12 Michael Jordan: Janet Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks: Lessons from the World’s Greatest Champion (New York: John Wiley, 1999).
13 His mother says: Ibid., 7.
14 Former Bulls assistant coach John Bach: Ibid., 29.
15 For Jordan, success stems: Ibid., 35.
16 The Babe was not a natural, either: Robert W. Creamer, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life (New York: Penguin Books, 1974/1983).
17 Robert Creamer, his biographer: Creamer, Babe, 301.
18 “He could experiment at the plate”: Ibid., 109.
19 Yet we cling fast: Stephen J. Gould, Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball (New York: Norton, 2003).
20 What about Wilma Rudolph: Tom Biracree, Wilma Rudolph (New York: Chelsea House, 1988).
21 After her incredible career, she said: Ibid., 107.
22 What about Jackie Joyner-Kersee: Jackie Joyner-Kersee with Sonja Steptoe, A Kind of Grace (New York: Warner Books, 1997).
23 “There is something about seeing myself improve”: Ibid., 60.
24 Did you know: Clifton Brown, “On Golf: It’s Not How for Tiger, It’s Just by How Much,” The New York Times, July 25, 2000.
25 Wills was an eager baseball player: Cynthia Kersey, Unstoppable (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 1998).
26 He proudly announced to friends: Ibid., 152.
27 At the seven-and-a-half: Ibid., 153.
28 This really hit me: Buster Olney, “Speedy Feet, but an Even Quicker Thinker,” The New York Times, February 1, 2002.
29 Bruce Jenner, 1976 Olympic gold medalist: Mike McGovern and Susan Shelly, The Quotable Athlete (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000), 113.
30 They hadn’t won a World Series: Gould, Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville.
31 As New York Times writer: Jack Curry, “After Melee, Spin Control Takes Over,” The New York Times, October 13, 2003.
32 Even the Boston writers were aghast: Dan Shaughnessy, “It Is Time for Martinez to Grow Up,” The New York Times, October 13, 2003. (During this series, the Globe sportswriters’ columns appeared in the Times and vice versa.)
33 Let’s take it from the top: William Rhoden, “Momentous Victory, Most Notably Achieved,” The New York Times, July 10, 2000.
34 “Just keep pumping your arms”: Kersee, A Kind of Grace, 280.
35 “The strength for that sixth jump”: Ibid., 298.
36 But, as Billie Jean King tells us: King, Billie Jean, 236.
37 When the match: Ibid., 78.
38 Jackie Joyner-Kersee had her Eureka!: Joyner-Kersee, A Kind of Grace, 63.
39 Often called the best woman soccer player: Mia Hamm with Aaron Heifetz, Go for the Goal: A Champion’s Guide to Winning in Soccer and in Life (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 31.
40 “It is,” said Hamm: Ibid., 36.
41 By the way, did Hamm think: Ibid., 3.
42 Jack Nicklaus, the famed golfer: Tom Callahan, In Search of Tiger: A Journey Through Gold with Tiger Woods (New York: Crown, 2003), 24.
43 John Wooden: John Wooden with Jack Tobin, They Call Me Coach (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1972), 63–65.
44 “I believe ability”: John Wooden with Steve Jamison, Wooden (Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 1997), 99.
45 Stuart Biddle and his colleagues: “Goal Orientation and Conceptions of the Nature of Sport Ability in Children: A Social Cognitive Approach,” British Journal of Social Psychology 35 (1996), 399–414; “Motivation for Physical Activity in Young People: Entity and Incremental Beliefs About Athletic Ability,” Journal of Sports Sciences 21 (2003), 973– 989. See also Yngvar Ommundsen, “Implicit Theories of Ability and Self-Regulation Strategies in Physical Education Classes,” Educational Psychology 23 (2003), 141–157; “Self-Handicapping Strategies in Physical Education Classes: The Influence of Implicit Theories of the Nature of Ability and Achievement Goal Orientations,” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 2 (2001), 139–156.
46 Finding #1: This finding is from the research by Biddle and his colleagues.
47 “For me the joy of athletics”: Joyner-Kersee, A Kind of Grace, 60.
48 In fact, he says: Wooden, Wooden, 53.
49 After the ’98 Masters tournament: Dave Anderson, “No Regrets for Woods,” The New York Times, April 4, 1998.
50 Or after a British Open: Callahan, In Search of Tiger, 219.
51 Tiger is a hugely ambitious man: Ibid., 220.
52 Mia Hamm tells us: Hamm, Go for the Goal, 201.
53 “They saw that we truly love”: Ibid., 243.
54 “There was a time”: John McEnroe with James Kaplan, You Cannot Be Serious (New York: Berkley, 2002), 10.
55 “Some people don’t want to rehearse”: Ibid., 155.
56 Finding #2: Ommundsen, “Implicit Theories of Ability,” 141–157.
57 “You can’t leave”: Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks, 99.
58 Michael Jordan embraced his failures: Ibid., 107.
59 Here’s how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Wooden, Wooden, 100.
60 For example, he hoped desperately: McEnroe, You Cannot Be Serious, 112.
61 “God, if I lose to Patrick”: Ibid., 259.
62 Here’s how failure motivated him: Ibid., 119.
63 In 1981, McEnroe bought: Ibid., 274.
64 Here’s how failure motivated Sergio Garcia: Callahan, In Search of Tiger, 164, 169.
65 Finding #3: Ommundsen, “Implicit Theories of Ability and Self-Regulation Strategies,” Educational Psychology, 2003, 23, 141–157; “Self-Handicapping Strategies,” Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2001 2, 139–156.
66 How come Michael Jordan’s skill: Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks, 177.
