Caps off to Mr. Hustle

REGARDLESS of whether the battle of Waterloo really was won on the playing fields of Eton, some lessons do carry over from sports into other areas of daily existence. Two are the importance of hard work, and of persistence. No current sports figure more represents those qualities than baseball's Pete Rose. He developed modest ability to its utmost, then persisted through 23 major league years until this week he accumulated more hits than anyone in history, surpassing the legendary Ty Cobb. Appropriately the record-breaker was a single: suggesting the dogged, chipping-away nature of the challenge.

Rose -- like many other great players -- has motivated colleagues to perform better as well. He personifies hustle. Well past the age when most players hang up their cleats, he helped pull his Cincinnati Reds into championship contention. Caps off to Mr. Hustle!