NFL Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Excellence is achieved by the mastery of fundamentals.” With that guiding touchstone, we take a moment to monumentalize a quartet of men who have excelled in life’s fundamentals: career, family, citizenship, style. But, since stories are best told from their source, we left it up to these aspirational men of the hour to tell us, in their own words, how they master the fundamentals.

Chris Weidman
Occupation: Professional MMA fighter, a UFC World Champ, actually; plus, he owns a gym, moonlights as a ping pong expert, is a Connect4 Zen Master / Hometown: Baldwin / Age: 33 / Hobby: Poker

Tripoli Patterson
Occupation: Surfer, art hound and owner of Tripoli Gallery in Southampton, Impresario  /  Hometown: Sag Harbor / Age: 33 / Hobby: Surfing

Carlos Mendes
Occupation: Former Cosmos Captain and Defender, possibly of the soccer universe, paying it forward with CM4 Soccer / Hometown: Mineola / Age: 37 / Hobby: Playing music

Steven Dubb
Occupation: Principal of The Beechwood Organization, one of the largest developers in the state  /  Hometown: Brookville / Age: 32 / Hobby: Surfing, gardening, might be a Richard Serra in the making

Photographer: Jesse Untracht-Oakner
Stylist: Shandi Alexander
Hair: Andreas Schönagel
Makeup: Deepti Sadhwani
Chris Weidman shot on location at LAW MMA in Garden City
Tripoli Patterson shot on location at Tripoli Gallery in Southampton
Carlos Mendes shot on location at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale
Steven Dubb shot on location at the Vanderbilt in Westbury