"Don't give up, don't EVER give up!"

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."
- Jim Valvano


This week is Jimmy V week on ESPN, which celebrates the life of one of the most extraordinary coaches in the history of college basketball. He led the North Carolina State Wolfpack to the greatest underdog win in the history of sports, when his team defeated the double-digit favored "Phi Slamma Jamma" contingent of Houston University in the 1983 NCAA Championship game.

In 1992, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, which later metastasized (spread elsewhere). He vowed to fight hard until the very end, showing the same determination to win that he showed on the hardwood.

Aside from his 1983 National Title, he's probably best remembered for giving one of the greatest, most inspirational speeches anyone's ever had the privilege to hear at the 1993 Espy Awards (where he received the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award). This was only weeks before he finally succumbed to his illness. During his speech, he announced the creation of the Jimmy V Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure to this devastating illness.

Here's his speech, in it's entirety...



To support the Jimmy V Foundation, please visit them at http://www.jimmyv.org or call 1-800-4JimmyV.