More to it than medals

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” — Theodore Roosevelt

This speech was given in Paris back in 1910 and has been used by many prominent politicians and sports people since, most notably when Nelson Mandela gave it to Francois Peinaar prior to the 1995 rugby World Cup final.

I came across it about 10 years ago and have had a copy of it pinned on my various work stations since. It instantly struck a chord with me as I find the words are very relevant to the career of a Gaelic footballer, particularly mine, in which defeat and disappointment have been recurring themes. With a sparsely populated trophy cabinet it was important to have some way to reconcile Monaghan’s fruitless endeavours over the years, with the massive amount of time and effort expended by so many.