Nick Gasper

Bethel Park ‘23 | Saint Vincent College

[Andrew Fillipponi @ThePoniExpress]

Rodgers Revenge: How about we have some fun tonight. If Aaron Rodgers throws 3 or more TDs tonight. I’ll give away 3 Rodgers jerseys. If he does that and Steelers win. I’ll give away 5. All you have to do is follow me. And retweet. Here. We. Go.

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

@fliff It hasn’t even been half a quarter

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

@fliff Please void Olave

[Bethel Park Hawks Baseball @bp_hawks]

🚨🚨PLAYOFF GAMEDAY🚨🚨
🆚 Trinity
📍 Boyce-Mayview Park
⏰ 2:00
ℹ️ WPIAL Quarterfinal
🎥 Live broadcast via @BethelParkTV begins at 1:45 on channels: Comcast 21 / Verizon 32 with former Hawk @NickGasper4 on Color!
🎟️Tickets can be purchased here: https://t.co/lKVvopjoyd

#ttob

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

First summer pen. Sat 76-77.

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

@PickensBurgh JordanPippenRodman

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

15 pitch 75% pen

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

Let’s get to work Tierns!! Congrats!

[Ryan Tierney @RyanTierney534]

I am so excited to announce my commitment to Saint Vincent College to further my academic and athletic career. Thank you to my family, friends, coaches, and teammates for all of the support along the way.

Go Bearcats‼️
@SVC_Bearcats @RENEGADESBASEB3 @bp_hawks

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

Feeling a lot more natural fixing those mechanics up 🛠️🛠️

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

Putting some work in @FlambardKaden

[Santino Diulus @Santino_Diulus]

I am very proud and excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Seton Hill University! I am incredibly thankful for my family, teammates, and coaches who have supported me along my journey. #GoGriffs @bp_hawks @Maz1Nine @SHGriffBaseball

[Billy Oppenheimer @bpoppenheimer]

After his second year at Michigan, Tom Brady wanted to transfer.

He wasn't playing in games, and he was so low on the depth chart that he only got 2 reps in practice.

Brady met with his coach to express his frustration, “The other quarterbacks get all the reps.”

Coach replied,

“Brady, I want you to stop worrying about what all the other players on our team are doing. All you do is worry about what the starter is doing, what the second guy is doing, what everyone else is doing. You don't worry about what you're doing.”

Coach reminded him, “You came here to be the best. If you're going to be the best, you have to beat out the best.”

And then he recommended that Brady start meeting with Greg Harden, a sports psychologist who worked in Michigan's athletic department.

Brady went to Harden's office and whined, “I'm never going to get my chance. They're only giving me 2 reps.”

Harden simply replied, “Just go out there and focus on doing the best you can with those 2 reps. Make them as perfect as you possibly can.”

“So that's what I did,” Brady said. “They'd put me in for those 2 reps, man, I'd sprint out there like it was Super Bowl 39. 'Let's go boys! Here we go! What play we got?'”

“And I started to do really well with those 2 reps. Because I brought enthusiasm, I brought energy.”

Soon, it went from getting 2 reps to getting 4 reps. Then from 4 to 10, “and before you knew it,” Brady said, with this new mindset that Greg instilled in me—to focus on what you can control, to focus on what you're getting, not what anyone else is getting, to treat every rep like it's the Super Bowl—eventually, I became the starter.”

Takeaway 1:

Greg Harden telling Brady to just focus on being great during his 2 reps reminded me of a piece of advice from the entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

“People come to me all the time and tell me they're stuck,” Cuban explained. “They're stuck in a job they don't like. They're stuck working for a boss they don't like. They're stuck on a team they don't like.”

“I just tell them, 'Be great.'”

“The reality of life is that you can't just always quit your job. You can't just always go to your boss and say, 'Give me the promotion, or I'm out of here.'” You can't just always go to your coach and say, 'Give me more reps, or I'm transferring.'

“So when you're stuck, you've gotta find it within yourself to say, 'Ok, this is where I am. And if I'm going to be here, I'm going to be great.'

Because if you're great at your job, typically other people and companies find out, so it creates opportunities.”

Takeaway 2:

I've written before about “lead measures”—the actions and behaviors that predictably drive success.

The core characteristic of a lead measure, the authors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) write, is that “a lead measure is influenceable; it can be directly influenced by you.”

To achieve your goals, they recommend (echoing what the Michigan Coach told Brady), apply a disproportionate energy to the things that are in your control.

Starting at Michigan and for the rest of his career, that’s what Brady did, that’s what drove his success.

In his first media call after he was selected by the New England Patriots with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, Brady was asked: “Are you aware that [along with starting quarterback, Drew Bledsoe] there’s another quarterback here that they drafted last year?”

Brady said he was aware of that. “And I know he’s a heck of a player,” Brady said. “But I’ve always really concerned myself just with the things I can control. I don’t put a lot of thinking into the other guys because I know I’m not at my best when I’m not just thinking about playing as well as I possibly can.”

- - -

“I never once in my life ever said I wanted to be the best of all time. Ever. I wanted to be the best I could be, period. I learned that in college. It didn’t matter what the other guys were doing. It mattered what I was doing.” — Tom Brady

Follow @bpoppenheimer for more content like this!

[St. Vincent College Baseball @BaseballSVC]

It’s a #RedOctober in Latrobe as Red claims the 2023 SVC Fall World Series championship! ⚾️🐻🍕

[Connor Soska @connor_soska24]

Some late night swings before the first day of fall ball. @NickGasper4

[St. Vincent College Baseball @BaseballSVC]

Team Red 🔴

[Connor Soska @connor_soska24]

First pen in a while

Fastball was locating well
Curveball had good movement
Change was sliding a bit

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

First pen off of a natural mound since high school ball.
📸: @connor_soska24

[Bethel Park Schools @bpsdinfo]

Congratulations to Nicholas Gasper ‘23, who was 1 of 5 students nationwide to be awarded The Nicsa/William T. Blackwell Scholarship.

In the fall, Gasper will attend @BaseballSVC, where he will study Business Data Analytics. #bpproud🧡🖤 #4everahawk

[Bethel Park Hawks Baseball @bp_hawks]

‼️Congratulations to a special person who is going to do great things! 💪🚀🏔

[Nick Gasper @NickGasper4]

@bp_hawks Thank you!!