Words to win by ...

We have to doubt whether the Nobel and Pulitzer people are ever going to award prizes for inspirational phraseology to our coaches. After all, once you get by such triumphs as "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" and "We supply the equipment, you supply the guts," the pickings get pretty slim.

As in Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire, oratorical miracles rarely happen--unless, of course, you have Sandy Koufax on the rubber. Maybe it's because our coaches are working too hard at it. Fire and brimstone may give young athletes a lift but will it make them better athletes? Does it accelerate the teaching process? We'd have to doubt it.

How about a softer approach? Through intelligence and reason? Maybe it's worth trying. We remember one of the early pioneers of the soft sell, an outstanding pitcher named Vernon Law of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He astonished the media by producing small bits of wisdom that he tried out on young athletes. He called them "words to live by" and they were quite impressive.

1. It's all right to be content with what you have, but never with what you are.

2. A champion may not always have been a consistent winner; he may have been a one-time loser who would not quit.

3. If you want to leave footprints in the sands of time, it will be necessary to wear your work shoes.

4. Many may have the will to win on the day of a contest, but you must also have the will to prepare to win.