Is 'Get Motivated' real or bunkum?

Some 15,000 people hit the Honda Center this week and found motivation, or at least that's what the "Get Motivated" seminar folks would like you to think.

And judging by the audience members who jumped around on a fern and flower encircled stage as "Surfin' USA" blared, some became believers.

But was the jubilation more like the euphoria you feel after some beers, only to wake up the next day and wonder where all the excitement went?

Or was the elixir served up through a blend of blasting music, pyrotechnics and a series of oddly matched speakers – Michael Phelps and Rudy Giuliani on the same stage – the real deal?

Searching for clues, I walked the aisles, climbed stairs and accosted people in hallways at the Honda Center.

After having attended a similar Tony Roberts seminar at the same venue several years ago, I was especially interested in discovering if there were any new miracles to motivate us during these tough economic times. To be honest, I hoped the answer was something exactly like the show at the Honda Center on Wednesday.

If the key to motivation resembled anything like "Get Motivated," we all could just start taking ourselves, our children and our colleagues to more rock concerts. And I like rock concerts.

Everyone I spoke to agreed that the speakers were good to great, Colin Powell getting the strongest reviews and my man, Michael Phelps, getting the weakest. (Sorry, Michael, but at least the haters said it was the interview format. Go it alone next time.)

But after that, the reviews were mixed. Some of those looking for motivation didn't find it. Some waited anxiously wondering when their favorite star would show while the promoters cleverly declined to post an itinerary. Others happily gravitated toward the second theme of the day: easy, fast money.

While the blue light special was clearly the $5 ticket that let you see and hear megawatt speakers, the real secrets to making a quick buck cost extra. Breaks between speakers, became marketing moments, as solicitors armed with pens and sign-up sheets roamed the aisles for people willing to sign up for workshops that promised paths to untold riches. Just step right out and step right up.

Audience members signed up in droves for the Financial Success workshops. It would be unfair not to mention we were offered an incredible deal because we were already inside the big tent – only $49 plus guest. We even were granted a "100% satisfaction guarantee

Sorry if you weren't there. You will miss out on learning "How to Get Out of Debt... Fast," "How to Slash Your Taxes by Up to 50%," "How to Buy Property Using Little to None of Your Own Money" and more.

Some in the audience learned the art of the deal faster than others.

"I'll give you my number," one thirtysomething said when I asked to call him the next day, "if you tell me who's on next."

I did. But he didn't pay up. A motivational speaker in the making?

Still, at the end of the day, most people in the audience just looked tired, though not as tired as the Will Call workers who told me they put in a 13-hour day to help pull off the spectacular event.

One audience member, Ryan Griffin, 34, from Placentia, woke up a day after the event and put it this way:

"I would say it's not easy to get motivated at one of those large events. In the moment, that day, it sounds great. But it's not like you can flip a switch and stay motivated forever."

Griffin allowed that the main speakers were worth the time and the price of admission, which was practically free. But the district sales manager for John Deere explained he finds motivation elsewhere – within himself and at work. And, rather than easy money or famous speakers, he talked of emotional connections to what he does and to other people.

Like many, Griffin faced major change last year. With degrees in irrigation and landscape architecture, he left a job in implementation for a career in sales. Yet he managed to stay within a field he is passionate about, saving precious water resources and similar environmentally friendly efforts.

"I'm doing something I love. I'm in it for the whole team, the planet if you will."

The other topic Griffin spoke about was similar to what Rick Belluzzo, former Microsoft president and CEO mentioned at the Honda Center: Keeping it fresh.

"He said to reinvent yourself," Griffin said. "He hit it right on the head. I'm not doing the same old thing every day."

He elaborated that he particularly enjoys helping others solve problems.

The magic of Griffin's approach to motivation is that it transfers to different jobs, different challenges. Yet it also fits what he is doing right now.

"If you're not passionate, the customer sees right through you," Griffin cautioned.

Passion. Love. Helping others.

You might not find them at a "Get Motivated" arena-style seminar – or you might.

But you certainly will find motivation following your heart, as Griffin did.

And, hopefully, down the line he'll end up taking his sons, now ages 3 and 5, to a rock concert anyway.

In the meantime, he can read my motivational columns. Only 75 cents.


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Jonny Flynn says talk of a 'down year' has motivated No. 5 Syracuse

Former Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn likes what he sees from this year's version of the Orange.

Flynn, who helped lead Syracuse to the Sweet 16 last season before losing to Oklahoma, says this year's team is using talk of a rebuilding year as motivation for their 24-2 start.

"I think just losing three guys and having everybody; the media and every top analyst, saying this is going to be a down year for them, I think they took that and over the summer used that as a huge chunk of motivation,'' Flynn told The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard. "You've seen Scoop Jardine work hard. Wes Johnson is living up to all the expectations. You're seeing the emergence of Kris Joseph as the second-leading scorer off the bench. Teams like that, when you have people doubting you, you're always going to use that. I think they really did that."

To read more about the Orange, get out our team page.

But the question we would have asked Flynn: How do you feel about expanding the NCAA tournament? (Think he agrees with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim?)


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Staying Motivated

Richmond - Snow has cancelled the last two YMCA training days for the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k.

Can you imagine what goes through the minds of the people who've never run or walked a race like this being told their training is cancelled? People who depend on their trainers to make them ready to take on 6.2 miles?

That happened to Helena Marchi, a nurse at Henrico Doctor's Hospital Forest Campus. She finally got the courage to try something like the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k. And then the snow came.

"Well, I knew I had been way out of shape for too long", says Helena. She didn't really think much about running in the 10k until she heard about the YMCA training program. It's a 10-week program for walkers, beginners, intermediate runners and experts. They meet as a group at their "home" YMCA every Saturday morning leading up to the race on March 27th.

"I went to the orientation meeting and everybody is so friendly and supportive", says Helena. Her training was going great until the snow cancelled Saturday morning group-training for two weeks in a row.

Richmond YMCA Head Training Coach Laura Turner Reid says she sympathizes with Helena and other beginners. "They came out for two weeks, had a couple good training runs, then they completely lost their momentum. And so one of the things we're trying to do is keep them positive, keep them motivated."

The trainers are using the snow as a metaphor. In life you're going to run into delays wether it be work or family. The bottom line, they say, is stay motivated and keep moving.

"One of the goals of the program is just overall fitness", says Laura. "We encourage cross training and strength training for participants. What we're really trying to do is introduce overall fitness. A lot of people are really changing their lives."

The trainers are staying in touch with their trainees through emails and phone calls. They also meet some of them during the week at their home YMCA. That's why the snow isn't slowing Helena down. She says she's keeping in touch with the trainers and others in her group. She stays in shape by using workout videos, borrowing a friend's treadmill, and doing just about anything else to keep moving and elevate her heart rate, including shoveling the snow that's kept her from training on Saturdays.

Laura loves to see the effort Helena and others in her group are giving so that they'll be ready for the race. "I get to see people like Helena come back to me next year signed up for intermediates and telling me, 'This program has changed my life, I have all these new goals, I have this new self esteem.'"

"Of course, everybody wants to lose weight", says Helena, "but my goal is not to just stop after this one 10k and say 'Okay, I did that'. So I'm gonna keep going. That's my goal, to not stop."

If you've been waiting to sign up for the 10k there are only 6,000 spots left. The race is limited to 35,000 participants.


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Director Motivated by Brother's Struggle

Patrick Dion is the Ontario director with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which aims to improve the health and social outcomes of people living with mental illness. (You can learn more about it by clicking here.)

I spoke to Dion about the prejudice and stigma facing individuals with mental illness. And he explained why he became such a passionate advocate for such individuals.

It turns out that Dion's awareness of mental illness turned personal while he was studying electrical engineering at UWO between 1985 and 1989.

"My brother, who was a student at UWO a few years behind me, suffered his first psychotic episode while at Western," said Dion, adding his brother has now dealt with bipolar disorder for 20 years.

"His journey . . . is the explanation for how I know that the suffering in silence has to end," he said.

Dion said his his family was largely unprepared for his brother's illness.

"Denial is a big part of it," he said. "My mother, who is a health-care professional, was unwilling or unable to acknowledge that her son was beginning to show signs of mental illness. Our family was like many families across this country (who think) this can't be affecting me.

"People ask, well, who are those who are living with mental illness?" said Dion. "Well, they are you and me, our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers - all of us."


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Mick Foley Still Motivated in Next Life With TNA Wrestling

Mick Foley has done just about everything in wrestling. He's worked in the small, dirty buildings in front of tens of people and has headlined WrestleMania in front of thousands.

Some people refer to him as 'The Hardcore Legend', a nickname he has earned for his bloody wars in the squared circle over his nearly 24-year career. But many people also know him as the lovable Mick Foley with his knack for getting a cheap pop out of the crowd and his sock puppet Mr. Socko. There's even another side to him as he is a multiple New York Times best-selling author and has kept active with various charity work.

Most of his wrestling career has been spent with the WWE where he was a three-time world champion. In 2000, Foley retired, something that doesn't typically stick in wrestling, with him returning to the squared circle four years later. At one point, he even tried his hand as the color commentator for WWE Smackdown but he grew tired of Vince McMahon barking in the headset and decided that job wasn't for him. In fact, he decided to leave the WWE altogether.

But Foley wasn't done with wrestling. Instead, he decided to start a new chapter in his career and in September 2008 he jumped to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Once there, Foley got the itch to get back in the ring -- which he still does, but on a much more limited basis.

While he moves a bit slower and has a little gray in his shaggy beard, Foley is once again having fun with what he calls his first true love -- wrestling. This Sunday, Feb. 14, Foley will be a part of the TNA "Against All Odds" pay-per-view. (You can find out more information about TNA Wrestling at their Web site).

Recently, FanHouse caught up with Foley to talk with him about still wrestling at the age of 44, the recent changes in the company with Hulk Hogan, (former President of World Championship Wrestling) Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair joining the promotion and much more. Here is part one of that conversation.

First of all, at this stage in your career from moving to WWE to TNA, are you surprised you're still an active wrestler?
(laughs) Well, I was surprised that I wrestled as actively as I did last year. I knew going in that I'd do a few matches a year. I think last year was something like 16 or 17. Granted, some of the television matches weren't that lengthy. But I'm hoping to get back to a lesser wrestling schedule this year. There were some unique circumstances that kind of put me in the ring more often than I had planned on being there.

Did you like being in the ring that much?
You know, I stopped being comfortable in the ring a long time ago. And as odd as it sounds, it was actually wrestling with Kurt Angle three times over a four day period that kind of restored my confidence. So now when I go out there, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to stink up the building.

I know at the time you were really concerned about the match with Kurt last year on pay-per-view. You were really worried about making sure that it was up to a certain standard. Do you feel like you met that standard and everything went fine?
You know, I really liked the match. I know it's probably not going to make a best of Kurt Angle DVD unless it's a really comprehensive one. But I think it did things and accomplished goals that other matches, that other supposedly better matches, haven't. Does that make sense?

I think so.
I think some fans have certain things they want to see in a match in order to declare it a good one and for those fans it will not ... my match with Kurt was not going to live up to that standard. But I think it was different. I tried things I hadn't done in 15 years or so and I think given that Kurt was injured and I have a litany of limitations, we did a pretty good job.

Considering what you call a litany of limitations, is your standard for what in your mind is a good match -- is that different from what it used to be?
Yeah, it's a lot different. And a lot of that had to do with a really bad back injury I suffered two years ago and I had to accept that I can't live up to my old expectations. It's unrealistic and ultimately really unhealthy. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to be every bit as good as used to be and I have come to understand that's not physically possible any more.

So what was your initial thought when you heard that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were coming to TNA?
You know, I was actually pretty excited about it. It's funny, I wrote this story on my TNA web blog (The Foley Files) that I had dropped off a book for Hulk Hogan to sign for a friend and had just picked up the book -- it was at a local bookstore -- I just picked up the book and had been in my house for no more then ten seconds when I received a call from Dixie Carter telling me that Hulk Hogan had just signed. So I don't know if that's fate or just a large coincidence but I certainly saw the upside of a guy of Hogan's magnitude coming in and a guy with Bischoff's background. I honestly didn't know what it held in store for me personally but I did think that overall it would be, it was a good move for the company.

I know that a lot of people talked about initially what their role was going to be with the company. Were you surprised when you heard that Hulk Hogan was not only coming in, but he was going to be a guy that was going to be a figurehead as part of the show and be behind the scenes helping run the show and be active creatively in a role which is something he hasn't really done before?
Yeah and I think it's probably something he wished he had done. I think it's difficult to fully capitalize on all of the tools available to someone if they are a current wrestler. It's just human nature that person is going to think of themselves usually to the detriment of other wrestlers in the company. So I think it's great that Hulk's on the sidelines looking in. I'd always heard he had a great mind for the business and I have been very impressed in the little bit of time I've known him.

What was the bigger surprise for you -- Hulk Hogan in TNA or Ric Flair?
(laughs) I had actually talked with Ric a little bit about coming in and there's so many guys that have such a deep respect for Vince McMahon and feel in a way they're being disloyal by coming to TNA. My message is to always reassure them that Vince is going to be just fine. I always throw a baseball metaphor in. If someone is sitting on the Yankees bench getting two or three at bats a month and the Minnesota Twins are willing to start that guy in center field, it's really not being disloyal to the Yankees to go elsewhere.

Years ago, you had done a retirement in WWE and it wasn't too long after that you decided to come back and a lot of people gave you grief about that. Now, there are a lot of people doing the same thing when it comes to Ric after he got the big retirement ceremony and left. He hasn't wrestled in TNA but people think he will. He's already returned to the ring with the Hulkamania group in Australia. From your standpoint, which I think is a lot different from others being an active wrestler, do you think it in any way hurts a legacy for Ric to come back in the ring considering the sendoff he got?
"I think anyone who wants to criticize Ric Flair should probably be required to walk around in his shoes for a while." Well, first let me say that when I came back after six weeks, that really wasn't my decision and after that it was another four years which is officially a lifetime in pro wrestling. Even with that being said, I thought it hurt my legacy but ten years later I think the truth is I'd be very much irrelevant to today's wrestling fans including portions of society that I'm trying to reach out and help. And the truth is life sometimes gets in the way of our great ambitions. I think anyone who wants to criticize Ric Flair should probably be required to walk around in his shoes for a while.

What has this transition period been like for yourself and for TNA coming from the old guard to Hogan and Bischoff coming in there?
Well, the major transition was a year and a half ago for me -- well, a year and four months -- changing companies, working for someone who is just about (laughing) Vince's polar opposite in every way and getting used to a different schedule and a different atmosphere at the television tapings. I haven't sensed the transition that much. I've seen some of the things are a little better organized. I believe there's going to be less emphasis on talking and a little more emphasis on wrestling which is what I think our fans like. I think with that being done the talking that does go on will be more important.

So are you saying (TNA President) Dixie Carter doesn't yell at people?
(laughs) You know, I've seen Dixie put a couple of people in their places and I'm talking about pretty intimidating people. Dixie is not afraid to asset herself but I have not heard her raise her voice to what I would call a yell. I heard she's terrible on those announcers on the headsets though!

Probably not as terrible as someone else you've worked with. It wasn't too long ago -- Monday, January 4 -- when TNA decided to go head-to-head with WWE Raw. You had the three hour edition of Impact which did the best numbers that TNA has ever done for the show. What were your thoughts on that show and how everything went?
I thought it was risky going in so I was relieved to see we had put up good numbers. Clearly it meant that we attracted new fans who may not have seen the product any more. And I've always felt that if you have a product that you're proud of, that you think people will like, that you would want to lead them there to sample it with the hope that they choose to stay a while. So it was an exciting night. My only real regret is there were so many things going on that I'm not sure that our fans could fully digest and appreciate them all.

That's been one the criticisms that TNA has faced -- not just now but for a while -- that sometimes the show can be a bit too confusing and there's too much going on.
And I agree. That's the product of working too hard sometimes. Apollo Creed may have been on the verge of overtraining for that big rematch with Rocky and it may have (laughs), it may have hurt him. I think you'd rather have the work ethic and do too much than believe you can go into coast mode and give the fans too little. I've always maintained that the success of the show is finding the right balance. Some weeks we do a better job than others but I think overall we're doing a lot better than we were a few years ago and I believe that formula is going to be tweaked and hopefully improved and perfected.

Vince Russo (the creative director in TNA Wrestling) obviously has his share of critics that are out there. When a situation like this happens or anything when it comes to creative decisions. Do you ever talk to him and say maybe it would be better to do it a different way, or we need to slow something down with you explaining why, or is that something you try not to get too involved in?
No, I think Vince Russo is always open to suggestions and I can say this because I didn't criticize him in my book after he was gone. So I'm not being hypocritical when I say I always thought he was a great idea man. I think for a few years he probably missed the restraint that Vince -- the other Vince -- put on him. I think even Vince Russo would probably agree that him being world champion was possibly not the best idea in the world. But he's a very creative guy. He loves to write. He loves to make characters and I think people who, you know the people who chant "fire Russo" really have no idea how large of a contribution he made to the wrestling product that they sometimes seem to like. I'm talking about the wrestling product overall as in this generation of wrestling. I think he was one of the key guys right up there with the top on-air talents.

Do you think Vince can continue to co-exist with Hulk and Eric considering their past?
Yeah I do think they can co-exist because I think there have been worse relationships (laughs) that have healed. I'm thinking of a couple of them off the top of my head. Sometimes as people interact backstage and I'm like wasn't that guy suing someone you know. Weren't they involved in a lawsuit? Wasn't there some type of a fist fight a few years ago? It's a volatile business and there's a lot of egos involved. Everybody has to believe in their own vision or they would have never gotten this far. But it seems like it's going pretty well and I think Vince Russo will actually benefit from having that one extra filter.

Part two of my conversation with Mick Foley will be posted Friday here on FanHouse.


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Karachi killings politically motivated, says Mirza

KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza on Tuesday described the targeted killings as politically motivated and said he had been bringing that fact to the knowledge of the president and the governor and the chief minister of Sindh.

In a policy statement on the obtaining law and order situation and the current spate of targeted killings, he said he had told the relevant quarters, whose responsibility was to defend the borders, that killings were taking place in Karachi and the army should take over the control.

He asked the “people of Karachi” to stop bloodshed of poor and helpless people.

He wondered why he was not made a target and why no MNA and MPA had been killed in Karachi and why only poor people were being killed.

“We have to go before Allah, and if we have faith in the Day of Judgment, I plead with you to stop killings for the sake of Allah.

“If we are powerful today, someone else may be more powerful than us tomorrow. And one should have fear of that day when some danda-bearer may come and sit on our heads,” he said.

The minister said that everyone should thank Allah for his blessings and bounties. “Whatever respect, repute and power we enjoy is all given by the poor of Sindh, who are today being killed and their blood being shed,” Mr Mirza said.

He requested Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, who was chairing the session, to place a copy of the Quran in the house and let everyone take an oath on it that he or she would not be involved in crime. And if even then anyone is killed, he would get himself hanged. He said the only problem was that sincerity was lacking.

The minister said that if ever the PPP felt that “I have become a liability”, he would not stay in office even for a moment.

He said it was because of the sacrifices of Benazir Bhutto that they all were sitting in the assembly.

“It is a last chance and it should not be squandered. This chance is to be utilised for the betterment of the country and nation,” he said.

The minister said that at present only political point-scoring was being done, which was harmful to the country and nation and it was high time that they all got along together.

‘Badmaash elements’

Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Ali Mirza admitted in the Sindh assembly on Tuesday that the law and order situation was bad in the province and that he took its responsibility.

In a statement on law and order, which was earlier criticised by PML-Q MPA Shaharyar Maher, he said if there had not been the policy of reconciliation, he would have hanged each and every “badmaash” at roundabouts and the ongoing targeted killings would not have occurred.

He started speaking on law and order in Shikarpur district and challenged Shaharyar Maher to meet him and discuss that issue with him. He said he would tell the MPA how many trailers had been hijacked on the highway and from where those were recovered.

He said when those trailers were recovered from a mill, the persons concerned told him that they had leased out the mill and they were not concerned with the recovery of the trailers from the mill’s premises.

The home minister asked them that if they had leased out their mill, why they had given it to criminals.

Mr Mirza said every child of Shikarpur could tell which elements of a tribe were involved in the deteriorating law and order situation and were taking refuge under the policy of reconciliation.

He said about 200 people had been killed in that district in the fire of feudal strife and he could give a list of the people killed. He said a poor man was killed when he resisted an attempt to lift his buffalo.

He declared that he would present every detail in the house as to who supported the criminals.

“I declare that from today no leniency would be shown to ‘badmaash elements’”, the home minister said at the top of his voice.


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Museum director Steven Nash motivated by art

Steven Nash still loves the smell of oil-based paints and turpentine, but he realized early on in life that he had no talent as an artist.

“Where I do have a good eye for art, I do not have a good hand at making it,” said the executive director of the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Nash arrived at the museum nearly three years ago, passionate about bringing in big-name exhibits and increasing the donations received.

On a routine walk through the museum, he admires pieces of art that he's seen a hundred times before. Nash is active in acquisitions for the museum and still pens pieces about art.

But Nash also is running a business. In an economy that's unforgiving to most businesses — not to mention the arts — he talked about his vision for the future of the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Question: How have your membership and admissions revenue been the past couple of years? Are they growing?

Answer: They have been. That's one good sign that even in the last year, membership and admission income have all grown. Not tremendously, but we've been growing at a 10 to 15 percent pace per year. For us, with the community size we have, that's a pretty strong rate.

That surprises me. It seems like public entities — the arts, theaters, museums — in other parts of the country are struggling.

It's not that we don't have our concerns. Balancing any museum budget — unless you're The Getty, and even The Getty's having problems — is a challenge.

But I think there's a real story here that is slowly infiltrating the region that there is something important happening, that there are exciting things going on.

We've been pretty aggressive in our programming with taking in these traveling shows and a steady stream of exhibitions, programming lots of events around those.

We've done something which is particularly important I would say on the education side by continuing our free Thursday nights. It's a traditional, popular event.

But thanks to funding from the Berger Foundation, we've added a free second Sunday. The main demographic we're aiming at is family visitors. A Sunday afternoon at the museum with a lot of special activities has proved to be very popular. We get over 1,000 people a day, which is a lot for us.

When you got here in 2007, you expressed a desire to bring large national and international exhibits here, Picasso and Matisse, for example. Do you have plans for those still?

We will continue along that track. We've been really experimenting to some degree to find the right level, the right exhibition that will play well with our audiences.

We know, for instance, outstanding art glass exhibitions have a very, very big draw here. We are working long-term. It's not easy to nail down some of these exhibitions which have those kind of international, stellar names to them.

No. 1, there's a lot of competition to do those shows. No. 2, they're amazingly expensive. We're talking still about shows of that variety.

We have a 75th anniversary coming up in a couple years, so the programming for that will be quite stellar. I don't want to mention any of the possibilities at this point and jinx myself, but there will be a couple of exhibitions any museum in the country would be proud to have.

What's your strategy in approaching people for bequests and gifts to the museum's collection?

People are interested in giving works of art to places that are worthy of receiving them and have the right environment to fully take care of, exhibit and publish them.

The groundwork had to start with renovating the institution physically so that we had better exhibition spaces, more handsome galleries for display of works of art, working on a program in (growth areas).

Photography is a real growth area for us. If there is staff expertise, someone on staff who knows what this material is and has scholarly background in it, the proof of program that is dedicated to honoring photography, then you have a chance for photography gifts.

So we started fairly early on knowing that photography could be a real growth field for us. We hired a curator with strong credentials in photography; we booked a couple of photography shows; announced our intentions; started a photography collection council at the museum — and this has really caught on in a very big way.

It's one segment where people are now paying attention to us. We've been given hundreds of photographs in the last couple of years.

Nothing succeeds like success. It's an old proverb I love because the more energy you show, the more important the place becomes as a museum.

And the more likely people are to take you very seriously, to become excited themselves and find you to be a worthy home for things that they love.

You mentioned the museum's upcoming 75th anniversary. What would you hope the museum to look like by its centennial?

It's going to be a much bigger place.

It's certainly going to grow physically, one way or another. There are various scenarios we're thinking of now that could be quite long-term.

I think this museum should always be the home base, in Palm Springs. We have a great building here, and it would be the home of the collection.

But I would really like to see it grow to some degree as — for lack of a better phrase — a franchise museum with satellite locations in other parts of the valley.

It's hard for schools in Indio to get to us, for instance. It is possible for us to have a satellite location farther down valley, in the east valley.

Especially for education purposes, it would give us a platform in those communities where we can much more easily get to the schools and get the schools to us.

There is no question that education is increasingly a dominant factor in our mission. Twenty-five years from now, it's going to be even bigger.

What is your motivation?

It's a three-letter word.

Art.

I started out in college as an economics major, and I had a little bit of business school. I have a business perspective. I'm not a great business technician. But I do have a mind that looks at charities and nonprofits as a business operation.

But I never for one minute forget what the place is about, and that is art.

The joy of creation, the absolute brilliance and overwhelming awesomeness of great art — once you get that bug, why, it never goes away.


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Media Matters: The politically motivated selective-victimhood of Sarah Palin

You've got to hand it to Fox News contributor Sarah Palin. After all, there aren't many people who can make news with a single Facebook post. Her status updates are like catnip for journalists and media types.

In a story detailing purported liberal criticism of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel,The Wall Street Journal reported this week that, in a private meeting, Emanuel called plans by liberal groups to run ads targeting conservative Democrats "F-ing retarded."

Following news of the hurtful comment, Palin, the mother of a child with Down syndrome, took to Facebook to demand Emanuel's firing in a post she titled, "Are You Capable of Decency, Rahm Emanuel?"

The deservedly stern comments of an offended mother or the hypocritical nonsense of a political opportunist?

First, it's worth noting that Emanuel has apologized for the comment at least twice now. It's also worth noting that just a few short weeks ago, Palin fretted that we were becoming a nation where we -- I'm guessing all the Joe the Plumbers out there -- couldn't use words that were "politically incorrect."

Far from consistent, Palin has exposed herself as someone who deploys selective-victimhood as a politically motivated weapon.

How else can one explain her harsh rebuke of Emanuel and near silence when it comes to eerily similar language used by conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh and her Fox News colleague Glenn Beck?

Last January, during an interview with Mary Lynn Rajskub, a star of Fox Broadcasting Co.'24, Beck laughed at the idea of artwork produced by children with Down syndrome, asking, "What do the paintings of the retarded children go for?" Then there was the time right after the 2008 election when he went after Newsweek over a story on Palin that he found objectionable. Purporting to offer the magazine's view of the former governor, he played the role of an unnamed Newsweek staffer saying, "When it's really, truly about Sarah Palin and how stupid, she's practically retarded. Yes. I think that's appropriate word to use for Sarah Palin, retarded. I think that's an... if you would like a retarded person running the State of Alaska, just higgeldy-piggeldy."

So what did Palin, then the newly minted Fox News contributor, have to say about these comments during her first hour-long sit-down interview with Beck?

Nothing. Nada. Crickets.

Responding to the controversy surrounding Palin and Emanuel, Limbaugh said liberals who complained about health care reform "are retards." Sure, El Rushbo went on to say that he was just using the term in "quoting Emanuel," but it wasn't the first time the language had appeared on his radio program. Almost a year ago, long before the Emanuel gaffe, while discussing the flu, Limbaugh appeared to mock those concerned with the use of such language, saying, "[a]nything you can do to stop it or to arrest it or to retard -- sorry -- to 'Special Olympic' its duration, then it -- you should do it."

On Thursday, Limbaugh addressed his controversial comments and suggested that Palin wouldn't "denounce" him because she "knows I do this kind of" thing. Just four hours later, responding to a request for comment on Limbaugh's comments by Greg Sargent of Washington Post Co.'s The Plum Line blog, Palin's spokesperson provided a broad statement saying in part that use of the word constitutes "crude and demeaning name calling."

How long would Palin stand up to radio's reigning king of radical right-wing vitriol? Not long at all.

The following day on his radio program, Limbaugh told listeners that a Palin representative had called him in a "panic" to explain her criticism. Heaven forbid she should offend Boss Limbaugh.

During the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Palin offered then-Senator Hillary Clinton advice on dealing with the pervasive sexism Clinton faced in the media, saying essentially that she should stop whining.

If Palin can't be consistent in her criticism, perhaps she should take her own advice.
Other Major Stories

What's in a name? For Glenn Beck, the answer, it appears, is everything

On Thursday, Beck was revisiting one of his favorite subjects: the hidden history of Barack Obama. Reflecting on how Obama had, as a young man, gone from calling himself Barry to using his given name of Barack, Beck said this:

He chose to use his name Barack for a reason -- to identify, not with America -- you don't take the name Barack to identify with America. You take the name Barack to identify with what? Your heritage? The heritage, maybe, of your father in Kenya, who is a radical?

Beck's history regarding discussions of race speaks for itself. He has said Obama possesses "a deep-seated hatred for white people." Soon after, he defended those remarks, stating once again that, "I think the president is a racist." He has suggested that Obama is seeking to become a "slavemaster." He has pushed the idea that Mexican immigrants want to "reclaim" California and Texas. He called Justice Sonia Sotomayor a "racist" on at least three separate occasions. Beck has portrayed the Democratic health care reform effort as "the beginning of reparations," a theme he has repeated on both his Fox News and radio shows, saying that Obama plans to "settle old racial scores through new social justice." During a discussion of former White House green jobs official Van Jones' past, he baselessly juxtaposed Jones' picture with footage from a riot. He hasclaimed that India lacked "flush toilets" and said that the Ganges sounded like "a disease."

All of these examples are from the last year. The deeper you dig, the worse it gets.

And yet, when Media Matters accused Beck of racial insensitivity, he responded indignantly that "nothing could be further from the truth."

"If you don't see why some people would get upset that you accused the president of adopting his African name in order to repudiate his American identity and connect with his father's radical Kenyan heritage," wrote Media Matters' Simon Maloy yesterday, "then I'm afraid you might be a lost cause."

Indeed, he is -- and he's not interested in being saved. Though he portrays himself as an average Joe just trying to make sense of the world, Beck is actually a wildly successful broadcaster with decades of experience. Everything he does and says is deliberate, and by now, it should be overwhelmingly obvious that he routinely crafts his rhetoric to appeal to the worst impulses in his audience. He insults minorities, and uses racially provocative language and imagery, because he wants to stir resentments among viewers and listeners. There is simply no other way to explain the racially charged content he has made a staple of his work.

Is it any wonder why at least 80 advertisers have fled his Fox News program and civil rights groups have condemned him over his latest comments?

This week's media columns

This week's media columns from the Media Matters senior fellows: Eric Boehlert asks what Bill Buckley would say about today's "conservative journalism"; and Jamison Foser looks at Andew Breitbart and the Vince Foster conspiracists.

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Spartans' Tom Izzo still motivated by struggles against Michigan early in career

Tom Izzo hasn’t forgotten.

It wasn’t always the case that Michigan State dominated the Michigan basketball series. Many of today’s Spartans certainly can’t remember it.

Draymond Green said he never even paid attention to Wolverines basketball as he grew up in Saginaw. And Kalin Lucas said he was unaware that Izzo’s first five games against Michigan resulted in five double-digit losses.

“But coach, if he did lose those five straight -- I know coach, and he was most likely pissed off,” Lucas said.

In some ways, he still is.

The games weren’t close. The margins were 22, 29, 13, 20 and 10 points. They brought some snarky comments, including one from a certain Grand Rapids columnist who called Izzo Michigan’s “lapdog.”

The three seasons involved included a pair of NIT berths, after five of Jud Heathcote’s last six teams qualified for the NCAA tournament, and there was open question whether Heathcote’s former assistant was the right guy for the job.

About the same time, over at the rival university, football fans wondered the same thing about one Lloyd Carr.

Both would win national championships.

Both would enjoy extended periods of dominance against their in-state rival.

And both fueled themselves, for years thereafter, with those early memories.

“I’m motivated by the 12 years before those five games,” Izzo said Monday, leading into tonight’s showdown at Crisler Arena here. “I’m motivated by the fact that every alum in this country is motivated by it. I’m motivated because it stands in the way of us, hopefully, getting to our goals at the beginning of the year.

“But your rival is your rival. And I’ve said a million times, people try to make it out ‘Is he as passionate about it? Does he hate them as much?’ And the answer is yes to all those things. OK? It’s yes to all those things.”

He has respect for Michigan, he said, heightened during the Tommy Amaker era, when the Wolverines reached the cusp of the NCAA tournament but never quite made it, with a resultant coaching change.

That grew with the John Beilein hiring -- and now, the Michigan coach, after losses each of the past two years, when the rivalry was played only once each season, is the one burdened with proving he can win the Great Lakes State showdown.

“I have respect for coaches. I have respect for programs,” Izzo said. “But it is what it is. And I’m sure the feeling is mutual down there.”

Izzo said he thinks he became obsessed with Michigan in his early years as head coach, and with how fans and alumni emphasized that wanting to win wasn’t enough, that hatred also is requisite.

He didn’t really need that lesson, though. He already could draw upon the memory of some good U-M teams in the 1980s, one of them a 1989 national championship team, followed in short order by the Fab Five. Including his years as an assistant under Heathcote, Izzo lost 19 of his first 29 games against the Wolverines.

That has changed, of course. The Spartans have won 16 of 19 in the series, over a 12-season span.

Defeat honed the senses. The “passion to win, the sleepless nights, the excitement” remain the same, whether trying to preserve a winning streak or break a losing skid.

Motivation gets stirred by talking to ex-players about their Michigan reminiscences, or by hearing from alumni about the water-cooler expectations they have the next morning.

It’s 2010, a different era in the relationship between Michigan and Michigan State basketball.
But in the buildup, the preparation, the anticipation, for one man, it is always 1995.

“I think back to those beatings,” he said. “I think back to things that happened back then.”

Then he sets his jaw, grits his teeth, and plots retribution.


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Outpouring of support motivated by compassion

If there's anything good that comes from a humanitarian catastrophe on the staggering scale of the Haiti earthquake, it's the reminder of our own common humanity.

The international response-- from the hundreds of millions of dollars in donations from individuals and corporations to the disaster relief provided by different governments -- transcends politics or economics or self-interest.

This unprecedented outpouring of support is motivated by compassion for the people of this ravaged nation. While there are acknowledged logistical problems distributing aid in the ruined capital of Port-au-Prince -- and delays caused by the sheer destruction wrought by the 7.0-richter magnitude quake -- the difficulties do not detract from this compassion.

In fact, the very first country to provide aid -- the neighbouring Dominican Republic -- put aside lingering animosities that dated back to the 19th century to provide clean water, food and heavy equipment to help in rescue efforts.

The government of Qatar, a small Muslim nation bordered by Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, sent more than 50 tonnes of desperately needed supplies on a C-17, while the Israeli government erected a field hospital near the United Nations building in Port-au-Prince. The government of Iran announced plans to send 30 tonnes of emergency aid, including tents and medicine.

The European Union provided an immediate three-million euros in funding while pledging another 600-million euros in long-term support for emergency aid and reconstruction. The governments of Canada and the U.S. -- the countries that have taken the lead roles in assistance efforts -- have both more than $100 million in financial aid, as well as troops and equipment to help with rescue efforts.

In total, almost 120 of the world's nations have pledged to helping the people of Haiti.

These commitments have been matched by an incredible response from intergovernmental organizations and hundreds of nongovernment agencies like the International Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

In Canada, the Red Cross has already raised $22 million for relief efforts. Locally, Oxford residents were lined up outside of the Woodstock offices of the Red Cross to make donations while local businesses have made their own financial contributions.

With hundreds of thousands feared dead and millions left homeless -- and fears of an unparalleled crisis as supplies begin to dwindle -- much of the world has mobilized and that, given the usual international tensions and willful ignorance, is cause for hope. This common response shows that we are capable of putting aside our differences and working for the betterment of all.

If only we could do it a little more often.


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In Somerville, reluctant Coakley voters motivated by health care

SOMERVILLE -- In the Democratic primary last month for US Senate, this city backed the campaign of Representative Michael Capuano, a native son and former mayor who ultimately came up short against Martha Coakley.

Capuano's loss did not prevent voters from turning out in droves today for the general election, with a polling place at the Dante Club bustling early. Several people interviewed on the way out of the social hall described themselves as reluctant Coakley supporters motivated by the prospect of a victory by Republican Scott Brown and concerns that it would thwart the health care legislation before Congress.

"To be honest, I wasn't all that enthusiastic about Martha Coakley. But, you know, I think the health care thing is so important," said Chris O’Brien, a 29-year-old singer-songwriter who began paying closer attention after the race tightened. "I didn't know who Scott Brown was two weeks ago. . . [but] I know he’s been gaining some serious momentum over the last couple of weeks, so we'll see. It’s hard to imagine Massachusetts with a Republican senator."

In the primaries, 670 of the precinct's 2,300-plus voters cast ballots, leaving poll workers in December with little to do for stretches other than sip coffee and leaf through magazines. But this morning, 334 had voted by 10 a.m., with the line snaking down the corridor at times during a pre-work rush. Some had not voted since the 2008 presidential election.

The Coakley campaign was going door-to-door among the neighborhood's multi-family houses to check off potential supporters and encourage turnout, in a densely populated area that was once the domain largely of immigrant and working-class families and that is now home to scores of young professionals and graduate students.

"It's been busy, exceptionally so," said Niki Voorthamis, the precinct's warden, noting that a dozen or so voters had already come in who were not on the rolls at all or who had fallen to the inactive list because of recent failure to vote or return the city's last census.

At that moment, as if on cue, Mara Brod approached Voorthamis's table, after the clerks near the door failed to find her name on their list. Brod, a 39-year-old photographer who has lived in Somerville for over a decade, confided that she had not voted since 2008 and had recently moved within the city.

"I just wanted to see if I'm still registered at my old apartment," Brod told Voorthamis, who jotted down her past and present addresses on a pad and picked up a walkie-talkie to call the city's election headquarters. A fuzzy reply came back; Brod was on the list at the Cummings School, nearly a mile's walk in the snow.

"You hear that? You're at 3-2, and I'll tell you where that is," Voorthamis said. "You're on the inactive list but you can vote there."

Outside, Brod said she was motivated by a desire to see national health care legislation pass, not because she loves Coakley.

"I feel like she's who we have, and I'm a little disappointed about the way she ran her campaign," Brod said. "But I guess they just didn't see this coming."


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Less motivated people achieve success on fun tasks

Washington, Jan 20: People who are highly motivated generally do better on specific tasks than those who are less motivated, but when it comes to fun tasks, the latter bunch emerges as the winner.

According to lead researcher Dolores Albarrac¡n from University of Illinois, the findings suggest that two students may respond quite differently to a teacher's exhortation that they strive for excellence.

The study suggests that those who are "chronically uninterested in achievement" are not operating out of a desire to do badly.

Their differing responses simply may reflect the fact that they have different goals.

"The competitive mindset, the achievement mindset becomes a huge de-motivator for those who don't necessarily value excellence as much as they value their well-being," said Albarrac¡n.

"Perhaps the reason they don't care to do well is because they want to do something else; they want to enjoy themselves - which is not a bad goal," she added.

In four studies, the researchers evaluated how participants' attitudes toward achievement, called their "chronic achievement motivation," influenced their performance on various tasks.

It showed that those with high achievement motivation did better on a task when they also were exposed to subconscious "priming" (the flash of a word on a computer screen, for example, that appeared too briefly to be consciously noticed) that related to winning, mastery or excellence.

Those with low achievement motivation did worse under the same conditions.

Similarly, when given a choice, those with high achievement motivation were more likely to resume an interrupted task, such as a word-search puzzle, which they were told tested their verbal reasoning ability, than their peers, who were more likely to switch to a task perceived as fun.

The researchers also found that those with high achievement motivation actually did worse on a word-search puzzle when they were told the exercise was fun and they had been exposed to achievement primes, such as the words "excel," "compete" or "dominate."

Their counterparts, who were not very motivated to achieve, did better under the same conditions.

These finding suggest that achievement primes inhibit the desire to have fun in those who are motivated to achieve, the authors wrote. But in people who lack achievement motivation, the same cues seem to enhance their desire - and ability - to perform a task seen as fun.

"It's not that those with high achievement motivation always perform better. You can also get the low achievement motivation folks to perform better than the highs when you present a task as enjoyable and fun," Albarrac¡n added.

The study appears in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.


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Part loyalty and vanity motivated the Senate

Like desperate last-minute Christmas shoppers who would grab any gift at any price, the U.S. Senate rushed through a hasty and ill-conceived rewrite of healthcare legislation on Christmas Eve. It was a holiday party—a total party line vote.
President Obama’s message to senators seemed focused more on party loyal and an appeal to desires for glory than on what Americans want or need. Plus the spirit of “What's in it for me?” rather than the unselfish spirit of Christmas.
With public support collapsing all about them — 61 percent in opposition, according to CNN’s December polling — many Democrats seemed motivated by a feeling that they’ve gone too far to turn back now, even if it’s in the wrong direction.
They could invoke Benjamin Franklin’s aphorism: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Franklin, however, had a much nobler purpose in mind: independence from government tyranny.
The ultimate language remains a mystery to many, concealed in two thousand pages of wrapping. The governors of New York and California, after digging to the bottom, crying foul over billions in new costs that will further wreck their already imperiled state budgets.
With or without a so-called “public option,” it’s certain that the bill will displace millions of Americans from their private insurance, put Washington in charge of all healthcare and insurance, and expand the number of people who depend on taxpayers to pay for their coverage.
Bureaucrats such as the new “health choices commissioner” would be granted czar-like powers to impose what would function as a federally controlled, single-payer system. That power would extend over everyone, even those who think they still have private insurance.
“It’s now or never” summed up the White House message as President Obama asks his fellow Democrats to disregard the public opposition and pass Obamacare anyway. White House operatives told Politico this is the “last chance” and “last train leaving the station” as Christmas approached.
The appeal to unity and glory is an echo of the argument Obama used to rally final votes for the House version of the legislation. As ABC News said about that House meeting, Obama used an argument based on political calculation: "At the end of his speech, Obama got a rousing ovation for saying, "I am absolutely confident that, when I sign this bill in the Rose Garden, each and every one of you will be able to look back and say, 'This was my finest moment in politics.'"
This appeal to political vanity is very different from the claims the president makes about his proposals in public meetings. So it’s no wonder that Obama has abandoned his campaign pledge to conduct healthcare negotiations publicly and on C-SPAN. Now the House and Senate versions of the bill will be reconciled behind closed doors (but with the White House well-represented).
Obama had said in 2008, "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN."
Those who want to commit political suicide will suffer the consequences at the hands of the voters. The problem is that damage won’t end there. Dramatic new costs will be imposed on 160 million Americans who already have health insurance. Unfair adverse consequences will abound, such as a $3,000 penalty on businesses that hire low-income workers. It will be costlier than ever to create new jobs or to buy insurance (except for those who are granted new government subsidies at the expense of taxpayers).
Rather than appealing to party loyalty and political vanity, even many on the left are calling for President Obama and Congress to slow down and start over. But they so far show no signs of doing that.
(Ernest Istook, who was a congressman from Oklahoma for 14 years, now is a distinguished fellow at The Heritage Foundation.)


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Motivated Vonn wins 3d straight downhill

HAUS IM ENNSTAL, Austria - Nothing like a “stupid’’ comment about her weight to make Lindsey Vonn ski faster.

She won her third straight World Cup downhill yesterday and regained the overall standings lead from Maria Riesch of Germany.

Austrian media this week reported that Vonn, the reigning downhill and overall champion, would have an advantage in speed events because she was carrying additional weight.

“Any time people say stupid things in the media, it always makes me more motivated to try to ski faster,’’ Vonn said. “It’s obvious that I am an athlete and not an overweight person, so I thought it was pretty ridiculous. It just added fuel to the fire.’’

Vonn raced the course in 1 minute 38.84 seconds to beat Anja Paerson of Sweden by 0.35 seconds. Riesch took third, 0.39 behind the American.

“I really attacked today,’’ said Vonn, who is skiing with a bruised left arm after a crash in Lienz last month but still posted the fastest first intermediate time. She is unbeaten in downhill since February 2008.

Former slalom champion Giorgio Rocca pulled a muscle in training and might miss the Vancouver Olympics. The Italian Winter Sports Federation said Rocca injured the thigh-groin area and will miss this weekend’s races in Switzerland . . . Two-time overall champion Bode Miller will try to earn a spot in the Olympic giant slalom when he returns to racing today after a three-week injury break. US coach Sasha Rearick said Miller spent the holidays in California and his injured ankle swelled during the flight.


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Indian attacks raise fears of ruined reputation

The Victorian Government says it hopes another attack on an Indian man in Melbourne will not dissuade people from considering Australia as a safe place to study, work and live.

An Indian man is in hospital after being set on fire in the street in Melbourne early yesterday morning.

Jaspreet Singh, 29, was attacked in Essendon in Melbourne's north-west shortly before 2.00am (AEDT).

He had just come home from a dinner party with his wife and went to park his car when four men poured fluid over him and set him alight.

He is in a stable condition in the Alfred Hospital with burns to 20 per cent of his body.

Victorian Minister Peter Batchelor says the Government hopes the incident will not harm people's views of Australia.

"We don't support any sorts of violence at all irrespective of who it is against, whether it is against people who are born and live here or whether it is for all of the fantastic migrants or refugees or students who come to our country," he said.

"Whether it is racially motivated or whether is is for some other reason such as theft or some other crime related factor, it diminishes our community, it diminishes us all and we're totally opposed to it.

"We want the police to thoroughly investigate this to get to the bottom of it."

Police say the strange circumstances surrounding the attack have led them to believe it was not racially motivated.

Detective acting senior sergeant Neil Smyth says police are yet to locate burnt clothing the victim discarded shortly after the incident.

He says police have a general description of who the offenders could be.

"I believe there is no reason at this stage to consider this in any way as racially motivated... the circumstances of him parking the car randomly in a side street and just some people approaching him are a bit strange," he said.

"It's highly unlikely therefore to be a targeted attack on any individual."

Police say the man is of Indian origin but they do not know whether he is an Australian citizen.

Friends say the man is living in the city on a spouse visa.

It has been a week since 21-year-old Indian man Nitin Garg was stabbed to death on his way to work in West Footscray.

The murder has sparked outrage in India and among Indians in Melbourne, who say racist attacks are on the rise.

Gautam Gupta from the Federation of Indian Students of Australia says the attacks are unacceptable and the Federal Government must act.

"We are extremely disturbed, we have contacted the Prime Minister's office and have suggested that they intervene, it's high time they intervene," he said.

"How many times are they going to just dodge this issue."

Cartoon 'hysteria'

Yesterday the editor of an Indian newspaper said Australia was reacting hysterically to a cartoon depicting an Australian police officer as a member of the Ku Klux Klan .

The cartoon shows a person in a Ku Klux Klan hood wearing a police badge, with a caption that reads: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime".

The editor of the Mail Today newspaper, Bharat Bhushan, has defended his decision to publish the controversial cartoon.

Mr Bhushan has also defended the paper's cartoonist, R Prasad, who drew the piece in response to attacks on young Indian men in Melbourne.

"What he does is he exaggerates things," Mr Bhushan said.

"He forces people to look at a particular point of view, which we had thought in a mature society like Australia would lead to introspection, rather it has led to hysteria."

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has expressed outrage at the cartoon's Ku Klux Klan reference.

"Any suggestion of that kind is deeply, deeply offensive to the police officers involved and I would absolutely condemn the making of a comment like that," Ms Gillard said.

"[The police] have indeed worked in close collaboration with representatives of the Indian community as they've gone about this step up in policing."


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ALABAMA NOTEBOOK: Saban keeps Tide motivated

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Coaches from the two teams playing in the BCS national championship game traveled Saturday to Disneyland for an appearance at the ESPN Zone, a sports bar and restaurant located at the entrance to the theme park.

Alabama coach Nick Saban drew a huge laugh from the media when asked if he was enjoying himself. The coach was greeted by Mickey Mouse as he stepped off the team bus, then sat down with ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer for a 30-minute session with the media. When he got up to leave, a Disneyland official tried to hand him a special BCS trophy of the Magic Castle, which he quickly passed to Alabama football media relations director Jeff Purinton.

This is what Saban calls "clutter," a series of distractions that has nothing to do -- in his mind -- with Thursday's game between top-ranked Alabama and second-ranked Texas.

"I told our players a story the other day about the U.S. hockey team," Saban said. "Probably one of the greatest victories of this century by any team was when they beat the Soviets in 1980, the 'Miracle on Ice.' Do you know what people don't remember? That didn't win the gold medal. They had to win the next game against Finland to win the gold medal.

"So what did they learn when they beat the Soviets? They learned when they made a commitment and everybody had a single-minded purpose and an I-won't-be-denied kind of attitude and everybody went out there and played their best what they could accomplish. Hopefully our players will learn some of the same things from what they did in the SEC Championship Game.

"The first thing I did when we came back from the SEC Championship Game is I drew a line on the grease board all the way across the room, the team meeting room, and I said, 'It's 32 days until we play the game. How you manage those 32 days is going to determine how you play in the game. And I can't control that for everybody in this room; you have to make those choices and decisions for yourself.'"

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Cornerback Johnson returns: Senior cornerback Marquis Johnson returned to practice Saturday wearing a cast on his left hand to protect a broken thumb.

"He practiced today and he's using his hand again," Saban said. "He didn't practice with a black shirt on, which means he was able to have contact. Now, whether he can catch the ball with a cast on his hand or not, he has caught some, but it could affect his ability to catch."

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McElroy's mojo: Saban was asked by several national reporters about the emergence of Greg McElroy this season, but said he learned more about the junior quarterback when he had some struggles during the middle of the season.

"Probably my biggest memory, to be honest with you, is when he had the dip, having a conversation with him about focusing on the right things, be who you are," Saban said. "I think he got to where he started to try to please everyone else, and he really wasn't doing what he needed to do as a player.

"And to see him realize that and sort of come back and improve and finish the season strong, that's probably (the) most significant (memory), at least for our team and for Greg."


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Myrtle Beach area gyms push folks to stay motivated

Local gyms and fitness centers are expecting an influx of people coming in to burn off those holiday pounds.

But just like the holidays come to an end, so do several new participants' goals to get in shape after working out a month or two at the gym, local fitness experts say.



That's why several area gyms and fitness centers are offering discounts and programs to help people stay motivated.

They encourage people to make healthy eating choices, set small, reachable goals, to grow with their goals, to be consistent, and have programs in place to entice people to stay.

"A lot of times people get overzealous, and they burn themselves out," said Pat Flynn, fitness director at the North Myrtle Beach Aquatic and Fitness Center. "We tell them to take it slow and to start with three days a week."

The North Myrtle Beach center is waiving its $100 enrollment fee through Saturday and will have an open house that day during which people can use the facility for free, said director Melinda Chappell.

The center also has a "Smallest Winner New Year's Challenge" program, in which groups of three or four team up with a trainer and compete against other teams for six weeks to see who can lose the most weight, Flynn said. The team with the highest percentage of weight lost at the end of the contest will win prizes, Flynn said.

Some other workout facilities are offering similar programs.

Myrtle Beach's Pepper Geddings Recreation Center is in its fifth year of its "Choose to Lose" weight loss competition and fitness program. Prizes are offered throughout the 12-week program that begins Saturday as an incentive and reward to participants who meet their goals, recreation center officials said.

The American Athletic Club in Myrtle Beach allowed people to register in December for "12 Days of Fitness." Those who registered get to use the gym for free for a 12-day trial.

If participants decide to join after the 12-day trial ends, they will get a discount on their membership, said manager Chal Lester.

Kerry and Allison Brazley, who are doing the 12-day trial, said it takes motivation and determination to stick with your fitness plan and reach your goals.

The two are considering joining the gym when they permanently move to the area and said they want to maintain what they've been doing, such as strength training and conditioning.

"You have to do everything in moderation," Allison Brazley said. "People try to do too much at once."

In addition to giving all its members a free fitness assessment, Gold's Gym in Myrtle Beach also offers its new members a free fitness assessment with a personal trainer, said Tre Capp, who works at the gym.

"We get people to set goals when they first come in," Capp said.

Barbara Martin, who was working out Thursday at the North Myrtle Beach fitness center, said her goals are to lower her cholesterol level, lose weight, be more flexible and get into shape so it doesn't hurt her to walk or move.

"I got tired feeling as old as I am," said Martin, a new member at the North Myrtle Beach facility.

"I didn't want to make another New Year's resolution to lose weight. I did that years ago, and it only lasted about a month. I made a resolution the first part of December to go to the center. It's more of a commitment to me."

Martin, who has a fitness plan set up for her, is looking long-term to be able to fit into her size 12 clothes again.

"I still have size 10 and 12 [clothing] in my closet, just in case," Martin said.

"If I see results, it always keeps me motivated to do more. If I can put on a pair of pants and I feel more comfortable, it makes me feel motivated to continue."

Chappell said people who work out with a trainer or participate in classes tend to be motivated by others to help them stay on task.


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Falcons, Bucs motivated for season finale

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Atlanta Falcons can make franchise history. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would like to think they can save their coach's job.

So much for the notion that the NFC South rivals might be content with going through the motions when they end disappointing seasons Sunday.

The Falcons (8-7) have won two straight and still have a shot at finishing with consecutive winning records for the first time.

The Bucs (3-12), also winners the past two weeks, have one more opportunity to make a case they're headed in the right direction after losing 12 of their first 13 under rookie coach Raheem Morris.

"Our motivation is to have a winning season," Falcons 1,000-yard receiver Roddy White said.

"You always want to be the first person to do something. That's what our task is. It's like a playoff game. Our owner wants to get this out of the way. We're going to be out there playing hard. We want to make sure we get it done for him."

The Bucs are feeling a lot better about themselves after beating Seattle and New Orleans on the road.

They rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Saints in overtime last week, although it's anybody's guess if one of the biggest upsets of the year enhanced the prospect of Morris returning in 2010.

The reclusive Glazer family has not commented publicly on the 33-year-old coach's future. Nor have team officials done anything to squash speculation the owners are trying to gauge whether Bill Cowher is interested in the job.

In the meantime, the youngest coach in the league continues to go about his business.

"When you do what I do, you can't worry about that," Morris said. "You've got to go do your job."

The Falcons entered the season with high expectations after winning 11 games and making the playoffs in their first year under Mike Smith. They faded after a 4-1 start, in part because of key injuries that contributed to a stretch of six losses in eight games.

Victories the past two weeks against the Jets and Bills ensured Atlanta would finish .500 or better in consecutive seasons for just the fifth time.

"You get what you earn in this league. To this point we've earned an 8-7 record ... but we feel like we've made some strides in a lot of areas," Smith said.

"This is our second year. We're talking about building a team that is going to be able to sustain the level of play for a number of years. That's our main goal. I think we made some improvements in many areas, even though it doesn't show on the win-loss record."

Morris feels the same way about his young team, which has endured three quarterback changes, as well as the firing of their offensive and defensive coordinators since the start of training camp.

After a slow start, the offense is showing signs of progress, with rookie quarterback Josh Freeman going 3-5 since moving into the starting lineup. The defense allowed 29 points per game through 10 games, but has limited opponents to 17.4 per game since Morris took over play-calling responsibilities five weeks ago.

Against the Seahawks and Saints, Tampa Bay didn't allow any points in the second half.

"We're playing good football right now," said Freeman, who believes the Bucs are beginning to establish an identity as a tough, physical team.

"We're running the ball. The defense is standing up and shutting people down. This is the type of football we're capable of playing. Our record is what it is, but we have a chance to go out and get another one on Sunday and end the season on a high note."

The Falcons beat Tampa Bay 20-17 in Atlanta on Nov. 29, despite losing Matt Ryan with a foot injury in the opening quarter. Backup Chris Redmond threw the winning TD pass to White with 23 seconds to go.

The Falcons have taken note of what the Bucs have done down the stretch.

"I'm very impressed with the effort and the consistency they're playing with," Smith said.

"I think defensively, they have really stepped up their play in the last four or five weeks. And the young quarterback has definitely matured since the first time we saw him, and I thought he had a very good game when we played him here in Atlanta."

Running back Cadillac Williams, who has overcome two career-threatening knee injury to become Tampa Bay's leading rusher again, is among the Bucs who feel Morris and his staff deserve to be back.

"A lot of things happened, but they've definitely showed the second half of the season with Josh coming in and other guys stepping up that they've pulled things together," said Williams, coming off his first 100-yard rushing performance in over three years.

"If you watch a lot of teams that have one or two wins, they just don't play hard. You still see guys out there playing hard and giving maximum effort."


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10 ways to get motivated for change in 2010

(CNN) -- A new decade is about to start, and you may be tempted to set a copious list of resolutions for yourself in order to broadly "make life better."

You may be thinking that you'll jump in on January 1 to reform everything from diet to relationships to personality.

That, experts say, is the wrong approach. It's great to want to make changes, but in order to actually accomplish your goals, they say, it's important to be realistic, specific, and accountable.

Here are 10 things you can do to help yourself stay in a mindset to make positive changes in the coming year:

1. Set smaller goals with smaller steps

Gradual small steps motivate people toward larger change, said Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, professor of psychology at Yale University and author of the new book "The Power of Women."

If you want to lose weight, for example, change small aspects of your eating pattern. Resolve to have a salad tomorrow for lunch, and then do that for a week.

Write down the steps you want to take in a datebook to make it concrete, and reward yourself for making the individual changes, she said.

Let's say you want to work on being more optimistic this year. Nolen-Hoeksema recommends imagining what you would be like if you were optimistic. Imagine yourself going through a day at work if you were optimistic and confident, then write that down in great detail.

Now, you have specific aspects of that ideal of optimism to work toward. Pick one thing that the optimistic you is doing that you're not, and start working in that direction, she said.

Watch more on keeping your resolutions

2. Frame your goals positively

Despite the proven health risks of certain habits, such as smoking, thinking about a habit in the negative will not help you nix it. Studies have shown that it's hard to get motivated about avoiding cancer, but easier to think about smelling better and saving money as reasons to quit smoking, Nolen-Hoeksema said.

So, if you want to quit doing something, think about the positive aspects of not doing it. And make sure you reward yourself for sticking to the plan along the way.

3. Look at the pros and cons

If you're on the fence about whether you should make a change this year, make a list of the benefits and costs, said Dr. Nadine Kaslow, professor of psychiatry at Emory University.

Pay attention to what's driving you, she said. Sometimes it's pain that motivates people to change, or a new phase of life, or new information, or a possible promotion.

"It helps to get clear about what you want to change and why you want to change it," she said.

4. Get a resolutions buddy

Knowing that someone else is working toward similar goals, or is supporting you in your endeavors, helps to keep motivation up. Having a new year's resolution buddy who's keeping track of your progress helps keep you accountable for what you've done.

At the end of every year, Kaslow and her friend review all of their goals from the prior year, examining what the obstacles were to change and then developing new goals for the next year.

Planning for goals with someone can guide you in the path towards change, even if you don't don't accomplish everything in a single year, she said.

5. Be specific

It's easy to get discouraged by a broad goal like "I'm going to improve my marriage," Nolen-Hoeksema said. Figure out exactly what it is that's not working for you, and then formulate a strategy for solving individual problems.

In the marriage example, it's important to get realistic about what it is about your marriage that needs improvement. Then, spend some time keeping a diary and tracking what's going right and what's not, and come up with one thing you can do per week that would help the situation.

The process of assessing the small actions you can take in the immediate future, and savoring the positive effects, can take a lot of pressure off and help you achieve larger goals, she said.

6. Know thyself

The start of the year is as good a time as any to take inventory of yourself. What are your passions? What do you want to be doing better? Take the time think about who you are and how you want life to be, said Craig Levine, a clinical psychologist in San Francisco, California.

Real change happens because you yourself want it, not because others want it for you, experts say.

"If it's something that doesn't connect to you and truly relate to you, just because someone says you should do something, if it doesn't resonate with you, it's not going to be as helpful as something that truly fits you," Levine said.

7. Examine deeper issues

Sometimes there are problems that need to be addressed before people can move forward with the change they want.

In some cases there are psychological impediments to making changes, Levine said. For example, some people fear failure so much that they unknowingly sabotage themselves. Self-esteem may also play a role -- some people don't feel they're worthy of being taken care of, he said.

If you think that there are deeper issues preventing you from moving forward in your life in some way, consult a mental health professional.

8. Don't be overanxious

Having a long list of lofty resolutions can create anxiety, so Nolen-Hoeksema recommends choosing anywhere between three and five overarching things to change.

For Kaslow, the word "resolution" connotes a "pass-fail" ultimatum, so she prefers using the word "goal."

Writing down your goals and how you plan to achieve them is a good way to beat anxiety, Levine said.

9. Be flexible

Although you should be specific about what you want to do, sometimes it helps to broaden your vision of what you're trying to accomplish. For instance, if you've been laid off from your job in the financial sector, it may not be immediately possible to find a similar position.

But if you are on the job market, the broader goal might be to support yourself or your family, Nolen-Hoeksema said. Having a wider vision of what constitutes success can free you up to explore other options that do help with the central purpose.

"Step back and say, 'Is there any way I can achieve that bigger goal without getting fixated on the goal I had before?'" she said.

10. Keep your eye on the ball

Changing behaviors is especially difficult when other people around you encourage habits you're trying to kick, or if you are under stress. For instance, if you're a recovering alcoholic and having a bad day, it might be hard to resist if someone says, "It looks like you need a drink," Kaslow said.

Know that there's going to be some anxiety, but be patient with yourself, Kaslow said. Take it one incident at a time, one day at a time.

"You have to deal with some negative consequences when you change, both internal and interpersonal, and environmental," she said. "You have to sort of get help dealing with those, and weather those storms."


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