Who Are You: The Life Lessons of Sports

Jeff shares an exclusive story of playing a round of golf with coach Jimmy Valvano. Wait until you hear what happened!

Coming out of High School, Jeff Ruland and Magic Johnson shared the honor of being two of the top prospects in the country.. While Jeff could pound the boards inside and shoot like a hawk outside, Jeff is a man of dignity, transparency and passion. Listen to man who earned his way to the top despite many obstacles that attempted to keep him down.

Today, Jeff reflects on his journey with a no-nonsense attitude, but one that is inspiring and proves that adversity will most always be a catalyst for a mindset of success. A 6'11", 280 pound center, Jeff went from Sachem High School in Suffolk County, New York, to Iona College on a basketball scholarship and played for coach Jim Valvano. Jeff was the big gun on the Gaels' 1979-1980 team that beat eventual national champion Louisville 77-60 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season and compiled a 29-5 record en route to a number 19 national ranking, the best in the school's history.

After his playing days, Jeff became an assistant coach under the Philadelphia 76ers Fred Carter during the 1993-94 NBA season. He then returned to coach at his alma mater, Iona. Today he is a professional scout with the Washington Wizards.

Lauren Challenges The CEO of Nike And Respectfully Demands Nike Uses Real Athletes As Opposed To Models For Their Ad Campaigns.

Lauren Fleshman Grew up in CA where she was a State champ in both cross-country and track. As a student-athletes at in college at Stanford University, Lauren is now considered one of most decorated and consistent NCAA athletes in Stanford and NCAA history and recently become a Stanford Hall of Fame inductee in 2013. Lauren has been extremely successful in promoting her brand, including a long running relationship with Nike. Lauren left Nike in 2013 for an opportunity to compete for a start-up women's running apparel company called Oiselle. Lauren is also the co-founder of Picky Bars, an athletic lifestyle health food brand that seeks to motivate, educate, and inspire active people to live an awesomely athletic life. 

When Lauren has a minute to sit down from being a wonderful mom and wife, she is an accomplished writer, having authored a women's training diary. She is also a contributing editor at Runners World and writes a column called "The Fast Life." Above all, Lauren is most extremely of the platform she has built where she has developed a sincere affinity for writing for her award winning blog at asklaurenfleshman.com. where she is know to write in a candid and open style.

An un-drafted Hockey Player, Jeff Halpern began his NHL career in 1999 with the Washington Capitals. He was the first member of the Capitals to be born and raised in the Washington, DC area. 

With a mindset to always stay in the moment, Jeff has played 15 years in the NHL with 7 different teams. Although to some he may seem like a journeyman, to most he is the hard-nosed, put your head down and lead-by-example teammate, one whom many an NHL team would love to have on their roster. 

Graduating from Princeton with an academics-first attitude, Jeff considers himself fortunate to play in at the collegiate level, provided hockey was barely played in or around DC back in the early 1990’s. 

Jeff Halpern is one of the hardest working players in the game and his 15 years in the league is proof. As a former Capitals and Team USA Team Captain, Jeff shares what it is like to make a true career out of a game he loves.

Joe De Senaa an Exclusive Access, Joe vs. Wall Street vs. The Lion In Africa: Who Would Win?

All too often we spend our waking hours trying to find and stay comfortable in our own lives.  We look for short cuts, gadgets, and processes to make things easier, seeking what we consider personal fulfillment.

We believe that there are things we can do and things that we can’t, and we become conditioned to that distinction.  It creates our everyday reality and it makes us feel secure, because we think we know what to expect of the world and what to expect of ourselves.  

Enter Joe De Sena, the man who will turn that world upside down. Growing up in Queens, Joe’s mother valued healthy eating and living and passed on that value system to Joe. It’s been well-documented that he worked hard growing up and ultimately got to Wall Street, where he made his mark and made himself a small fortune.  

He moved his family to Pittsfield, Vermont and quickly entrenched himself and his family in the local landscape.  Joe moved to Vermont in an attempt to get back to the way things used to be. It’s also well documented that Joe turned an interest in endurance racing into a passion.

His racing resume is the stuff of legends – over 50 ultra-events overall and 12 Ironman Events in one year alone.  Most of his races are 100 miles or more with a few traditional marathons in the mix.  (He once said that my running a 26.2 marathon distance was “adorable.”).

Spartan intends to wake up the world up and save humanity, one racer at a time if need be.  It’s a race meant to challenge, to push, to intimidate, to test and even to break those brave enough to try, and it was designed by seven people who know what that feels like.  “Fun run” doesn’t apply here.  It’s about being uncomfortable, overcoming obstacles and finding out what’s possible when what you expect of yourself is everything.  

In the words of Joe himself: “The phrase ‘I can’t’ doesn’t mean anything to me anymore, not because of my ego but because I know anything is possible.” (excerpt by Spartan Blog)

What's it feel like to take off the shoulder pads after 19 years in the NFL. Equally important, what's it like for other teammates hear Matt declare this statement and reality.

Matt Stover is a man of faith, dedication and team. A two-time Super Bowl Champion and a Ring of Honor Baltimore Raven, Matt’s success was as much talent as it was maintaining the proper approach, discipline and mindset to become a long time veteran professional athlete. The key to Matt, as you will learn in this episode, is his ability to be conscience of perspective and to focus on what is important as well as on how to understand the role he had both playing and now being a father and community philanthropist. Matt could have kicked 1 field goal or the 471 he actually did make; either way, Matt’s journey is the ultimate depiction of how sports and the life lessons learned both playing and reflecting back on them can and will affect you.

As of the start of the 2009 NFL season, Matt Stover was the third most accurate kicker in the history of the National Football League. He has played for the New York Giants, the Cleveland Browns, and the Baltimore Ravens, with whom he played for 13 seasons. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2009 to replace injured kicker Adam Vinatieri. Stover announced his retirement from football on May 25, 2011 with the Baltimore Ravens. At the time of his retirement, he was the last remaining member of the original Cleveland Browns still active in the NFL, and was also the last Raven to have played for the franchise before the team moved from Cleveland. He retired as the NFL's fourth all-time leading scorer.

Listen to Tim as he speaks to his father at the hospital. Amongst tears and the realization he is now paralyzed and never to play football again, Tim and his Dad share a special and extremely important moment together in that hospital room.