Like all academics, I worry about standards and whether mine have slipped. Actually, I worry more about my students and the number of them who no longer see academic excellence as a goal worth pursuing. Many more seem to feel, as one student told me recently, “If I work hard, I deserve an A.” I wondered if there was a way I could use the first class session to help my students and myself recalibrate our “excellence meters.” Could I motivate them in a fun and engaging way to see excellence the way Rick Pitino, head basketball coach at the University of Louisville, sees excellence? “Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer,” Pitino says.