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A Happy New Year From Mike Lynch The following is part of year-long column penned by WCVB Channel 5's Mike Lynch. He wiill provide his insights and thoughts on youth sports.
Happy New Year
 By Mike Lynch
The calendar tells us that the New Year begins on January 1 but if you are a student or an athlete, your year begins in September. Schools open, tryouts for fall sports abound and hockey is just cranking up. Like the jingle in the Staples commercial, "it’s the most wonderful time of the year."
School brings new challenges, new teachers, new courses, and new friends. On the athletic field or rink the same holds true. There are new coaches, new teammates and those one or two kids who grew four inches and put on 20 pounds over the summer.
On January 1 many of us make resolutions for the coming year so why not do the same for the “unofficial” New Year. In school, set a goal to do better in one or more subjects (mom and dad will love you for it.)
In hockey, soccer, football or other sports – do the same. Spend as much time on your weakness as you do in your strength. If your coach wants you to practice a drill ten times then do it twenty times. Somewhere out there is an athlete who is doing just that and he/she will have the edge as the season goes on. That is how Tedy Bruschi made it through thirteen NFL seasons as an undersized linebacker – first one on the practice field- last one off the practice field.
Remember, it is a new year – you all are starting out equal – but in a few months those who sacrifice and sweat a little more than the others will enjoy success. As Bill Belichick always reminded me each September since I have known him, "the price of success is always paid in advance.!"
About Mike Lynch
Mike Lynch has been the principal sports anchor at WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston since September 1985. He reports Sunday through Thursday on NewsCenter 5 at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. He joined Channel 5 full-time in April 1983 as weekend sports anchor after working part-time for the station for one year.
Since 1995, Lynch has hosted the weekly sports program "Patriots All Access," a behind-the-scenes look at New England's NFL franchise. During the NFL pre-season, Lynch serves as a broadcast commentator during Patriots games. He has also done play-by-play coverage for the Boston Celtics, New England Patriots and college football.
For 11 years, he hosted the Boston College weekly football coach's show "Eagles Preview" on Channel 5. In 1985, Lynch initiated "High Five," a weekly NewsCenter 5 report highlighting the achievements of high school student athletes. The unique segments have been lauded by critics and received numerous honors for a continuing commitment to covering high school athletics.
From 1985 to 91 and again in 1998 and 1999, Lynch was voted Massachusetts "Sportscaster of the Year" by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. In 1987, SportsCenter 5 won the United Press International Award for "Best Sports Reporting" in the country.
Prior to coming to WCVB, he was sports director for Boston's WMRE Radio, formerly WITS, from 1977 to 1983. During this time, Lynch was responsible for the station's Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins pre-game shows. In addition, he hosted a weeknight sports talk show and was the radio voice of Harvard University's football broadcasts.
Lynch's broadcasting career began in 1974 at WLYN Radio in Lynn, where he served as a color commentator for high school football and basketball broadcasts. Lynch was brought up in the Boston suburb of Swampscott.
He graduated from Harvard in 1977. While in college, he quarterbacked and kicked for the Harvard team that won the 1975 Ivy League Football Championship. He also played first base for the Crimson baseball team.
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