IS IT OK TO Cry? NO!

I don't think it is any secret that I am not a fan of LeBron James or the Miami Heat. It's not that I don't think they are a bad team; I just think they are full of themselves and should wait until they actually win something before they start crowning themselves the greatest. I do admit, that I cheer against them, even when they are playing the Fakers! But rumor has it that they broke one of the seven deadly sins of an athlete. I recently read an article about the seven deadly sins of athletes and I have found that the Heat may have broken more than one, which then made me wonder how these "sins" translated into the world of triathlon. So without further delay, here are the seven deadly sins of athletes:

There's no Crying in baseball. Or for that matter any other sport after you graduate from high school. Sure, it's ok to cry after a beat-down on homecoming, because we all know those games are scheduled for you to win, but once you are grown, forget about it! We all heard how the Miami Heat recently cried after losing to the Bulls, and we all kind of snickered and said, really?? Also, no crying in Triathlon, unless it is tears of joy because you finished hopping on one leg. If you look back at some old triathlon videos, you will see people crawling, sliding, and rolling to get to that finish line, but they don't cry. Even on a DNF, you don't cry (even if I wanted too, I swear I didn't cry), you turns those would be tears into fuel and prepare to comeback stronger and beat that course!

No unearned cockiness. You have to win something first. Simple. No parades, bumper stickers or blogs about your newest PR, just get out there, go to work on your sport and get it done. There will be plenty of people talking about your speed or records once you win them. I see tons of dudes at every race walking around with their aero helmets, shaved legs and race kits they bought online, that are slower than my grandmother. Sure, I am perceived as cocky at times, but that is just from the crowds that are jealous, and it isn't the samething I am talking about. So be humble, let your records or times speak for themselves! The clock doesn't lie!

No Quitting. Game 5 against the Celtics, LeBron quit. Enough said. A Triathlete rarely knows the meaning of this word. Often we never seem to think we have trained enough for an event, so we never quit training, even though our next race is 6 months away. We always think we just might have a shot at the podium if we can ever put together the perfect race. And we even when have sayings like "Death before DNF" (DNF= Did not finish) and even if we wanted to quit, we wouldn't, because someone will be there to tell us to HTFU (Harden The Freak Up-clean version, this is a family blog).

Being Soft. No athlete anywhere ever wants to be known as being soft. One of the Heat players when asked about diving for a loose ball said "that's how people get hurt"! Remember the days of Kurt Rambis or Rodman, those guys would fly all over the place for a loose ball! Those were tough guys. Tough guys (and gals) continue to train with the soreness, with the aches from miles of running. We lose toenails! We get back on our bikes after losing large amounts of skin because a stupid dog wanted to chase us down the road and caused us to crash, tough guys (and gals) continue to go as hard as they can when we have nothing left in the tank. Never go soft fellas! EVER!

Being Oblivious to the World. Athletes break this rule all the time and the most common by stating that they are in a war, or they are soldiers, or something stupid like that. Listen to me, you are not soldiers. You are playing a game and getting paid an outrageous amount of money to do it, so kindly say thank you and move on. Triathletes can also break this rule fairly often. Sometimes we forget that for many of us, this is a hobby. We are not making a living at it, and it is not paying our bills. So it is not the end of the world if we miss a run or a long bike. We have real jobs and real families to take care of, so keep that in mind.

No Getting Fat. It does bother me to see a professional athlete get fat, when they are paid to be in great shape. Hire me a trainer a chef and a nutritionist and watch how good of shape I can get into. It doesn't register to me. A Triathlete rarely gets bigger from training, but we all start in various sizes, and I can honestly say that I have been beat my some people that I would classify as fat. We are all made differently and have different talents, and you have to refer back to the point above. We are not professional athletes. We all have out reasons for getting into triathlons and they are all personal and they are all legitimate.

Hitting people in the crotch. This is never acceptable in the sports world. These intentional acts are frowned upon, and I know they happen in sports, I am not sure how it would happen in a triathlon unless it is an unintentional kick in the swim. So, just don't do this one, ok?