Jimmy V’s Free Rent
As I was basking in the glory of #3 Iowa State's 13-point comeback win on the Iowa Hawkeyes's home court last night, ESPN switched to coverage of its annual V Week programming, beginning with Jimmy V's iconic speech at the inaugural ESPY Awards 31 years ago.
Jimmy V lives rent-free in my head. I remember watching that event as an 11-year-old kid. I was just there for the highlights and to see my favorite athletes win awards, but then this other man stepped to the podium. I didn't know who Jimmy V was, but the moment he started talking, I was captivated. His words seemed paradoxical to me. How was he talking about his imminent death (something I had never heard discussed before) while doing so with so much vigor and optimism? He made a mark on me that I wouldn't realize for many years, and now can't get out of my head.
If you do any amount of research on Jimmy V, you'll quickly find that he was extraordinarily successful in his professional career. He was a basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. As a coach, he led NC State to a national championship in what is now considered a legendary moment in basketball history.
Yet, despite all his accomplishments and celebrity, his biggest impact on this world wouldn’t occur until the waning months of his life. In 1992, at the age of 46, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. If you didn't watch the speech linked above, I highly recommend you do. It's the best 11 minutes you'll spend all day! He gave that speech nine months after his cancer diagnosis, and he passed away less than two months later. That speech, and its aftermath, created a movement that carries through to this day. His foundation, launched that night 31 years ago, has raised nearly $400M for cancer research.
Jimmy V passed away at 47 years old when I was just 11, yet the impact of his final months of life carries with me to this day. I think about his zest for life, his determination to keep moving forward, his insistence of living with meaning, his passion for making a difference, his contagious joy, and his self-awareness of his own mortality. I say this as a 43-year-old man, 31 years after his speech and death. In his final weeks of life, he managed to spark something in me (and likely millions of others) in ways that would ripple through time.
This is me turning my chair away from memory land and toward you. Your best work is in front of you. No matter how old you are, what you've accomplished, or what you think is to come, your best work has not yet been availed to you or the world. You will likely make more impact in whatever time you have left than everything you've done to date combined.
Do you believe that? I believe that. Let's find out.
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