In 1992, Gatorade ran a series of ads about the legendary basketball player and icon, Michael Jordan. The series was called Be like Mike. I tried. I went to the backyard with my basketball and tried the alley oop but there was more alley than oop. I tried his 360 wind-mill dunk, but did more like a 10 lay-up. I tried his long-range threes and came up with short-range twos. As hard as I tried, I couldn t be like Mike. Which brings me to my older brother, Mike. He introduced me to sports, which he loved dearly. Because of his recent death, I am dedicating the book to his memory. And I am also going to try to be like Mike in the way that he nurtured his friendships. People are lucky if they have one or two really good friends. Mike had several. Some had been friends for fifty years. One of his friends said at his funeral, Mike was the most loyal friend I ever had. I m going to nurture my friendships in memory of my brother. All of these stories in this book have appeared in my church s newsletter over the years and as such, are a reflection of what was happening in my life at a particular point in time. They also reflect the sports that either I or our son, Tyler, (please forgive the constant references to him, my wife, Sheri and our little girl, Natalie) have played or loved. With that in mind, if you love tennis or gymnastics, then accept my apologies. Those sports, and some others, are not in the book. I trust that this book will be helpful to moms and dads, coaches and to the many kids and adults, like me, who love to play the game.