy to give up and accept silver, but the Americans refused, and it paid off big!

Lesson #2: When team is involved, it's ALL about TEAM. The above story is a great example of the good that comes from great teamwork. Here's what can happen if the team doesn't pull together.

On Wednesday night in Beijing, the men's AND women's 4 x 100 sprint track relay team were favored with the Jamaican teams to compete for gold. But, in the semifinal heats, BOTH the men's and women's USA teams did the unthinkable: they DROPPED THE BATON!

It doesn't matter that the Americans had some of the fastest sprinters in the world, and a great chance at gold. They had no chance to win because they didn't work TOGETHER. Maybe they needed more practice, more repetitions, to get the baton pass "down". Whatever the reason, they didn't do it, and they were disqualified.

The same thing has happened to our men's basketball team during the past 2 Olympics. No question they had the best talent...they just didn't play together well enough to beat outmatched teams that did. Luckily they got the message this year and are playing very well under COLLEGE coach Mike Krzyzewski (coach of my rival Dookies...I'm a Tar Heel you know). Bottom line is they've swallowed their egos in the name of TEAM...and they're winning big as it should be.

Aside: Think about how you can apply these principles in your dental practice. How can you get your TEAM to work together better, to perform like champions? When things are not going as well as you want, do you DIG DEEP or settle?

Lesson #3: Rethink your paradigms. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, monstrous ego aside, has dominated the 100m and 200m events, setting world records in BOTH...and even after "shutting down" at 90 meters in the 100! Man, if he had only kept going...

Bolt is 6'5", and about 5-8 inches taller than ALL the other world class sprinters. Previously, guys his size would never have been considered for the 100m or 200m. But Bolt's coaches saw something magical in him, and he has changed the way people think about the physique of a sprinter.

Lesson #4: Be honest. Sure, push the limits. Take advantage of every opportunity to stack the odds in your favor. Even go against "the norm" or generally accepted "conventions". But don't be dishonest, because you'll lose any temporary gains you got by cheating.

I predict that within the next 30 days, the Chinese gymnastics team will have to forfeit at least 3 gold medals, and perhaps several more, because they competed with gymnasts who are under the age limits for the Olympics. The Americans will win most if not all of those medals after the Chinese are DQ'ed, adding to our own haul. It's a shame, although sadly not surprising.

China has made several questionable moves involving these games. They originally had made numerous promises to clean up their air pollution, but have done very little. Their human rights record is atrocious, and reminds me of the days of "Mother Russia" during the Cold War era. And now they suit up a bunch of 12-13 year olds, falsify their passports, and pass them off as 16...crazy.

Ironically, this was done in the interest of "looking good" on the international stage. Although I think the Beijing Olympics have overall been beautifully done, there will always be this dominant stigma that they won't be able to shake.

OK, that's it for now. Please share YOUR "Olympic lessons" with me, and I'll post them for all to see. The contributor who posts the BEST Olympic lesson will get a valuable surprise gift from me! Simply post your reply to DrChrisBowman@DentalInsiders.com

All my best,
Chris