Even so with all that high tech stuff, only 20% of a litter survives. No future rabbits? Well not really. Attrition through death, the average life of the Eastern CT is nine month, is solved not by dying less but by birthing more. In a twelve month period a single doe can have 7 litters of 4 to 6 bunnies. Not all live. But if all did, to give you a feel of the magnitude of overcoming a 9 month life span problem, at the end of five years those by her birth and the birth of her offspring would be .... Wait for it. You will never guess ....

300,000 rabbits.

Switch:

Problem. A mother has two sons. As if that were not enough of a problem, both are quarterbacks for professional football teams, and to boot, the two teams play each other. Question. For whom does she cheer?

At the high school I attended, Principia, the coach told us to do our best. Now that is a nice thing to say to such mediocre people as me, but to our star runners, the usual motto is win, win, win. But not a Principia. The best got the same advise as the average. Do your best. If a mother had two boys attending Principia and both were in the same race, she would not be in a quandary. The entire, the whole, the complete objective of a runner at Principia was to demonstrate his ability to overcome the limitations his thought imposed upon his body. He was to demonstrate qualities. Qualities like quickness, adroitness, consistency, strength, desire, flow, and focus. The end result of those qualities gives him his race. Pooh, pooh say the competitor. Well, I personally liked the Principia attitude. It was of a higher plane of thought than kill or be killed, win or lose.

This week end I heard a gymnast, a swimmer, and a baseball player (all national, or international, or professional athletes) say about the same thing, and here it is as the gymnast said it. "I do not keep score. At the end of each event, I assess my performance. I note what I did well and that on which I could improve, and I prepare for the next event. I do not look at my score or the score of others. At the end of the meet, if my score is highest, I win, if not, I do not win. In either case, I go back to the gym to become a better gymnast." [This not an exact quote.] The swimmer said that she did not try to win, "I just swim my own race." The baseball player said, "I just need to be who I am."

I am encouraged by this higher mode of thinking. It is not that it takes the emotion out of the event, as doing ones best is emotional. I once lost a tennis match finals and was elated. Yes, I lost, but I had never played better.

Concerning the mother of the two quarterbacks, she should be able to say, "Boys, don’t keep score. Do your best. Play your own game." and thereby be supportive of both her sons.

Life has to be more, it must be more than who wins the most games, has the most gold metals or has the fastest air craft and the largest number of atomic bombs.

I watched John Unitus, a football quarterback score 14 points in two minutes. The art, precision, excursion, and finesse was almost more than a heart could take. It was not the points, it was the play. It was amazing!! He was nonplused, but that was John, the consummate athlete.

Vince Lombardie, a football coach once said, "Wining is not the most important thing, it is the only thing." I love the guts of that man. Better said is, "Doing your best is not the most important thing, it is the only thing." We all need to be winners. We really do, be we a rabbit, or gymnast, swimmer, baseball player, mother, father, son, daughter, American, Iraqi, Jew, Muslim, or Christian, we need to demonstrate the qualities that make this world a better place.

"What’s it all about Alfie?" It is about being our best. Can we say this about our self, or do we have excuses?