I love sports. I mean, I really love sports.
Anyone who knows me can tell you I’m a huge basketball and football enthusiast, fanatical about my teams — Go Kentucky Wildcats! Big Blue Nation forever! — but also fascinated by the sporting world in general.
My passion goes beyond just the contests on the courts or fields, though.
I love the human element the most; the stories of personal triumphs over adversity, underdogs winning against all odds and the way individuals make the difference within the team concept.
Every sport has been blessed with game changers, individuals who alter the entire fabric of the sport, how it is played and how it is cheered for across the world.
Michael Jordan. Peyton Manning. Tiger Woods. Serena Williams. Each of them — along with many others — revolutionized their respective sports.
As a microcosm, game changers also step up in every contest. These are the individuals who make crucial plays to help their teams achieve victory, turning a collection of individuals into something greater. Sometimes they get resounding recognition and other times the work is done quietly behind the scenes.
So, the Michiana Life editorial team asked ourselves: Who are the game changers in our communities? Who are the people who are doing amazing things, both big and small, to make our area a better place to live?
That’s how The Game Changers Issue was born.
It started that we wanted to recognize about a dozen people who fit this bill. The plan was to let this concept serve as the centerpiece feature of the spring issue.
We quickly realized it was much bigger than that.
Our creative team decided to make the entire magazine showcase this theme.
Even the standing sections like Purely Michiana (featuring the epitome of a game changer in Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw), In the Kitchen (chef du jour Daysha Amster and Olfactory Hue Bistro), Why I Love Michiana (small-town philanthropist Brian Antisdel) and Health 101 (three businesses offering innovative ways to stay healthy) showcase some of the individuals who did amazing things in 2015 and are poised for greater successes this year.
We are proud of the finished product and believe it offers a unique window into the lives of some spectacular people. We certainly don’t want anyone to feel slighted or think this is all-inclusive. So many more people could have made the list.
Sports mirrors life in countless ways, often offering a reflection of the challenges we face and highlighting the best of human nature. But the stakes are much higher in life and the outcomes are truly important.
Our game changers know that and are truly playing to win. v