Grant Palmer was on his way to achieving all the awards a high school athlete can acquire.A million dollar smile and a good well liked kid.

He would dominate the gridiron at El Segundo High School his senior year. He was having a senior year just as it would be scripted in a Hollywood movie.

And then the season ending injury.

He got healthy and would take the same path and star in his senior baseball season. He signed a College scholarship with Fresno St. His season was another made for Hollywood movie…And again the re-injury. And Fresno St cancelled their deal.

The young Mr. Palmer decides he will rebuild his legend at El Camino Junior College. To some junior college is known as the last chance for athletes to fulfill their college playing dream. Often teams are made up of local standouts that were passed over by the four years schools.

This is in some ways a pathetic story so far isn’t it? Boy dreams big and “life” comes along and rips it away. How many quit right at this moment?

Not Grant. He had a good season and received a scholarship to UC Irvine. Guess what? Irvine and Grant just earned a trip to the College World Series.

I love stories like this. Especially long after sports is over, and a reminder if Grant had quit,Where would his life go? What experiences would he have missed (or to be fair gained)?

Sometimes its good to quit, but not usually. Know when to fold up as Kenny Rogers said. Grant kept playing.

A Rare and Unprecedented Opportunity to Learn and Have Fun

As I write this I am listening to a terrific PodCast by Rex Sikes. He is someone to definitely follow on Facebook and has a rich philosophy worth study. He was one of the early innovators in NLP and has been in way too many disciplines to mention.

He has a terrific saying that is appropriate for this Sunday Sermon. When something comes along that we judge as adverse. We can judge it as “bad”, or as a rare and unprecedented opportunity to learn and have fun.

My wish for Grant and you is that he continues past baseball with that philosophy that gave him more baseball.