I did not know Jim Valvano.
I never saw him play, never saw him coach. When he was cutting down the nets after winning the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament I was only 12 years old. I was unaware of Jim Valvano’s entire existence until this:

It is odd going from being unaware of someone to feeling a great admiration for that same someone in the span of mere minutes. That is what Jim Valvano gave us.

Sports is life. It is more important than the simple games we play and enjoy. Sometimes it can bring people together in a fellowship, a brotherhood that would not exist otherwise.

The “Jimmy V” speech is outstanding. It is inspiring. You do not need to even like sports to be touched by the words he said that night. The thoughts he shared that night transcend the sporting world.

“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s one heck of a day.”

It is an amazing day. Here was a man dying of cancer(he would pass less than a month later) urging those in attendance to live their lives to the fullest. That night he would form the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research to help others. And he has helped so many others. Not only those helped by the foundation, but those inspired by his shining example.

It inspires me every day of my life. Every time I watch that speech is like watching it for the first time. Chills go down my spine and I feel like I could run through any wall. I feel I could do anything. Time is a gift, there is only so much that we each have. So live your life.

“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

If you would like to donate: 1-800-4-JIMMYV