Back home from the Super Bowl, moving on to spring training and waiting for another Stanley Cup run by the Bruins. As I was putting away all of my memorabilia from the Super Bowl in a closet, out tumbled a shoebox that was filled with inspirational poems, motivational speeches from great coaches and leaders that I had saved many years ago.

One of them was a gift from a former coach. Like the Patriots, we thought were going to win the championship one season, but were shocked when we lost and finished second. There were no trophies for the runners up, instead the coach handed each one of us a poem at a team meeting after our last game which more meaning, value and power than all of the trophies we had accumulated in our young lives. It motivated us and instilled a drive in our souls for the following season and still resonates to this very day. It is timeless.

Read it, use it, live by it and you’ll have a better chance of success than your opponent. Substitute “boy” or “girl” for “man” where appropriate and it will have an even greater impact. It is entitled “THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN” and was written by Walter Wintle more than 100 years ago. Make it your trophy. It’s never tarnished If you think you are beaten, you are

If you think you dare not, you don't,
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost

For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!