Spring Break
ESPN honors former Hopkins coach
Issue date: 12/6/07
It was not so much what he said in the speech, but the tone with which the speech was presented. An often energetic and emphatic coach (possibly the second most famous Jim Valvano clip is one of him running around on the court after his championship victory looking for someone to hug), this speech resonates with energy. He talks with jocularity and a smile on his face about his early coaching career, the life lessons he has learned and how everyone on this planet should spend time each day loving and reflecting. This was a man who would die less than two months later, but who still could say with a grin on his face, six minutes into the speech, "that screen is flashing up there '30 seconds' like I care about that screen up there. I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going '30 seconds!'" following it up with an Italian hand gesture.
Valvano must have known that these were going to be his last moments in the national spotlight. With this in mind, he used this speech as an opportunity, in an admirably and touchingly selfless manner, to announce the founding, with help from ESPN, of the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, so that "someone else might survive, and might prosper, and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease."
He finished the speech with words strong enough to send chills down the emotional spine of the strongest human.
"Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever."
It seems hard for those who have lost someone they cherish to cancer to understand how he can remain positive in the face of such an adversity. As Jimmy V puts it in his speech "Nothing has changed for me! I'm a very emotional, passionate man." But that is exactly why this speech is one of the greatest of all time. If this man, who was dying at cancer at the age of 47, with three young daughters, could remain positive, it should serve as motivation to all of those fighting cancer, and all of those who know someone battling the disease.
Valvano must have known that these were going to be his last moments in the national spotlight. With this in mind, he used this speech as an opportunity, in an admirably and touchingly selfless manner, to announce the founding, with help from ESPN, of the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, so that "someone else might survive, and might prosper, and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease."
He finished the speech with words strong enough to send chills down the emotional spine of the strongest human.
"Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever."
It seems hard for those who have lost someone they cherish to cancer to understand how he can remain positive in the face of such an adversity. As Jimmy V puts it in his speech "Nothing has changed for me! I'm a very emotional, passionate man." But that is exactly why this speech is one of the greatest of all time. If this man, who was dying at cancer at the age of 47, with three young daughters, could remain positive, it should serve as motivation to all of those fighting cancer, and all of those who know someone battling the disease.
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