Next on the tee: Moments
One, one-thousand.
A simple enough statement to each and every single one of us. We know that counting, “one, one-thousand” is one second, and you might even say a moment. Life, and even sports is made up of all of these little moments. There are moments that build us up, but those that tear us down always follow them and then the cycle continues. It is these moments that take us and shape us as society, athletes and every day average human beings.
This archived article was written by: David Osborne Jr.
One, one-thousand.
A simple enough statement to each and every single one of us. We know that counting, “one, one-thousand” is one second, and you might even say a moment. Life, and even sports is made up of all of these little moments. There are moments that build us up, but those that tear us down always follow them and then the cycle continues. It is these moments that take us and shape us as society, athletes and every day average human beings.
These moments are the inches in our own game of life. I enjoy a quote from Al Pacino, in the film “Any Given Sunday.” Pacino tells his team, “You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football
the margin for error is so small. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch on this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that’s going to make the f______ difference between winning and losing
between living and dying.” We all have to seize our own inches and moments.
We all enjoy “Cinderella” stories, David versus Goliath matches and miraculous finishes. We enjoy them because we find the athletes in them fighting for those inches and taking advantages of those moments that make a difference.
My mother calls these glimpses of true joy, “feel good moments” in life and sports. There is nothing more enjoyable for me than watching these moments happen right in front of me and often reflect on them, especially when I am trying to fight for my own inches.
Interesting that we as human beings can watch athletes and their successes or failures and apply them to our lives and become better, more successful and reach heights that we thought were always out of our reach.
There are a select few moments that I enjoy seeing more than anything else. Think about the last football game you watched. You may not remember who won ore even who was playing but think about the exhilaration, the rush of adrenalin and the feeling that you had right as the first kick-off was happening.
You were watching the beginning of a clash of Titans and anything could happen, nothing was set in stone at that moment.
Now think about watching a baseball game. Perhaps the greatest drama in the sporting world happens as the pitcher faces down the batter and the batter is daring enough to stare right back at him. You can almost feel the pressure mounting as the pitcher winds up and then lets the ball go. Then there is the crack of the bat as the batter makes contact with the ball, or the thud of the ball hitting the catcher’s glove as it is called for a strike. I think my very favorite moment comes at the end of games though, right as the clock is striking double zero but there is that last second shot, pass, or superhuman effort that changes the history of that particular game and gives what would have been the losers the chance to call themselves the winners.
Now we go back to the beginning. One, one-thousand. One moment not a lot of time, but it can make all the difference in the world. Big name players step up in big games to create even bigger moments. Step up in your own game of life, become a game changer and seize the moments and inches that are in store for you. This is why moments have been on the tee.
