“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing.”

“You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time.”

“Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

Those are quotes attributed to Vince Lombardi, who is widely regarded as the greatest football coach of all time.

I am in complete agreement with those and other quotes attributed to him.

These are my thoughts:

Winners aren’t born; winners are made. Winners are made through so many hours and days and years of repetitive practice.

Everybody wants to win but nobody wants to pay the price. The price is too expensive.

If you want to win, if you want to be a winner you have to pay the price.

Winning is a mindset; you must have an acute focus.

You don’t see faces in the crowd; you aren’t looking for them.

You don’t hear noises because you aren’t listening for them.

You don’t smell the popcorn; that’s not what you are there for.

You are there to compete on your field of endeavor, the baseball field or the football field or the golf course.

You are there for a reason. You are there to win, fairly and squarely.

You better be there to win, because the other team, the other guy, that’s what he’s there for.

The other guy didn’t come there to lose.

I hear or used to hear all of the time, the phrase, “I can’t.” Well, there is no can’t. You can if you will. All you need is the will. You need the will to get to can. If you have the will then there is no can’t.

There are no excuses in sports; there are no excuses in life. Excuses are for losers.

Winners can’t wait to get to the ballpark to practice and to see their teammates. Winners work hard everyday to perfect their craft.

Winners run hard down to first base on a hit or a pop up or a walk, it doesn’t matter.

Winners congratulate their teammates on a big play.

Winners always speak positively; they shake hands with their opponents after the game regardless of who won or lost on that day.

Winners walk like a winner; they talk like a winner; they act like a winner; they do as a winner does on and off of the field.

So play hard and hustle all of the time and be a winner.

Tim Guercio is a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at 601-445-3653.