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Graduation speeches 2017

The graduates and their families have filed in. Everyone is seated and quiet. The Class of 2017 is waiting. What would you tell them?

As happens each year, figures from the sports industry faced that question. They drew upon their own experiences and the wisdom of others to offer a glimpse of their paths to success, and the opportunities that may await their mortarboard-bedecked audience.

From tales of shortcomings to measures for success and happiness, here are highlights from their commencement address. 


Shaka Smart at Kenyon College.
Photo by: KENYON COLLEGE

Shaka Smart
University of Texas men’s basketball coach
Kenyon College

 “Choose your relationship with feedback and with failure. And choose wisely. Because make no mistake about it, in the ‘real world,’ those two F bombs are coming. When I refer to feedback, I mean the reaction to anything and everything you do. Some forms of feedback you’ll have to search for; others will hit you like a ton of bricks. 

Sometimes feedback is very public — like when you’re a coach. Other times, it occurs behind closed doors. Take a growth mindset — I can and will grow from every situation. Feedback is your food.

“When I say failure, I mean with a lowercase f. Setbacks, mishaps, losses, days when we get knocked on our backs.
“As long as we have the right perspective, capital-F Failure is merely an illusion in our minds. It ain’t real. There’s always a chance to reset, to recalibrate, to grow. But only if you choose the right response.”


Theo Epstein
Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations
Yale University

“One day I will tell [my sons] Jack and Drew that some players — and some of us — go through our careers with our heads down, focused on our craft and our tasks, keeping to ourselves, worrying about our numbers or our grades, pursuing the next objective goal, building our résumés, protecting our individual interests. Other players — and others amongst us — go through our careers with our heads up, as real parts of a team, alert and aware of others, embracing difference, employing empathy, genuinely connecting, putting collective interests ahead of our own. It is a choice.

“The former approach, keeping our heads down, seems safer and more efficient, and I guess sometimes it may be. The latter, connecting, keeping our heads up, allows us to lead, and, every now and then, to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and, therefore, to truly triumph. I know, I will tell them, because I have tried it both ways.”


Kate Fagan at the University of Colorado.
Photo by: CASEY CASS / UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

Kate Fagan
espnW writer
University of Colorado

“I grew up playing basketball. Eventually, I played here, at the University of Colorado, but first I practiced, every day for almost a decade, spending afternoons and evenings working on my game in a gym empty of everything except my dad, a basketball and me. During those years, I took 250 shots a day, which means that growing up I took approximately 1 million shots. One million shots that no one witnessed, no one applauded.

“And yet I remember, and feel, the undiluted sense of accomplishment and validation when I watched the ball arc toward the rim, when I watched it drop through the net. The gratification came from feeling the competence of my own body, which I had harnessed through repetition; hearing the snap of the net was the punctuation. The feedback loop ended by the time the ball hit the floor.

“Perhaps you’re worried this is a story meant to illustrate the value of working hard when no one is watching. It’s not. This is a story about validation, about satisfaction — about where we find these things and what happens when we start looking in the wrong places.

“Because a shift has occurred: We now seem addicted to the reaction, to the applause. And even more than that: It’s as if nothing is inherently beautiful, but only if enough people agree that it is — if it is liked 500 times, retweeted 100, if it has its own Instagram page and LinkedIn account.”


Christine Brennan
USA Today sports columnist
University of Toledo

“As a young girl in love with sports before Title IX — before girls and women were encouraged to love and play sports — I threw my heart and soul into that [Toledo] Rockets football team. And what did it do? It won. And won. And won. For three consecutive years, I cheered for that team, and it never lost. The louder I cheered, the more the team won. The Rockets never, ever disappointed me. They never let me down. They always rewarded my devotion with more victories, with more happiness.

“How often can a fan say that about a sports team? And, any wonder that I then became a journalist covering sports? I’ve come to know several of those players and coaches, especially the great Chuck Ealey [the team’s quarterback], and I thank them for inspiring me every time I see them.”

Mike Tomlin at Robert Morris University.
Photo by: ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY

Mike Tomlin
Pittsburgh Steelers coach
Robert Morris University

“I get to stand in front of a group — often Sunday afternoons — and I acknowledge that the spectrum, the wide range of emotions within the group that I face or I stand before every Sunday is varied. Some of the emotions are hopeful ones, exciting ones. Some of them are not as much, because of uncertainty, because of the greatness associated with the future. 

“I imagine — because I’ve sat where you sit — the same can be said about this group. Emotions are great, but I think it’s important that we keep perspective on it. Regardless of what your emotions are as you sit here tonight, I ask that you trust your preparation. This process that you’ve been through in pursuit of where you sit has prepared you.”


Tom Ricketts
Chicago Cubs chairman and co-owner
Lake Forest College

“I am one of the few lucky people on the planet who really got to accomplish a goal and live a dream.

“The fact that we hadn’t won in so long made it a really unique job to take. Once you take over the Cubs, you meet a lot of people. Almost every day during the years we owned the ballclub, someone would come up to me and in the first sentence mention their age — before they even mention their name. And the conversation would basically go like this: ‘Mr. Ricketts, I’m 71 years old. Please win a World Series before I die.’

“A lot of people in my chair would get tired of talking about death so frequently with complete strangers. But it reminded me just how important the mission we were on was.”


Mike Sielski
Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist
La Salle University

“You have to earn your individuality. Now, I’m not suggesting you need to ‘sell out to the man,’ and I’m not going to rant about how you need to cover that tattoo on your neck. What I am saying is self-discipline, the willingness to put in the time and follow certain formulas and traditions to do something right is necessary for success. Bomani Jones, who many of you might recognize as a talking head on ESPN, calls this ‘the freedom of structure.’

“There’s an accepted format for writing an insightful, impactful essay. There is a way to develop a syllabus and lesson plan so you can be an effective teacher. There is one scientific method. And trust me, you’re not going to learn how to apply it from a former standup comic, whether he calls himself ‘the science guy’ or not.

“Working within those parameters, you’ll know better how to push those boundaries. Once you’re free to do what you have to do, you’re free to do whatever you want to do.”


Chris LaPlaca at St. Bonaventure University.
Photo by: DANNY BUSH

Chris LaPlaca
ESPN senior vice president of corporate communications
St. Bonaventure

“We’re playing Villanova, and won by two on a last-second shot. I was student sports information director in the press box. … 

“I look down and see Western New York’s biggest cocktail party ready to begin. I look to my right and see poor Ted Wolf, the Villanova SID. He’s struggling to make deadlines, and a good angel/bad angel decision begins inside my head. The good angel said, ‘You help that guy [and] he might help you find a job.’ The bad one said, ‘We won … and there’s beer.’ I decided to help Ted, and in many respects, it was the best decision I ever made.

“The takeaway is to be purposeful in everything you do. You never know what decisions you make today will impact you tomorrow or for the rest of your life.”


Laila Ali
Former boxing champion
North Carolina A&T State University

“I remember when it became public that Muhammad Ali’s daughter was going to fight. There weren’t a lot of people who thought it was a good idea. People would say, ‘You’re too pretty to be fighting. Aren’t you afraid of messing your face up? Women shouldn’t fight. Why do you want to fight anyway? Didn’t you have a privileged upbringing?’
“You can imagine how I felt. Boxing was something I fell in love with and wanted to do, but nobody was taking me seriously. My own father didn’t want me to fight and didn’t even feel that women should fight.

“But the unshakable foundation of mine got me through all the comments people were making that could have caused me to have fear, doubt and confusion. Self-confidence, determination and courage got me through it. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought or the limits they tried to put on me. I believed I could do it, and that’s all that mattered.”


Ernie Johnson at the University of Georgia.
Photo by: UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 

Ernie Johnson
Turner Sports broadcaster
University of Georgia

“When I was 8 years old, I was playing Little League baseball, and a guy on the other team hit a ground-rule double. Before the game could continue, we had to find our left fielder and center fielder.  They had climbed the fence to go look for the baseball. When we went over, we could see the ball, but we saw our left fielder and our center fielder eating blackberries. Now keep in mind, their mom and dad probably said, ‘This is a big game. You need to focus. This is important.’

“The kids — to their credit — said, ‘Yeah, but wild grown blackberries.’

“As I grew older and wiser, that story became a modern-day parable for me. It became this snapshot of, ‘If I get too tied up in the game, I’m going to miss the blackberry moments. The sweet moments.’”


Sheila Johnson
Monumental Sports & Entertainment vice chairman
University of Richmond

“When I was building my resort in Middleburg, Va., the financial crisis struck. We knew we couldn’t open the hotel in a downturn, so we had to freeze construction for a year. When I was producing the movie ‘The Butler,’ we really had to struggle to get funding. No one believed that a movie about a black family could be a commercial success. And then there was the time I was selecting the 2013 draft lottery card for my WNBA team, the Washington Mystics.

There were three incredible superstars that year, including the amazing Elena Delle Donne. We had the best odds of getting the first pick. Everything seemed great until I drew the lowest card in the league. We missed out on every one of the top three.

“But when you believe transformation is possible, then dark times are simply a detour. And sometimes what feels like a disaster in the moment is just a different pathway to success.”


Lesley Visser at Lasell College.
Photo by: LASELL COLLEGE

Lesley Visser
CBS Sports broadcaster and writer
Lasell College

“I was 11 years old living in Cincinnati, and my mother was a teacher. Back then — this was 1963 — women really only had three jobs. They were nurses or teachers or homemakers.

“So my mother and I were talking about growing up, and I said, ‘I want to be a sportswriter.’ That was like saying, ‘I want to go to the moon.’ She looked at me and changed my life in one sentence. She said, ‘Great. Sometimes, you have to cross when it says don’t walk.’

“For all of you, I am the example. I don’t care if you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or male or female, I’m the example that you can do it. Whatever it is that you think you want to do, I’m here to tell you that you can.”

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