Hello everyone,
First off, I want to apologize for the long hiatus between newsletters. We are experiencing an above normal summer in terms of bookings and I dared to structure my time as such so that I could spend more time with the family as they had been severely short changed these last two years.
Things at the gym are well, thank you for asking but that is not the topic of the newsletter.
Uwe Seelers passing this week made me realize how rare people like him are and what an inspiration he was.
Who was he?
Ultra short version: Scored against England in the World Cup ( see above). Personally, that is enough to make him a hero in my book.
Somewhat longer version: one of the greatest German strikers ever, which is saying a lot.
Full version
Uwe Seeler was a role model and a true legend on and off the field.
Let’s start with the obvious
Three national Championships, three cup wins, Germany’s Top Scorer three times, Germany’s’ Athlete of the year 1963 , 64, MVP of the World Cup 1966 ( which Germany would have won, had it not been for a corrupt referee)
In refreshing contrast to most current players, it was never about him but the success of the team was what mattered.
In 1961 the president of Inter Milan came to Hamburg with a suitcase full of cash ( yep, I mean it. 1.2 million West Marks to be precise) in order to sign Seeler . He declined ” I belong here”
With that he turned down about 20 mio $ in today’s money at a time when sport stars didn’t not yet earn huge salaries.
1970 was going to be his fourth and last World Cup. At the time, Gerd Mueller was the up and coming scorer for Germany which caused controversy as to who should start. Seeler settled it by falling back and feeding Mueller with passes which lead to goals which lead to team success.
To complete the picture, his marriage lasted 63 years.
There are quite a few takeaways from his life
- It is never about you, but the people around you.
- Short term satisfaction often spells long term disaster. Seeler would not have been happy in MIlan for all the money in the world.
- Sometimes, dropping your ego a bit results in greater gains ( pun intended ) for everyone.
That is it for today, we will have a big announcement later in the week so stay tuned!.
Maik