Gary Armida: An ‘Expect to Win’ Attitude
Gary Armida has been around athletics his whole life. A tri-sport athlete in high school, college baseball player, semi-professional baseball player, part-time MLB scout, coach of his children's baseball and softball teams and recently coach for his granddaughter's travel softball team, Gary’s mantra has always been ‘Expect to Win’. Any task, any job, anything life throws at him, he's going for the win.
“I’ve always had that expectation to win in me,” Gary said. “Never thought we were going to lose a game. Just felt like we ran out of time. Just really ultra positive always. And even the doctor said, [that mindset] really helped me during my cancer.”
When pain in his right side led up to his routine colonoscopy at the end of 2018, Gary was shocked by diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The next step for Gary and his entire family was researching everything to see how they could win. His oldest son, Gary, Jr., conducted an exhaustive search and interview process to locate the best surgeon.
“When I was diagnosed, there were no tears from my part at that time,” Gary said. “It was just, I’m going to beat this thing. What do we do? Let’s get going. There was never a point throughout any of it where I felt cancer was going to win.”
Gary sought treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, just over 60 miles from his residence in New York. He was told he had a 40% chance of survival, but he was focused on his treatment plan. He had surgery within just a few weeks of diagnosis to remove a part of his colon, followed by chemotherapy as an ‘insurance’ to make sure that all the cancer cells were removed or eliminated.
Being a coach, Gary looked up to many coaches – Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski, Geno Auriemma, and Jim Valvano, to name a few.
“I followed his career and then of course his cancer battle and then saw the speech [at the 1993 ESPY Awards Show], the V Foundation and the good work that they were trying to do. He dedicated his life and afterlife that he was going to defeat this disease … I’ve just been a Jimmy V fan and then a fan of what the V Foundation does ever since its inception.”
“One of the first things I did when I was diagnosed was went into the V Foundation website and ordered the “Don’t Give Up . . . Don’t Ever Give Up!” Ò long sleeve t-shirt that I wore through my battles.”
Gary’s lifelong mantra of “Expect to Win” goes hand-in-hand with Jim’s motto of “Don’t Ever Give Up!” They’re both rallying cries to keep going no matter what you are up against.
While in chemotherapy, Gary was determined to continue living his life, including one of his most important roles: coach. He and his son coached his granddaughter’s travel softball teams. He powered through, resting when he could around a busy schedule of chemotherapy and softball. Mondays and Wednesdays he was at the cancer center receiving treatment. The other days he was on the field.
“I was wiped at the end, but you know, I was proud that I did that,” Gary said.
One of the other things that motivated Gary during chemotherapy was something that his wife (Maryann) secretly created. She had short videos recorded by family members to encourage Gary, and she played them right before every chemotherapy treatment started. Gary said, “It meant a lot to me to hear the love and support from family; my wife was by my side through every challenge that we faced.”
Today, Gary celebrates being a cancer survivor. His testimony is a product of advancements in cancer research. He’s proud to donate to the V Foundation annually because he trusts and believes in the organization’s drive to achieve Victory Over Cancer®.
“I’m a positive person – expect to win,” Gary said. “What does Victory Over Cancer® look like? To me, it’s when cancer is just totally eliminated, and no one has to go through that again.”
The V Foundation is proudly the best steward of donor dollars, with 100% of direct donations going directly to cancer research. The V Foundation has been awarded 4-out-of-4 star ratings for 13 consecutive years by Charity Navigator, a national charity evaluator. But, to Gary, this is no surprise.
“Personally, knowing who Jim Valvano was, who Dick Vitale is, who Mike Krzyzewski is, the character of those individuals and the character of the organization, it’s meaningful but it doesn’t surprise me at all. At this point, I almost expect it out of them because they’ve proven it for so long.”
“That’s why I’m a lifelong supporter. [The V Foundation’s 100% pledge] was just one of the absolute key factors and I commend them. I don’t know why people wouldn’t get on board once they knew that. To me, it’s like the tipping point. When you see that, it says to me their intentions are pure. And that’s big to me.”
In his speech at the inaugural ESPYS in 1993, Jim Valvano said, “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.” Gary, and his family, aim to make every day a heck of a day.
“It’ll be a family interaction, and my son will text me at night. He’ll just say, ‘It was a heck of a day.’ I know what he’s talking about. He’s talking about Jimmy V because, in that interaction or that experience, we laughed, we thought, and we cried.”
Thanks to cancer research, Gary and his family have many more full days ahead.
