I mentioned earlier today that this is my favorite basketball day of the year.  No Championship is on the line, and no tournament berths are at stake.

Instead, the basketball world comes together for one night to celebrate the life of one its own, and help to save the lives of many more.  Tonight is the Jimmy V Classic.

Jim Valvano lept into the spotlight when his North Carolina State Wolfpack defeated the Houston Cougars (of Phi Slamma Jamma) to win the 1983 NCAA Basketball Championship.  Valvano ran around the court like a madman, just looking for someone to hug.

Jimmy V was stricken with cancer and less that 10 years after the celebration of his amazing victory, Valvano was fighting for his life.  However, while cancer took away the life in his body, it never took away the life in his spirit or his drive and passion.

During his last few years, he dedicated himself to raising money for cancer research, not to save himself, but to help those that came after him. The Jimmy V Foundation was set up to do just that. When he announced the formation of the foundation, he was accepting the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the 1993 ESPY awards. This is probably my favorite speech of all time, at any event, anywhere, and you can read it at the Jimmy V Foundation website. (I would normally post it here, but the speech rights are owned by the foundation and there are no public domain videos of it.  You can see a full length video here.)

It is rare that there is a charity where 100% of everything you contribute goes to research and the Jimmy V Foundation does just that.  They recently received an endowment which allows them to give all of the donations to fight against cancer, not to pay bills.  As I am sure is the case with many of you, a lot of people I know have been touched by cancer. Some have fought and won, others have fought and lost. I hope for a day when we can eliminate the second group and everyone fights and wins.

It is the holiday season and many of us are busy spending on gifts for our loved ones so there is probably not a lot of extra money to go around. If there is, please consider giving some to the Jimmy V Foundation. 

I am sure Jimmy V would appreciate it.

"Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up."