A Tribute To Secretariat

Inspiration comes in many different forms for many different people.

I find inspiration in the quest for athletic accomplishment. 

Playing sports allows us to see and feel what we're physically capable of achieving with our own minds and bodies. Watching sports allows us to see what's physically possible with any body.

And finding out what's possible, for yourself and for others, is one of life's most daunting crusades.

We watch sports to view incredible effort. And knowing full-well that failure is the more likely end, we so admire the virtue of putting absolutely everything in the world on the table as to declare, "this is what I am—nothing more." 

Sometimes, on that special rare occasion, what something is is so incredible that it becomes great. And it's this greatest that causes us to strive.    

We all know the great inspirers; Ali, Jordan, Gretzky and Nicklaus to name a few. We've been moved both by stories and first hand experience of their greatness—of their ability to achieve perfection if only for brief moments in time.

But if you're under 30 years old, you might be less aware of a year in history when perfection was realized in an atypical form.

That form was a three-year-old horse. A horse so incredible, that he's almost undisputably recognized as one of the guttsiest and perhaps greatest performers in the history of sports. 

You've certainly heard of his name, but unless you actually SEE what he did, you haven't known his greatness.

Regardless of whether or not you're familiar with Secretariat's story, I highly recommend the following video segments:  

Part I, Part II