Monday, July 07, 2008

Under Pressure

Growing up in the 90s there was a clothing fad that ran for about a year or so that involved shirts with the statement “NO FEAR” on them. The shirt usually included a brief summary of some sort of athletic game that was down to the wire and the winning goal, shot or hit was resting on your shoulders. It would have been something like this: “Bottom of the Ninth, Full Count, Bases Loaded, down by 3…No Fear.” I found myself in one of these types of situations in a softball game a few weeks ago that wasn’t quite this tense, but the game certainly came down to my hitting ability. Time had expired – which means the game is over after the current inning in recreational softball – bases were loaded, two outs and we were down by one. I had to get a hit that scored at least one run to take it to extra innings, but a double would win us the game.
You might be thinking to yourself that isn’t that terrible of a spot to be in because as long as I just don’t hit an out then the hitter after me would have the pressure to get a hit and drive in the winning run. Well in theory that is true, except the hitter after me was my 57-year-old mother.
That’s right, this is a co-ed league. I was short a girl that night and the only person who would step up to the plate – literally – was my mom. She is Parent of the Year after that night, not because of what she produced on the field but because she helped out her son when he needed her most. The reason I say that the pressure was solely on me was because in my mom’s two previous at bats she hit the ball and fell down spinning – producing an easy out at first base – and went down swinging the second time. Nobody was expecting her to get the winning hit with so much on the line, so therefore I felt the pressure mounting as I walked up to the plate.
Every little boy dreams of being the guy the team lifts up on their shoulders at the end of the game because of some great play they made that won them the championship, whether that is hitting a much needed home run or diving to catch a ball that would have helped the other team win had it fallen to the ground. We want to make an impact that is celebrated and recognized by all. However, when growing up and having that dream as a child I never factored in the sweat and anxiety that goes along with being in that situation. It’s not necessarily about having the ability to get a hit when it matters, but being able to rise above the pressure to make it happen.
The great ones who go down as legends in sports history and perform their best when under pressure are people like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and numerous Olympic contestants throughout history. When I see archived footage of Jordan sinking a shot at the buzzer for the win I go crazy wishing I was just a fraction as skilled as he was in his prime, but I don’t consider that it wasn’t just his athletic ability that won him championships. It was his ability to focus when it mattered and become better when his team needed him most that made him one of the best. I don’t want to state whether or not I got the hit we needed to win the game because I don’t want this column to be about me, but rather about how our childhood dreams don’t factor in all of the problems that go along with the results we want. Oh I can’t help myself, I smashed a grounder between first and second that resulted in the double needed and we won the game. Go me!