"Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it".

Whether you first heard this quote from pastor and author Charles R. Swindoll or famous football coach Lou Holtz, its message is clear — you are measured not by what happens to you, but in how you respond to those challenges.

Jay Heaps and his New England Revolution will finally get their first real preseason test on Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz., when they kick-off the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup against the defending MLS Cup Champions Los Angeles Galaxy.
Heaps is hoping for positive results from his team, the most important aspect of the preseason tournament is getting his squad ready for the start of the MLS season on March 10th.

SoccerNationNews introduces its newest column: Soccer Lover's Best Ever Soccer Book Guide.
This series will review and rate books that teach, describe and document the beautiful game. Look for a wide variety of books and helpful insight from players who have been there and done it on the pitch.

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the resilience of his Manchester United team after admitting they had been second best to Norwich for large parts of their 2-1 victory at Carrow Road, where Ryan Giggs netted a stoppage-time winner on his 900th appearance.
After falling behind to a close-range header from Paul Scholes on seven minutes, the Canaries rallied and forced David de Gea into a string of fine saves.

I love this story from Mac Anderson's 'Charging the Human Battery', and it really puts into perspective how I plan to spend my Saturday.
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work.

I was once told that the mark of a successful coach is how many other coaches he helps develop.
A great feature at the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City is 'the family tree', where you can click on a colleg basketball coach's name, and it will tell you which coaches they have worked for and with during their careers - giving some true insight into which coaching families they have come from.

Major League Soccer will again operate its Reserve League in 2012 season. The 19 clubs will be divided into three conferences and play only 10 matches per team.
The league will give clubs an opportunity to use players who aren't getting first-team minutes, trialists and notably academy players whose amateur eligibility won't be jeopardized by playing alongside older pros.

Npower League One promotion hopefuls Stevenage Football Club hosted third place EPL side Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth round of the English FA Cup this past weekend in front of a capacity crowd of just over 7,000 at Broadhall Way. Stevenage was led by a familiar face to MLS fans.
Only a few weeks ago, Stevenage announced the arrival of their new manager Gary Smith, formerly of Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids, who has led an impressive opening few weeks in charge already seeing his new club to two wins and a draw in the league and now this Sunday's impressive FA Cup draw against Tottenham.

There are interesting situations playing out in Spain and Argentina this week that show the upside and downside of coaching.
In Spain, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has won 13 out of a possible 16 trophies since taking over four years ago, but he has yet to decide if he wants to coach the club next season.

When it comes to soccer in the United States, Ralph Perez has 'been there, done that'.
Kevin Baxter writes about the coach who has seen and done just about everything in soccer.
Choose any significant soccer event in Southern California over the last 38 years, and chances are Ralph Perez was there.

The Jeremy Lin epidemic that had started in Manhattan and has now moved across the basketball world is a tremendous story...but why?
I think the biggest reason why people are so intrigued by the Linderella story is just that -everyone loves 'Cinderella', and everyone roots for the underdog.

Jeremy Lin of the New York Knickerbockers has 'LINSANITY' sweeping the New York Metropolitan area, as well as the basketball world.
His rise to fame has caught everyone off guard, and has all of the makings of basketball's version of 'the Natural' - a Disney movie in the making...
Eric Jackson of Forbes magazine writes of lessons that can be learned by how Lin has made his mercurial rise, and about how he conducts himself as the consummate professional.

One of my favorite videos and books is 212° The Extra Degree, by Sam Parker and Mac Anderson.
212 degrees is the extra degree of effort that often separates the good from the great. 212° The Extra Degree captures a simple, yet powerful concept.

The Arsenal and AC Milan teams that will take the field today will be much different ones than the versions that matched up in an epic UEFA Champions League battle in 2008.
Both clubs are in a state of flux - only one player from Arsenal's starting XI in that 2008 match-up, Bacary Sagna, will be in Arsene Wenger's lineup this time.

Paul James had done as much as a player or coach can do in Canadian soccer - hall of fame player; World Cup veteran; Former NCAA, university, club and Canadian under-20 coach; TV and newspaper analyst.
James's soccer pedigree is long and distinguished, but away from the pitch, James lived a secret hell.

Leading up to Sunday's African Cup of Nations final between Zambia and the Ivory Coast, Gerald Imray wrote of the contrasting styles of coaches Fracois Zahoui (Ivory Coast) and Herve Renard (Zambia).
Francois Zahoui at one point doubted if he was good enough to be coach of the star-studded Ivory Coast team.

From the Evansville Courier Press, February 12, 2012
Growing up in the New York area in the 1970s and '80s, I was raised on the legends of "gym rats" like Chris Mullin.
Mullin eventually finished his professional career in Indianapolis with the Pacers, but long before he was a complementary shooter for Reggie Miller he was a self-made superstar at Xaverian High School and, eventually, St.

When it comes down to comparing the great players in the NBA today, Kobe Bryant is someone that i've always kept as the gold standard because of his ability to compete, desire to win, and proven track record.
Boston Celtics great Larry Bird saw the Los Angeles Lakers as the enemy during his playing days, but sees Bryant as the one current player he'd like on his side if he were playing today.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America writes of the legacy of US soccer pioneer Harry Keough, who passed away yesterday.
The first time I talked with Harry Keough about the 1950 World Cup defeat of England, three and a half decades had passed, yet the details still swirled in his mind. Sights and sounds and smells of the stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil; the numbing boredom of a long boat trip from New York to Brazil that took the team to the competition; the joking rivalry between the St.

Bob Bradley has always been a tremendous example for his players and leader as a soccer coach. Now, in the wake of a terrible tragedy, he is asked to do the same for a nation.
Bradley insisted Monday that he is "totally committed" to coaching Egypt's national soccer team despite the turmoil in the country following the riot at a game last week that left more than 70 dead.