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1/15/2007 This column is not about movie reviews, but when life imitates art so vividly, and it’s done so for 3 decades using the same ‘Gonna Fly Now’ theme, it’s not just coincidence. At 5’9” and 60 years old, Sly Stallone stands taller than ever in his final (at least I think final) role as Rocky Balboa. The stories use boxing as a metaphor, but were never really about puglism as much as they were about what it really takes to succeed in sports as well as life. His mantra is simple. “How many times
are you willing to get hit, and keep moving forward.” Therein lies the back-story. Today, Stallone’s films have cumulatively grossed almost $2 billion dollars. When you see him in public and on talk shows, you’re seeing the finished product. However, the sextuplet of Rocky stories give the real insight to what he is all about. He is, and always will be, a work in progress. I’m told that many Novi High School athletes read this column. Some of you might not be getting the results you want right now. It might involve playing time, production during games, or perhaps the fact that not every game can be won. But the true self-respect comes when you find a way to deal with the bad breaks, and hold your head high. Inside everyone, even the great ones, there is a little underdog in them. There’s someone that they continually need to prove themselves to. To this day Stallone has detractors and people that are jealous of his success. But the truth is, he was simply willing to do what others weren’t, especially when the chips were down. Even 30 years later, you can still learn some tricks from an old underdog. Not bad for an average high school football player that no one had ever heard of. … At least not until 1975. (c) 2007 Novi
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