Vince Lombardi once said, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” Those are words I have tried to live by for a long time now. They are words, an idea that I have given to my players over the years. How can anyone, after working so hard at something, just surrender, just give up? I mean, that is what surrender means: I quit. I give up. I don’t want to do this anymore. You win. Here, you do it.

The idea of quitting at something is very foreign to me. Oh I readily admit I’ve had those feelings before. I’ve been at places in my life where all I wanted to do was give in and not have to fight anymore. Times where I was exhausted with the task at hand and where the devil was tempting me to toss in the towel. However, it was at those times that another voice kicked in.

There is that voice in all of us that says, “Keep going”. Why do we listen to it when others choose not to? Perhaps it is our work ethic, maybe the fear of being called a quitter or looked down on by others. Perhaps it is just our own sheer determination to succeed, personal pride, or ego. How can you put a ton of time and effort and personal sacrifice into some endeavor and then give up? Or maybe, just maybe, it is because we know something that everyone else doesn’t. Something about ourselves that others have over looked: The fact that we are winners and winners never surrender.

For the past four to five years my wife, Karin, has been a struggling romance writer. I personally don’t read the stuff but she does. As it turns out, so do a lot of other people as over 58% of all paperback books sold are romance novels. I have watched her toil away at the keyboard night and day over the years. I’ve even acted as a technical advisor and helped with some dialog and done some editing for her. But she has always been the dominant force, refusing to back down even in the face of rejection after rejection.

There have been numerous books, varying plots and plot twists through the years, a wide variety of hero’s, heroine’s and bad guys. Too many locations to recall with too many different endings. Throughout it all there has always been one constant theme, one true idea: that she would one day write well enough to be published.

Well, almost five year’s of vigilance has finally paid off for her. Last weekend, my wife, Karin, got a two-book deal from a large, recognized publishing house. Her first book will be on the store shelf in January. Five year’s is a long time to work at anything. Especially when you are constantly faced with rejection. She has almost enough rejection letters to wallpaper a small room and yet she pushed on. Never gave up. Yes, there were the times she wanted to but one or the other of us wouldn’t allow it. No surrender. In the end, as always, to the victor go the spoils. You might want to check out www.karintabke.com.

If you have a dream, a goal, something you are working towards and the going is sometimes rough, remember that you are not the first to go down that bumpy road. Remember that anything worth having is not without sacrifice or even rejection. Sometimes the fight is long and hard and the end difficult to see, but it is there. And it is worth reaching. To surrender is to submit, to yield, to give in, and to die. Linemen are the last of the Gladiators, and linemen never surrender.

A warm welcome to the players who have recently registered for LinemenInc 2005, from the following schools: Alhambra High, Martinez, CA, Crespi Carmelite High, Encino, CA, Dayton High, Dayton, NV, Gardena High, Gardena, CA, Hug High, Reno, NV, Lassen High, Susanville, CA, Will C. Wood High, Vacaville, CA, and welcome back to Yerington High, Yerington, NV. It’s June guys; so, see you at the end of the month!

Coaches always talk about teamwork and its importance to the bigger picture. “No one player wins a ball game.” We spend a lot of time working on just teamwork and trying to convince players of its truth. Heck, we want you to not only buy into the concept but understand it as well. To that end we will give numerous examples of teamwork and will often point it out to you as and when it happens. The following is just one of those examples and is one of the best I’ve seen.

We are just 35 days away from camp. More importantly, we are just ten days from June 1st, which is the deadline for camp registration. I’ve been in phone contact with numerous coaches this past week regarding those registration forms and the deposits. Many have said they are still in the process of fundraising. Some player’s deposits and or camp fees are being paid for by their booster clubs. In some cases, the money is coming out of the schools football funds. Some players are fortunate enough, that their parents can cover the cost. And then there are those who have to earn it.

My partner and LinemenInc cofounder, Dave Reinders, has been working to help some of our players at Liberty, earn their camp money. Talking with neighbors, Coach Reinders found work that needed to be done and folks who were willing to help the cause by paying for the pleasure of having football players perform the work. Coach Reinders even contributed his backyard to the fundraising effort. However, this article is not about Coach Reinders.

It is about the seven teammates, one of whom isn’t even a lineman, who for three weekends worked their butts off to raise camp tuition. More importantly, it is about the three players who did not need to raise any money for themselves. Their tuition had already been paid. This piece, remember, is about teamwork. It’s about three guys looking out for and helping their fellow teammates in a time of need. It’s about the self-sacrifice of one for the betterment of the other. It’s about digging down deep and coming up with an extra effort. It is about three players helping out four other players and working together in a common goal. It’s about going the distance for another human being with no expectation of notoriety, publicity or tangible gain. It is about teamwork in its purest form and my hat goes off to this band of brothers. How proud your parents must be of you as their sons. I know Coach Reinders and I are beaming.

Like I said earlier, 35 days to camp gentlemen. See you in June!

Months ago I ordered a set of personalized license plates for my vehicle. Here in California that is not an extraordinary thing. Californians were the first to come up with the idea and have been personalizing their cars for years. Not wanting to stand in line for hours and deal with an uninterested DMV employee, I ordered my plates on line. The web site indicated it would take six to eight weeks and that I would be notified when they arrived at the local DMV office. I guess John Q. Inmate, at San Quentin, is backed up with license plate orders.

So, yesterday morning, with notification in hand, I got an early start for the DMV. My plan was to be one of the first in line outside of the office prior to opening. This, I reasoned, would guarantee a minimal stay and place me ahead of the hordes. The first set back was pulling in behind an old blue hair that not only couldn’t read the posted speed limit sign but probably couldn’t see her speedometer or me in the rearview mirror. Several miles later and one left turn and I was able to leave her in my dust!

Ah, freedom at last! The open road! Right. School traffic ahead and the speed limit reduces to 25 mph. Traffic backs up, I move at a crawl but not to worry as I have left early enough to accommodate for this second delay. Past the school and things open up again and then quickly shut down. The traffic light, 1 ½ miles ahead, is on red flash. It is the morning rush hour and this alone adds 15 minutes to my ride.

Through the flashing traffic light, down the road I go! However, at the next light where I turn left, a police cruiser traveling the other direction, turns in behind me and I of course, being a retired officer and never inclined to break the speed limit, slow to 35. He stays with me almost the rest of the way.

Finally, arriving at the DMV at what is now 20 minutes after the opening hour, I quickly park as close as possible. This is not a problem as the parking lot is fairly empty. Cool! Not many people here today! Grabbing a screw driver I rush to the rear of the vehicle where I remove the plate and then rush to the front and do the same with the front plate. With the notification and my old plates in hand I briskly walk to the front door of the DMV, which is closed. It seems they are closed one Monday each month and I have managed to pick May’s Monday. Let’s not go into what I said next.

So, today, this morning, without much fanfare, I again made my way back arriving just after opening. I stood in line only a few minutes and several minutes after that had my new, specially ordered, personalized license plates. I affixed the month and year tabs and then carefully attached the plates to my vehicle. Standing back I grinned from ear to ear with pride. These were special. They meant something important to me. I waited over two months to get them. Even went through some trials and tribulations to pick them up but now they were on my vehicle and I felt proud about that.

Pride is important. The things in our lives worth having are worth working for, worth waiting for and worth taking pride in, the way we conduct ourselves in public or with family and friends. It is important to take pride in our teams and our schools. It is important to be proud of our heritage, traditions and way of life. What you do in life many times may only matter to you but if you do it with pride, then everyone else will at the very least respect you for it.

Okay guys, there are only 40 days to camp! And only 14 days until June 1st when all registration forms and deposits are to be in. Welcome to the recently registered players for LinemenInc 2005, from the following schools: Don Bosco Tech, Rosemead, CA, El Diamante High, Visalia, CA, Leland High, San Jose, CA, Santa Ynez High, Santa Ynez, CA, and Mark Keppel High, Alhambra, CA. See you in June!

If you’ve been following this blog then you know Coach Reinders, LinemenInc cofounder, (he loves to see that in print) and I, spent the weekend with the Samoan Athletes In Action, at their free football clinic. The clinic was held at Abraham Lincoln high on the west side of San Francisco, where the weather was anything but Island like. Typical San Fran foggy, colder than you know what, and windy. That didn’t seem to bother the 150 plus participants at the event.

Kids from all over the Bay Area showed up for four hours of football, inspirational speakers and a ton of hamburgers and hot dogs! Frank Manumaleuna, former Kansas City Chief, was our Head Coach for the day. Frank was joined by former teammates, Dan Saleaumua and Art Still, who flew in to donate their time to this worthy event. Players were put through stretching, drills and skills and even ran some plays. Though it was freezing by Nor Cal standards and everyone was in shorts and T-shirts, I think Dave and I were the only ones showing the effects of the weather. You certainly couldn’t see any discomfort on the smiling faces of the players.

Our table was very busy with players and parents a like, asking questions about LinemenInc and taking brochures and registration forms home. We even saw a few coaches from Logan High and South City. Word at the end of the day was we would definitely be seeing some Oak Grove High players from San Jose at LinemenInc 2005, along with some of the South City guys. We’re talking some big boys here guys, so get ready to strap it on!

Thank you again to Lenora Hay-Muagututi’a and her husband, Kilangi, for inviting us to this event. Yes, we want to come back next year! All of our best wishes to Kilangi, a former standout at UTEP and AFL player, who has a try out with 18 NFL teams on the 21st. Kilangi has been working very hard under the guidance of Aaron Thigpen, www.gamespeed.net, and looks more than ready for this opportunity.

Thanks also to Frank Manumaleuna and the Big John Manumaleuna Foundation, for putting on this clinic and all the volunteers who donated their time and money to this free event. I also want to say mahalo, to O Samoa TV, for the on-air interview. Anytime this coach gets to stand next to a nani (pretty) Polynesian gal and get on TV, I’m there! I’m told you can see the interview by going to www.polycafe.com and then clicking on the link to O Samoa TV.

Only 43 days to camp! Let’s get those registration forms in by June 1st !