From time to time, I always look back on this speech and remind myself of certain things. And hopefully when people read this, it will remind them of certain things, too.

"I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special. It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it."

With the 2010 girls soccer season set to kick off in a matter of weeks, who are some of the players to keep an eye on this spring?

The 2010 Pepsi Showdown, the largest high school girls soccer tournament in the country, kicks off April 6 at 23 different sites throughout the Chicagoland area.

New Trier, Barrington, Wheaton South, Cary-Grove, Huntley, Glenbrook South, Hersey, Maine South, Lyons, Wheaton North, St. Viator, Loyola, Homewood-Flossmoor , Wheaton Academy, St. Ignatius and Lake Forest were the 16 teams that earned one of the top seeds.

The complete tournament bracket may be found at www.pepsishowdown.us. Here is the complete game schedule for the 2010 showcase:

The Second Annual Pepsi Showdown College Showcase - partnered by YourSeason.com - received positive feedback after the Dec. 30 event last week at the Chicago Sports Zone in Melrose Park. Close to 200 players received 120 minutes of playing time in front of college coaches from all Midwest states (and Texas), and it's safe to say most players walked away tired at the end of their event.

The 2010 showcase will take place Dec. 29 at the Chicago Sports Zone, and it will feature an added combine portion and college coaches Q & A panel for coaches, parents and players.

The goal is simple - to provide players an opportunity to shine in front of college coaches, while providing one site for college coaches to come and see hundreds of high school players from all over. But it's also a great opportunity for players to play with different players and high school coaches from different schools to see players from outside their area.

The 2010 event will return to its four session format of underclassmen boys, underclassmen girls, senior boys and senior girls. You don't need to head to Florida or another state with a club team to be seen in December 2010.

The opportunity is right here.

The Second Annual Pepsi Showdown College Showcase will be held Wednesday, Dec. 30 at the Chicago Sports Zone in Melrose Park. Close to all major highways at the I-294/290 intersection, the Pepsi Showdown College Showcase - partnered by YourSeason.com - will feature hundreds of boys and girls players from throughout the Chicago area (and a few from Wisconsin, too). All players were nominated by either their high school or club coach.

The boys event will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and the girls event will be 12-3 p.m. College coaches will be provided with CaptainU.com player profile books. Additional information may be found at www.pepsishowdown.us.

Here is the list of colleges expected to be in attendance:

I've always said it's about the kids.

And at the end of the day, that's who I'm writing about, writing and running events for.

When Curt Herron, a former co-worker of mine when I was still in college, told me that he and Gary Larsen of WestSuburbanSoccer.com were going to hand out postseason awards differently, my ears perked up.

If you've been a reader of this blog for more than a day or ever met me, you know I disapprove of how some awards are handed out. But with that said, sometimes it's a crap shoot with stuff like that.

This year, I took a lot of heat for two players on the 2009 Sun-Times All-Area Boys Soccer team. The first was naming Naperville Central's Chris Prince the Sun-Times Player of the Year, and the second was naming Neuqua Valley's Scott Davis to the first team.

I question people all the time, so I expect people to question me. It's part of the job. That's why when I read the story on WestSuburbanSoccer.com and saw who the players talked about the most, I'm not going to lie - I smiled.

The 2010 Pepsi Showdown - the largest tournament in the Midwest and third largest in the country - will take place Sept. 7 ,9, 11, 16 and 18. All teams will play at Lyons on Sept. 11 and 18, and the title game will take place at Toyota Park once again.

The event, which is co-sponsored by YourSeason.com, is the lone tournament in Illinois to host its title game at Toyota Park every year since the venue opened. Here is the list of teams to receive a 2010 invite, which includes a couple newcomers. There also will be Saturday Showcase games at Lyons. Those teams will be announced at a later date.

A group of coaches, principals and three superintendents are currently working on a proposal to present to the IHSA Board of Directors about changing the format of the IHSA Tournament.

Stay tuned.

Neuqua Valley's Scott Davis, who was named to the 2009 Pepsi Showdown Tournament MVP and member of the Sun-Times All-Area Boys Soccer Team, will play at Bradley next fall.

For the past couple of years, I've stated time and time again the IHSA Tournament does not decide a true state champion because it's a tournament based on geograhic representation.

According to the AP, a House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle.

The bill, which faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.

The BCS selections announced last weekend pit two unbeaten teams, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas, in the Jan. 7 national title game. Three other undefeated teams -- TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State -- will play in a BCS bowl game, but not for the championship.

"What can we say -- it's December and the BCS is in chaos again," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He said the BCS system is unfair and won't change unless prompted by Congress.

So if you can't say national champion after the No. 1 and No. 2 teams play in college football, then it's safe to say you can't say state champion after the winner of a geographic-based tournament - right?

Too bad Congress can't bounce Marty Moneyball off YouTube and out of Pee-Wee's Playhouse in Bloomington, too.