Who’s tougher than you!

Back in the day Tom Manoogian, aka “Lou from Littleton”, was a radio sports talk show personality on the airwaves of Denver and beyond: 

FIFTY THOUSAND WATTS OF POWER! 850 KOA; THE BLOW TORCH!

Lou applied his tag line, “Who’s tougher than…” to sports stories of the day.  Comeback victories; beating the odds; under dogs slaying prohibitive favorites; any and all tales of victory; punctuated by Lou’s, “Who’s tougher than x, y, or z?”  Verbalized with gusto; articulated slowly; every syllable over emphasized:

 WHO’S…TOUGH…ER…THAN YOU!

Lou’s distinctive verbal style originated from Detroit.  Catchy clichés; a Broncos homer; tough on B.S.; soft on his callers (referred to everyone as “cuz” as in cousin).  He saluted competitors every day.  Competition is nothing new:

I’ve been up against tough competition all my life.  I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.

Walt Disney

While Lou was on the air, he made his callers feel so comfortable that they often related personal tales about competing with adversity.  Sports challenges, for sure; but also stories of life’s trials and tribulations.  If the caller’s name was “J.K.” and J.K. had a story to share about overcoming hardship, at the end Lou would always add, “Who’s tougher than J.K.?” as testimony to J.K.’s triumph!

Many of us are enduring misfortunes.  Many have to be tough just to make it to the end of a day; just to make it home; just to make ends meet.  We’re tough enough to get through because we know:

Tough times don’t last; tough people do. 

Mike Shanahan

How do we become tough enough to last?    Here’s a profile offered by AQR International.   

I would add having the right attitude helps.  Perhaps recognizing struggle is part of life is a good mind set.  Associating with the right associates helps get us to the end of a tough day, too:

Stick with the optimists.  It’s going to be tough enough even if they’re right.

James Reston

So, here’s to you and to your tough mindedness.  Here’s to your will power to overcome adversity.  Whether you call into the radio station or not… WHO’S TOUGHER THAN YOU!

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.