The best game plans from scouting can be meticulous and detailed but cannot account for what is actualized. I spent the better part of Thursday scouting our Friday playoff opponent and felt comfortable with what I saw. So comfortable that I felt if our team executed, we would be able to advance.
I know the game is unpredictable. I didn't know to what degree until we experienced the unexpected last night. For most of us, it would be safe to say we've seen something different we'd not seen before. We couch terms like heart, will, desire and use these terms to explain victory while using terms like lack of focus, preparation and choking to explain losing. None are fully adequate nor entirely useful at the end of competition. The terms certainly assuage us as coaches when trying to make evaluations. However, there are moments when the simplest description is we weren't good enough.
Summed up perfectly last night as we were visiting on the mound was a quote from one of our guys: "I don't know what is happening". None of us did. It was the unexpected. We don't plan for that.
I wasn't good enough.
In a participation age where it seems everyone must get something, it's good to be able to have some place in which there is no ambiguity- sports. The allure is found in "what if" or "we could have" or even "if I could do this over". The beauty is it stays in romantic notions that must give way to reality.
The reality in the unexpected.
We've read about the fight or flight response in adversity, sudden change, etc. In the midst of either, there is a surreal quality I cannot explain. But courage must be present. There is no place to run to when competing. Sometimes we just have to take it, stand tall and keep moving. That is so very similar to loss in our lives outside the competitive arena of athletics.
Breath. Exhale. Pray. Breath. Exhale. Next 200 feet.
No team or athlete has to do any of that when on the other side the gut punch. There is excitement, anticipation, confidence and freedom. That's all manageable, especially in leadership. The best test of leadership, within the team members and elsewhere, is what happens when it goes down. The reflection of the best we hope to be is in the gut punch, the unexpected.
Our guys did an admirable job and in an inning where 19 batters came up, our team had no place to go, no place to hide- they just had to take it. This is where just being associated with a team has its advantages- one can detach emotionally and escape from situation and focus on something else. However, identifying and having an investment in a team is costly. One cannot simply detach; you must go through it and stand tall. We had to finish as well. Heads were high and tears shed. That's natural and evidence of investment.
I know our parents hurt for their sons. We were in it together and there was simply no other choice but to continue competing. This is where identity is so important. Who we are cannot change and its glorious when we come through gracefully with an intentional effort to keep what's important important.
I hurt for our guys, my son and for our program because this wasn't expected. But I'm grateful for what happened because it was an opportunity to reflect Christ when it wasn't easy to do.
Our guys didn't forget their identity and stood tall on a night when it would have been easy to shrink back. For me, when evaluating this team, that is a hook with which to hang greatness.
There were plenty of good moments and those should and will be celebrated.
Last night should be as well.
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